Reflex

Steven Gould.Reflex. New York: Tor, 2004.


This book is a sequel to one I never read, 1992's Jumper. And having read Reflex, I don't feel like I need to read Jumper. So much of the story revolves around the characters from the first book all the backstory is explained. And it turns out Jumper is being released on Valentine's Day, 2008 as a movie. Kudos Steven. Because if Jumper is anywhere in quality like Reflex, it will make a stunning movie. Reflex is written in a split-narrative, half the time is spent with Millie and the other half with Dave. Dave is the "Jumper" he can teleport himself anywhere instantaneously. Millie is his therapist wife. Dave now makes money working for various government agencies, doing only work that he finds morally acceptable. Both their worlds get turned around quickly when he's kidnapped and held very securely and Millie is trapped in their unreachable (by ordinary means) home without food or water. In the course of getting out of her predicament, Millie finds out she's learned the teleportation behavior and now there are two jumpers in the world, and it is going to be up to her to find a few allies and rescue her husband when the government fails them. The awful tortures and the sense of being caged that accompany each of Dave's chapters make Millie's chapters feel like coming up for air, especially since Dave's chapters can feel a bit dragging and Millie's are all quick tempo and determined. The love between the two characters seems more genuine from her angle as well. Which is good, because in the end this book doesn't feel like so much a sci-fi adventure kidnapping government thriller so much as it feels like a love story. But that could be because I'm a lady and I got what I wanted to get from it. Also, I would like the ability to teleport now. Useful.