The Capture

Animorphs #6
by K.A. Applegate

It's going to start getting difficult to write about these without revealing major plot arcs. But since this is noted on the back of the book, I'll go ahead. The start of this book is fairly slow, then it picked up speed and intensity and suddenly I couldn't put it down. The Animorphs morph into cockroaches to spy on their enemies, and nearly get smashed. Having learned that the enemies are in control of a nearby hospital, they sneak in as flies and discover a small Yeerk pool (where the parasitic aliens rejuvenate their strength every three days). Jake makes a sudden, ruthless move to kill upwards of a hundred Yeerks at once, while they are helpless in the pool, by boiling them alive. They are discovered, and in the ensuing scuffle (when his friends morph into wolves and elephants to fight off Controllers), Jake falls into the pool. One of the Yeerks infests his brain. The rest of the book is quite compelling, as Jake struggles to regain control of his own mind and body, having some gripping and angsty inner dialogs with his parasitic Controller. At first the Yeerk is good at facade- but when his friends suspect something is wrong and guess the truth, for once they come up with a good plan to save Jake. The wide diversity and specialized strengths of Earth's animals are highlighted as the Animorphs use their abilities to outwit their enemy. They're starting to get smart about how they use their powers, but still far from winning the battle against the Yeerks. Especially since now the enemy has realized that they are just four human beings...

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5          153  pages, 1997

more opinions:

Animorphology
Arkham Reviews (with spoilers)