Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25
 | |
| Author | Richard Paul Evans |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Michael Vey |
| Genre | Young Adult |
| Published | Simon Pulse, Mercury Ink |
| Media type | Paperback and Hardcover |
| Pages | 326 |
| ISBN | 1442475102 |
| Followed by | Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen |
Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 is a 2011 young adult/science fiction novel by Richard Paul Evans, part of the heptalogy dedicated to Michael Vey and published by Glenn Beck's owned Mercury Ink. The story follows Michael Vey, a teenager, being diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, has the ability to pulse or surge electricity out of the palms of his hands. It is the first book in the Michael Vey heptalogy.
Plot
Michael Vey, a teenager with Tourette's syndrome and has electricity as a superpower but, feels as if he is separated from others. That is until when Jack, Mitchell and Wade, Michael's tormentors, attack him unexpectedly. Michael shocks them easily, scaring the three bullies, which was witnessed by his crush, Taylor Ridley. Michael then figures out that Taylor also has abilities. She can remove recent memories, dubbed "rebooting", and also has the ability to read minds. She, Michael, and Michael's genius best friend Ostin form a group called the Electroclan. Later on, the trio realizes that they are being tracked by a secret organization called the Elgen Academy. Both Michael Vey and Taylor Ridley receive scholarships from Elgen Academy. When Michael tells his mother about the scholarship, she immediately makes him leave PizzaMax, the restaurant where they are eating. On their way to the car, a man attempts to rob them. When Michael shocks him, another man appears accompanied by two teenagers. The man reveals himself to be Dr. James "Jim" Hatch. Michael then passes out after being drained of his electricity by Nichelle, one of the teenagers. When Michael wakes up, he is in a hospital and Ostin's mother tells him that his mom has been kidnapped. Meanwhile, Taylor has been taken captive from her cheerleading practice after a horrible headache at Elgen Academy, where she finds out that she has an identical (but evil) twin, named Tara.
Taylor soon discovers the dark side of Dr. Hatch. He likes to use the teenagers' powers for his own benefit and pleasure in ways that have possible harmful consequences. When given an order by Dr. Hatch, Taylor disobeys him, is tortured by Nichelle, and gets put on Floor D with three other kids: Ian, McKenna, and Abigail who disobeyed Hatch's orders and suffered the same fate as Taylor. After getting a car ride to Pasadena Jack and Wade, Michael unsuccessfully attempts to free Taylor. Dr. Hatch tells Michael after his capture that Michael killed his own father, and makes him choose between his own freedom and his friends. Taylor, Ostin, and the other rebels on Floor D escape their cell only to be caught again. Michael is told to kill Wade to prove his allegiance to Dr. Hatch. He refuses and so his mother is shocked instead. Michael is sent to Cell 25, the torture cell for those who are enemies of Dr. Hatch and his methods. After 26 days, Michael is released from Cell 25 and is taken to the same room where he failed his first test by not shocking Wade. Hatch leaves Michael (who is weak from his treatment in Cell 25) alongside Ostin, and Taylor, who are restrained in chairs. Austin and Taylor are supposed to be killed by Zeus, but after Michael tricks Zeus into shocking him, he grows more powerful from Zeus's lightning, and pulses, causing an electric wave, knocking both Zeus and Ostin unconscious. He checks on Taylor, who is okay, and then Austin, but finds that Ostin's heart stopped. After applying two shocks in a fashion similar to a defibrillator Ostin's heart starts up again. Taylor then goes into the mind of Zeus and searches his memories, to find that Hatch tricked him into believing that he killed his family while swimming in a pool at the age of 7. He then sides with Michael and the rest of the Electroclan and helps them break Ian, McKenna, and Abigail out of their cell, and using his powers, disables all the cameras they come across. A lengthy battle between the Electroclan and Dr. Hatch's loyalists occurs. Michael's group takes control of the control room and releases the human captives (including Jack and Wade) who overpower the remaining guards. Meanwhile, Dr. Hatch escapes from Elgen Academy in a helicopter with most of the other electric children that are loyal to him. After the battle, Taylor goes to call her parents, and after dialing three digits walks up to and kisses Michael. Then another electric child, Grace, who supposedly ran away from Hatch, arrives to join the "Electroclan". With the suspicion that she may be a plant, Taylor reads her mind and confirms that she is against Hatch. Grace also says that she downloaded all the Elgen's computer files onto herself before they were deleted: her power is being able to upload and download data from computers, like a human flash drive. Nichelle is sent to be a normal human where she can't hurt anyone after Michael finds out her weakness. The book ends with Ostin proclaiming that "This is the rise of the Electroclan!"
