The Michael Vey Series by Richard Paul Evans

The Michael Vey series is written by Richard Paul Evans and is published by Simon & Schuster under the Simon Pulse imprint.

 1.  Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25, 2011
 2.  Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen, 2012
 3.  Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere, 2013
 4.  Michael Vey: Hunt for Jade Dragon, 2014
 5.  Michael Vey: Storm of Lightning, 2015
 6.  Michael Vey: Fall of Hades, 2016
 7.  Michael Vey: The Final Spark, 2017
 8.  Michael Vey: The Parasite, 2022
 9.  Michael Vey: The Traitor, 2023
10.  to be released late 2024

Publisher's summary for Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25:

To everyone at Meridian High School, fourteen-year-old Michael Vey is nothing special, just the kid who has Tourette’s syndrome.  But in truth, Michael is extremely special—he has electric powers.  Michael thinks he is unique until he discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor has the same mysterious powers.  With the help of Michael's friend, Ostin, the three of them set out to discover how Michael and Taylor ended up with their abilities, and their investigation soon brings them to the attention of a powerful group who wants to control the electric teens—and through them, the world.

Michael discovers that he is part of a group of 17 teenagers who all have electric powers—basically superpowers.  The teenagers call themselves the Electroclan.  A group called the Elgen are responsible for their existence.  The Elgen are money- and power-hungry terrorists.  I cannot overstate how evil the Elgen leader Dr. Hatch is.  He tortures, maims, and kills people in the most horrific ways imaginable.  

The writing is simple and heavy on dialogue.  The books fit best into the young adult category due to the age of the characters, the violence, and the overall plot.  However, these books could be consumed easily by middle-grade readers.

Michael's best friend, Ostin, is a walking encyclopedia.  He knows everything and spouts off knowledge about any location visited by the Electroclan.  In the early books, I found Ostin's commentary to be fun.  Later in the set, way too much text is devoted to Ostin's knowledge.

The story moves very fast with minimal descriptions.  Something is always happening.  The books also have great humor.  I read very fast and found the story to be extremely engaging.

Even though I greatly enjoyed the story arc, the books are wearying at times.  There is a lot of repetition in how the plots unfold.  In every book, Michael and his friends attack the Elgen and do so against insurmountable odds, like attacking the Elgen when they have thousands of troops in place.  The teens predictably lose and nearly die (sometimes a teen or other character does die) but then somehow most everyone miraculously manages not to be killed.  Rinse, repeat for each subsequent book.

Books 2 through 4 are quite repetitious, then the reader starts to learn new information at around book 5, which adds interest.  

I quit reading the series after I finished book 7, for several reasons.

First, much of book 7 centers around new secondary characters who are of little interest.  I skimmed through most of the parts that center on these characters, certainly at least 100 pages of text.  This was just filler for a thin story.

Second, the series jumps the shark with book 7.  Michael's power develops to the point where he is insanely unstoppable.  He is absent for most of book 7 and is presumed dead, but I knew he wasn't dead.  The Michael Vey series has additional titles, so I knew Michael had to be alive.  It is apparent for much of the book that Michael will reappear near the end and save the day.  That keeps the book from being truly suspenseful.

Third and most important, book 7 is the end of the original story arc.  Book 8 was not published until five years later.  It's apparent that the author decided to cash in with a new story arc tacked onto the existing series. 

While I enjoyed my reading experience (except for book 7), I want to leave the story where it ends with book 7.  That book does have a distinct and satisfying conclusion.  After the series is truly finished, I might go back and read the later books, but I probably won't.