Customer Reviews

Jumper

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I know that phrase is used over and over to describe things that are exciting, but it totally fits this book. There are many plot twists and surprises. The book is a very fast read (maybe that's because it's not as long as most novels). Even so, the characters are developed well. There aren't too many novels written about roller coasters or that take place in amusement parks, so I jump at the chance to read any that I find. There was a movie released in the mid-70's titled "Rollercoaster" starring George Segal, Richard Widmark, and a young Helen Hunt that has a plot similar to this book. Not entirely the same, but similar (a guy wants money and is destroying roller coasters at parks around the country.) If you've seen that movie, you would enjoy this book. I recommend them both!

Jumper: A Novel was a very entertaining read. Dr. Samuel Garvey, a roller coaster expert has been currently working on his newest invention: the Jumper. The Jumper is designed to, after partway throught the ride,jump the tracks over another car and reach the other side safely.

While he works on this, roller coasters across the country start to mysteriously have accidents and deaths. After each incident the saboteur leaves a note.

When Garvey is pinpointed as the cheif suspect things get a little more tricky for him and the jumper.

I love roller coasters and this was a great one to read if you like them also. The book did not include a lot of "riding" a roller coaster but it was immensly entertaining.

Overall, Jumper was an interesting read- it was good...not great, but good. Some of the events in the book were a bit illogical and I didn't buy into a whole lot of it, and the ending was really bad- very anticlimactic. I couldn't really say much about why it was a bad ending, without possibly spoiling the book for others, but I can say that the ending was very odd- very short, and things really resolved way too fast to be believable.

Garvey, the roller coaster designer, was an intresting character, and he was easy to like- but, like a lot of other things in this book, he fell into a quick relationship with another character way too fast- the story read as tho it was normal, and they had been together for years, when in reality it was a couple of weeks, and you wouldn't have expected the relationship to start at all.

Interesting information on rollercoasters- even if the rollercoaster in the book was totally implausible, and there were some exciting moments when it came to the rollercoaster accidents.

In the end- it was entertaining, but a lot of the logic was severely flawed, and ultimately it was hard to believe much of the plot points- which hurt the book, but, like I said, it was still entertaining overall.

The Jumper is a book about an architech thats wants to make a new roller coaster. He finds out that there recently was a roller coaster crash in different places. At the end of each crah the person had left a note. He must find the mystery man before his idea comes to an end.
I'm really into architechure so i thought this was a good book. One of my favorite hobbies is roller coaster riding, and the book was about roller coasters so I knew i would like the book. This is a great brain buster book. It was a great mystery.
My favorite part of this book was when the Jumper first opened. The Jumper is a roller coaster that jumps over the other cart half way through the ride. I liked this part because of the way Richard Barth described the reaction of all the people. When you read this part it is like you are really riding the roller coaster with the people, it's really neat.

I know nothing about roller coasters, and hate going on them. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery about the sabatoge of varous roller coasters around the country. At the same time Rachael, a fortyish investigator for the National Traffic Safety Board, is investigating several deaths on sabatoged roller coasters, Sam Garvey, a genius widower engineer, is designing and building the Jumper, an improbable roller coaster, where two cars going at the same time criss-cross in mid-air at a gap in the track, and are then go back on the track on the other side [an idea no sane insurance company would cover, but fun in the book].

Garvey and Rachael meet, and the sparks fly while they try to catch the saboteur, and to clear Garvey, who is apparently being framed as a suspect. The book is not too deep, and is best for a vacation beach read, but I'd highly recommend it. I read it as a respite after reading Wally Lamb's 900-page emotionally draining book, "I Know This Much is True," which I loved. Jumper was the perfect light followup. I read it after reading an Amazon review. It's a quick and fun mystery for those who enjoy this genre.

When Coney Island's Cyclone roller coaster crashed killing two and injuring several others, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) led the accident investigation. An expert on plane and train disasters, the NTSB Agent Rachel White asks Dr. Samuel Garvey, the recognized expert on roller coasters, to assist her with the inquiry. Sam flies from Texas to NYC to look at the crash site. He concludes someone deliberately caused the Cyclone crash and that individual is an expert. Rachel shows him the note left behind by Periclymenus.

Sam and Rachel review recent roller coaster accidents. They realize a serial killer is at large. More deadly incidents soon follow with Sam being a prime suspect. Still, Sam completes his masterpiece, Jumper, even as he wonders how Periclymenus will try to sabotage his beautiful baby. Sam knows this is where the ride will end for the killer or him.

JUMPER is an exciting thriller that reads just like the roller coaster rides that co-star with Sam and Rachel. The exhilarating story line is filled with non-stop action. The lead protagonists are an interesting duo and Sam's daughter humanizes the hero. Though the villains' motives seem weak, Richard Barth's novel is well worth the ride.

Harriet Klausner

JUMPER by Richard Barth reminds me of one of those glossy tv movies that puts somebody like David Hasselhoff and Jaclyn Smith together in a suspenseful, if somewhat unbelievable, plot. However, like some tv movies, this one isn't so bad.

Sam Garvey, a world renowned roller coaster designer, discovers that someone is sabotaging roller coasters across the country, resulting in death and injuries to many. He is joined by Rachel White, a National Transportation Safety agent, to try and figure out who this madman is, and why the notes left behind are signed by a Greek god.

There are no earth shattering surprises here, but there are some tense scenes of the rollercoaster rides and the climactic Jumper ride is appropriately exciting, although the book ends very quickly without any real rationalization behind the villain's motives.

A Quick and satisfying time waster.

I learned a lot about roller coasters in this mystery--which is good because they are interesting. Someone is sabotaging America's roller coasters and have set up Samuel Garvey as the fall guy. Garvey designs coasters and is building his masterpiece--a coaster where the carts actually jump through open air. Garvey knows he is in trouble but who could possibly benefit from killing people in roller coasters. Until he can find the motive, all of his expertise won't help him.