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Fiction Review by The Gravedigger
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01.31.05
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Steven Gould's sequel to the phenomenally entertaining JUMPER is quite a different novel, also casting Davy's (the protagonist) wife, Millie, as the main character.JUMPER was about Davy Rice, a young man who can teleport at will-and the adventures/mishaps that entailed. REFLEX takes place ten years later, with Davy married to his girlfriend, Millie. Davy also does occasional 'special' work for the government, such as teleporting hostages out of danger, for which he is well compensated. When Davy is captured by a sinister group, he's shackled and behaviorally conditioned to return to the same place after he teleports. If his arm or leg is contained by another, larger object (such as chained to a wall), he's unable to teleport, so he remains their prisoner. And the things his jailers do to him are simply horrible. They also implant an explosive devise in his body so he won't dare escape.As the days and weeks go on Millie starts doing some investigation of her own-and discovers that she, too, now has the ability to teleport at will, able to be somewhere instantly as long as she has a mental picture of it in her mind. Because she'd done thousands of 'jumps' with her husband, it somehow allowed her to do the same. Millie is very practical and goes about looking for her husband in a direct way. When she finds out that the government may be involved, she radically changes her appearances and disappears from their radar. Little do they realize she has a newfound ability.What I like about this sequel is that it builds upon the first book and there's been a change in the characters. They're adults, with adult concerns, such as Millie wanting to have a baby (I can imagine that as the third novel). The whole teleportation process is explained and expanded upon. It turns out that a 'gate' forms around them-and if they could hold open the gate there's the possibility that others-and objects-can go through. This plays a large part in the ending, between the good and bad guys.I wouldn't recommend reading this book if you haven't read JUMPER, as it might be confusing. As sequels go, this is a good one.
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Rating: nan out of 10.0 - votes cast total
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