Daniel X takes on the wildest threat the world has ever seen—someone whose craving for fame could destroy the planet!

LIGHTS
All's quiet in the small town of Holliswood. Television sets, computers, and portable devices are aglow in every home, classroom, and store. Yet not all is perfect. Evil is lurking, just out of sight, behind the screen.

CAMERA
Residing in this sleepy town is a villain with more ambition than the world can withstand. Twisted beyond reason, he is dead set on throwing Holliswood into chaos and documenting the destruction of every person in it, including Daniel X.

EXTERMINATION
The only person who can stop this made-for-TV tyrant, Daniel must use his extraordinary power to save the town. But this devilish director has assembled an all-star team of his own creation and vows to stage the most spectacular finale the world has ever seen. Can Daniel X stop this deranged outlaw—or will he find himself on the cutting room floor?

Prologue | NIGHT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR SIDE OF THE PLANET IS POINTED AT OUTER SPACE

Four

"THERE'S YOUR DESSERT." The lead alien, who happened to be number five on The List of Alien Outlaws on Terra Firma, gestured at the henchbeast's remains.

The other aliens shared an uncomfortable silence as they slowly converged on the carcass. Number 5 rolled his gooey eyes and continued shoveling fried food into his extrawide mouth.

"Looks like we got company," said the personal assistant, nodding at the flashing red and blue lights in the parking lot. A moment later the front door to the diner flew open, and a sheriff and deputy burst in with their guns drawn.

"Hands u—" the sheriff started to shout, but Number 5 fired a wide-angle ray gun that instantly turned both officers into puddles of something resembling swamp mud.

"Clean that up. I'm eating here," said Number 5.

The two henchbeasts eagerly turned away from the carcass of their fallen comrade and with long, rubbery tongues devoured the human sludge.

"Speaking of annoying law-enforcement types," said Number 5, smacking his lips and sipping a scalding mug of fryer oil, "my spider senses tell me somebody even more pesky is on his way here."

"Not him?" asked his assistant.

"The same," said Number 5.

A collective, defensive growl rose up from the alien crew.

"That pipsqueak is almost enough to turn me off my Caesar salad," the personal assistant complained, downing an entire bowl of lettuce.

"Let's just remember what's most important here," Number 5 said. "First, keep to the schedule. This is our biggest production yet, and we can't miss a beat.

"And second—ugly as he is—little Danny could very well be our lead man. So let's not kill him...right away."

Copyright © 2009 by James Patterson

Milo Ventimiglia stars in the hit NBC show Heroes and previously starred in Gilmore Girls. His films include Gamer alongside Gerard Butler (300), and Armored with Laurence Fishburne.