Characters
Michael Vey is the protagonist of the series. He is fifteen. Michael has been diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, which results in him involuntarily blinking and/or gulping when he is stressed or nervous. Due to his small stature, Michael has endured many years of being bullied and was unable to retaliate from fear of his powers being exposed. Michael's powers consist of him being able to shock people by contact or if they are connected with something that can be conducted. Michael not only is immune to electrical attacks or discharges, but he is also able to absorb them, which makes him more powerful. According to Hatch, Michael could be the most powerful person alive and has hinted that Michael may have killed his own father by accident. His best friend, Ostin, and eventual girlfriend, Taylor, formed the Electroclan and as a group learned that there were fifteen other teenagers like himself and Taylor.
Taylor Ridley is a fifteen-year-old high school cheerleader who is a very popular girl at Meridian High, and, as Michael describes her, "the most beautiful girl at his school and any school in the world". She was adopted when she was young and did not know that she had a twin sister named Tara. Her abilities are mainly attributed to electrical signals in the brain. These abilities include being able to "reboot" a person's brain, making them forget what they were doing at that moment.
Ostin Liss is Michael's best friend and is considered a genius by everyone. It is said he has a grade of 4.00 but only because it doesn't go any higher. His mother named him after the city in Texas but spelled Austin wrong.
Dr. Hatch is the main villain of the book. He recruits (or kidnaps) the Glows to the Elgen Academy and gives them whatever they want (no matter the cost) at first; later, however, he guilts them into using their gifts for his own personal pleasure (using manipulation). He is an evil genius and attempts to capture and kill Michael and his friends several times throughout the book.
Jack Vranes is one of the bullies that often attacks Michael. He is also friends with Wade and Mitchell. Jack drives Michael to Pasadena, along with Wade and Ostin, and the four of them eventually bond. Jack has been held back several years and is around age 17.
Wade West is one of the bullies that attacked Michael with Jack. He is friends with Jack and Mitchell and helps Jack drive Michael to Pasadena. Wade develops deep gratitude for Michael, as Michael saved his life at least twice in Pasadena.
Nichelle is a girl who helped kidnap Taylor. Her power is being able to electrically depress the nerve endings to cause pain and pressure comparable to the worst migraines. Nichelle can literally "suck the power" from a Glow the same way mosquitoes suck blood from a host. She is disliked by the other kids at the Elgen Academy and is also gothic in style. Nichelle is looked at as a freak because of this, and the fact that she enjoys torturing others with her dark power. She can only inflict pain upon others when she is in close distance. She could not affect Michael when he was absorbing electricity from a power source as it was too much electricity to handle at one time. This is similar to the way mosquitoes cannot handle excessive blood while drawing it out. In the end, Nichelle is banished to go live in the "real world." She admits that she would rather die than live there as she would be a "nobody."
Ian is an African American fifteen-year-old who is first introduced in Purgatory when Taylor is sent there. Although he is blind, it is not a weakness, as his ability is what is called electrolocation, which means that he can see through most substances and track anything with electricity. He can also share his ability with Taylor by relaying his thoughts.
McKenna is a Chinese-American girl. She has the ability to create light and heat on any part of her body. She can heat herself to more than 3,000 Kelvin. She is also Ostin's crush.
