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.
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