There were NINE of us who escaped...
Number ONE was killed in Malaysia.
Number TWO was murdered in England.
Number THREE was hunted down in Kenya.
Before they come for the others, they'll come for me...
I AM NUMBER FOUR.

John Smith is not your average teenager.

He regularly moves from small to small town. He changes his name and identity. He does not put down roots. He cannot tell anyone who or what he really is. If he stops moving those who hunt him will find and kill him.

But you can't run for ever.

So when he stops in Paradise, Ohio, John decides to try and settle down. To fit in. And for the first time he makes some real friends. People he cares about - and who care about him. Never in John's short lifehas there been space for friendship, or even love.

But it's just a matter of time before John's secret is revealed. He was one of nine. Three of them have been killed. John is Number Four. He knows that he is next.