Abigail is a platinum blonde haired girl who is first introduced in Purgatory. She is also known as Abi. Her ability allows her to relieve pain by contact by stimulating nerve endings. She is kind and optimistic.
Grace acts as a “human flash drive,” and is able to transfer and store large amounts of electronic data. She left Dr. Hatch's group of electric children to join the Electroclan. She is shy, even to people she's known for years.
Tanner is a very regretful person. He has the ability to interfere with an aircraft's navigation and electrical systems, making it crash. He murdered thousands under Dr Hatch's bidding.
Torstyn One of the more ruthless and lethal of the electric children, Torstyn can create microwaves. He is introduced in book three (Battle of the Ampere).
Tara is Taylor's identical (but evil) twin sister that is completely and unmovably loyal to Dr. Hatch. Like her sister, Taylor, her abilities also deal with the mind, although that is the extent of their similarities. Tara can stimulate different parts of the brain to cause emotions such as fear and happiness. She is able to make the person she is using her powers on see and feel what she wants them to, as seen when she causes Michael to believe there were things crawling around in Cell 25 with him. She later gains the ability to make others think that certain objects or people, including herself and others, are whatever people want, fear, or even a particular person by manipulating the brain's functions. In book 6 they stop obeying hatch and the electro clan saves them.
Quentin, also known as Q, has the ability to produce a small EMP, or electromagnetic pulse. He is a flirt and both Tara and Kylee have a crush on him. He is loyal to Hatch and has shown to be corrupted, acting without any regard to other humans except for Dr. Hatch, some of the other Glows, and the leader of the Elgen guards.
Bryan has the ability to create highly-focused electricity that allows him to cut through solid objects such as metal by burning through them. He is loyal to Hatch, and has shown to be corrupted, acting without any regard to "ordinary human beings."
Kylee was born with the ability to create electromagnetic power, she is basically a human magnet. She is loyal to Hatch, and has shown to be corrupted, acting without any regard to "ordinary human beings".
Frank has the ability to 'throw' lightning and got the nickname Zeus. He is also the first Hatch supporter to join the Electro-clan
Sequels
- Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen on August 14, 2012
- Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere on September 17, 2013
- Michael Vey: Hunt for the Jade Dragon on September 16, 2014
- Michael Vey: Storm of Lightning on September 15, 2015
- Michael Vey: Fall of Hades on September 13, 2016
- Michael Vey: The Final Spark on September 12, 2017
Honors
- Number one book on the New York Times Chapter Book list for the week ending August 28, 2011.[1]
- Number one selling book in Barnes and Nobles, number 2 in Amazon.com[2] for Michael Vey.
- On August 25, it was ranked number 38 on USA Today's best sellers.[3]
- Michael Vey reached Number Seven on the chart for USA Today in August.[4]
- The Salt Lake Tribune announced that Michael Vey made number seven on the Deseret Book for the week of Aug. 22 through Aug. 27 chart.[5]
References
- ^ New York Times Bestseller List: Children's Chapter Books, <https://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-08-28/chapter-books/list.html/>.
- ^ It's Official: Glenn Beck Is The New King Of Book Publishing Business Insider Glynnis MacNicol 3 August 2011 http://www.businessinsider.com/glenn-beck-michael-vey-2011-8
- ^ "USA TODAY BEST-SELLERS." USA Today. 08252011: n. page. Web. 21 Sep. 2011. <http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/25/usa-today-best-sellers/>.
- ^ Donahue, Deirdre. "Best-selling novelists dive into young adult genre." USA Today. 20092011: n. page. Web. 21 Sep. 2011. <https://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/story/2011-09-19/grisham-picoult-gregory-young-adult-novels/50474590/1>.
- ^ ""A Nashville Tribute to the Missionaries" among best-sellers at Desert Book ." Salt Lake Tribune. 06092011: n. page. Web. 21 Sep. 2011. <http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogsburger/52530658-53/book-mormon-anita-aug.html.csp>.