Michael Vey 8: The Parasite

The Michael Vey series seemed to wrap up fairly well in the previous book. The electric kids were able to get away from the Hatch and be on their own. This book starts with a quick introduction of the characters. It then sets up new adventures. The youth are now mostly regular college students. They are joining together for one of their first reunions as regular people. However, things go sour. One doesn't show up. Then others begin to disappear. They soon discover that there is a new plot underway to harness their powers. They discover how they are being tracked and uncover a horrible ploy of domination. And then the book ends with a setup for a future sequel.

Michael Vey 7: The Final Spark

In the final Michael Vey book, the resistance comes close to total defeat. Hatch continues to be portrayed as evil incarnate. He was close to defeat, but manages to enlist the Phillipino navy to capture most of the electric children. He also has a tick up his sleeve - a final "glow" that can take other glow's power. She is able to grab the power of the mind reading and use that to find out who the resistance members are and where their locations are located.
Michael himself seems to be dead, but makes appearances in various dreams. It is almost as if he has been resurrected as a god. He has been learning how to harness his powers, and eventually comes back to lead the good guys to a supernatural victory.
The book suffered from the same storytelling problems of the other books in the series. It spends time building up suspense and difficult situations, but then resolves them too quickly. It felt like I wasted time going through the build up, because it was obvious the solution would be easy.

Michael Vey 4: Hunt for Jade Dragon

In the fourth episode of the Michael Vey series, our heroes go to Taiwan to rescue Jade Dragon, I deaf mute autistic savant girl who has discovered the "key" to electric youth. Along the way they do some stupid things, but end up creating plans to get out of them. Hatch and his gang don't play much of a role in this book. However, when they do appear, they are portrayed as one-sided evil. His "kids" have no problem hurting others just for fun. Hatch disposes of the former Elgen chairman by aid of false promises to his banker. There is almost no "good" in his character. He also uses the talents of Tara to appear as Michael's father. Michael believes he is his true father, despite what he says. (As a reader, I could tell he was a snake. Would the kid be this gullible? Well, he is a teenager, so maybe.) The "good kids" also go against orders to explore a night market. You just feel they are doing something stupid for the sake of moving along the plot. And of course, it leads to their capture. Luckily, they manage to break out of the unescapable prison. The final capture of Jade Dragon is almost an afterthought that comes about too easily. The character development of the "good kids" is much better than the bad. They seem well rounded, yet they have a propensity to do things just to advance the plot. They are asked to be joined by Michelle, Hatch's previous electric youth torturer. The interaction with her feels forced. It fits with the plot, but there are too many holes to make it believable. As long as you can suspend belief, this book would make a great special-effects driven Hollywood action film.

Michael Vey 3: Battle of the Ampere

The Battle of Ampere is one of the darkest of the Michael Vey books. Hatch takes over the Elgen company by brutally overcoming the board. Characters that we have got to know are killed (as are entire groups of people.) The book starts with Michael Vey hanging out with a native tribe. There he meets another electric child who had escaped from the Elgen compound. They meet up with Jaime who can communicate with the "Voice". They also find the other children are caught. Peru has lost power, and the whole country is against them. This can be both good and bad. (The military are less knowledgable about the "special powers", but they have a lot of military firepower.) Eventually, they escape. Then they have a grand mission to complete to help save the world. However, the bad guy escapes and the book ends with a new mission.
This series now has the feel of a TV show. The main characters go through all sorts of great adventures, but are left essentially where they started, ready to start the next episode, ready to start the next episode. However, we do also have some character development. They go through traumatic experiences, separate and get back together. They feel more unified and are now a team ready to help save the world.

Michael Vey 2: Rise of the Elgen

In the second book, Micahel Vey has escaped from the Elgen compound with some new friends. They get close to being captured, but are aided by some mysterious strangers that manage to send strange communications just in time. However, these anonymous helpers only help them after they have done everything else they could do. (In an early chase, they elude a couple cars, while one still manages to keep going. The helpers manage to blow it up.) This book has a brief bit where the "anonymous" board of Elgen decides to cancel Hatch's "superhuman" project. Hatch doesn't take it well. I wonder if these board members are connected with the "voice" that is helping out Vey.
This book is loaded with action. We get more of the Hatch and Elgen backstory, but in a less annoying manner. The groups become closer together and seem more like real people.

Michael Vey 6: Fall of Hades

The 6th Michael Vey book picks up right where the 5th one left off. This one would be a much better introduction to the series. It provides descriptions of the different characters and a lot of backstory to help understand what is going on. Hatch has taken over Tuvulu and is punishing his self-appointed "King" to teach them a lesson. They have created a fortified base where they have cut off communication with the outside world. We also learn that his company has been producing a source of super-cheap energy based on rats. They plan on selling these in a self-destructing sealed container in order to make a lot of money and prevent tampering. It is all part of Hatch's plan to take over the world. He is willing to kill anybody that gets in his way. The quest for clean energy is a noble one, but if things get in to the wrong hands, we could have serious problems.

Michael Vey 5: Storm of Lightning

In this book Michael sees the growing strength of his powers, as some of Hatch's underlings also begin to rebel. The book has a more right-leaning feel than most. Characters are military and police officers. They travel around western "red" states and foreign countries. They are also free to admit there are problems with cherished liberal values (like equality.) However, the politics is merely a slight slightly right-leaning undertone. The novel is primarily an action adventure with characters gradually coming of age in a decaying world.