Reflex [Audio CD]

Steven Gould (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2005

Davy thinks he's alone...but what if he isn't? When Davy was a young teen, he discovered that he was capable of teleportation. At first, it was only when he was terrified and in horrible danger. Later, he learned to control his ability and went to work for a secret government agency. Now, a mysterious group of people has taken Davy captive. They don't want to hire him, and they don't have any hope of appealing to him to help them. What they want is to own him. They want to use his abilities for their own purposes, whether Davy agrees to it or not. And so they set about brainwashing him and conditioning him, and they have found a way to keep a teleport captive. But there's one thing that they don't know. No one knows it, not even Davy. The secret is that experiencing teleportation, over and over again, can teach a person how to do it. Davy's wife Millie is the only person on Earth who has teleported nearly as often as he has. She discovered her new talent the same way Davy did -- in mortal danger, facing imminent death, she suddenly found herself in her own apartment. Now, if she can learn to control this ability, and fast, she may be able to rescue Davy. This audiobook is delivered as an MP3-CD disc containing MP3 files. In order to play this title you must have either a computer that is capable of playing MP3 audio though an application like Apple's iTunes or Real Network's RealPlayer or an MP3 device like an Apple iPod, Creative Labs NOMAD MuVo TX FM 256 MB MP3 Player (DAP-TD0004) or a Compact Disc player that is capable of playing MP3 audio like the Sony D-EJ100PS Psyc Walkman Portable CD Player (Black) or Panasonic SL-SX430 Portable CD/MP3 Player with D-Sound. This audiobook cannot be played on most Compact Disc players that are more than 2 years old. If your computer has a CD Burner (CD recording drive) you can make standard Compact Discs that are playable in almost all CD players. Please see the User Manual for your MP3 player application software for instructions.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this delightful SF thriller, the long-anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed Jumper (1992), Gould puts a fresh spin on the classic plot device of human teleportation. Once a teen struggling to escape an abusive father, Davy Rice is now a covert operative for the National Security Agency and happily married to Oklahoma psychologist Millie Harrison-Rice. Enter sudden marital discord over starting a family, and Davy, eager to avoid the issue, jumps from their remote West Texas hideaway to a meeting in Washington, D.C., only to be snatched by an evil organization intent upon forcing "the asset" to work for them. The baffled Millie keeps waiting for her husband to return, until she discovers that she, too, can teleport through space. While Davy spends much of the book a defiant prisoner, Millie learns the joy of jumping. In her effort to rescue her husband, she goes to ground and hides her dangerous new ability from the NSA and Davy's captors. The author's savvy decision to have the couple share this unique ability gives the sequel a rush of new energy, creating dazzling future possibilities for the duo. Though Gould continues to exuberantly press the boundaries of scientific credibility, his gift for placing ordinary people in extraordinary situations against a backdrop of international concerns makes this fast-paced adventure sizzle. At the end, the inevitable question arises: will the next jumper do it in diapers?
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gould takes up Davy, the teenage hero of Jumper (1992), about as many years later in his life as this readable sequel follows its predecessor. Davy is in trouble because of leaks from the secret governmental organization that employs him. Someone has figured out how to abduct, imprison, and brainwash a teleporter, and that teleporter, as Jumper readers might expect, is Davy. Davy's wife has learned to jump (i.e., teleport), too, though, and in the same way that he learned it, when her life was threatened. She is searching for him, of course, but isn't sure whom she can trust, either inside or outside the agency. In fact, she isn't even really sure where to start looking for him. Gould's style is rather pedestrian, though no more so than one would allow from a second-book author. Despite stylistic lapses, this is a near-future thriller with quite-respectable page-turning impetus. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Paperback Digital (November 15, 2005)
• ISBN-10: 1584390042
• ISBN-13: 978-1584390046
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,846,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great follow up to JUMPER, February 6, 2005

By 

K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reflex (Hardcover)

Its been 10 years since the events in JUMPER. For all that time Davy has worked for the NSA. Davy has always believed that it would be impossible to hold him prisoner given his ability to teleport, however he is about to find out how horribly wrong he is when a totally ruthless, wealthy and influential group of people drug and kidnap him to find out his secrets.

Stranded in their cliff-top home, Davy's wife, Millie makes the startling discovery that she too can teleport - that it is something that can be learned by the brain if you do it often enough. Millie is determined to get her husband back despite the seeming lack of clues, and much of this novel revolves around tracking down Davy and Davy doing his best to give as little information as possible to his captors, while seeming to co-operate.

Like all Steven Gould's work this novel is well plotted with a commonsense approach to problems. However, this novel has not fallen into the trap of some of his previous books by being over descriptive of technical details. Instead we have a very action based story that easily carries you to its end. It's a great, and suspenseful, and at times cringe-worthy, follow up to JUMPER, and given its ending can easily support another novel in this series. (However, be warned, if you really dislike torture scenes avoid this book)

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent sequel to Jumper, October 16, 2005

By 

ostawookiee "ostawookiee" (Winston-Salem, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Reflex (Jumper) (Mass Market Paperback)

Jumper was recommended to me years ago, though I'd at that time never heard of it or Gould. But I read it and loved it, and it's in my Amazon list of Lesser Known Good Sci-Fi. I was stoked to find out a sequel was written. Gould did even better, I feel, in Reflex. The story unfolds at just the right pace, always keeping you reading, and the developments and twists are well thought out. The ending is very satisfactory, yet open enough that he could produce a third book in the series.

Reflex is probably one of the best novels I've read this year. Read Jumper and then Reflex.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars return to form for Gould, January 18, 2005

By 

zionred "zionred" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Reflex (Hardcover)

In this long-awaited sequel to Gould's first novel, Jumper, the author finally returns to form. Ever since Jumper, Gould's novels have become less and less interesting with each work that has been published. However, Reflex is a welcome return to the type of writing that heralded Gould as great novelist with a bright future in science-fiction.

In this sequel, teleporter David Rice is now married and living comfortably out of the public's eye. Every once in a while, he is hired by the NSA (National Security Agency) to do "favors" for them (i.e. - rescuing hostages, dropping off "packages", etc.). Little does he know, that there is a sinister group of people that are planning to kidnap him and force him to do tasks that would ensure their power throughout the world. Furthermore, they've developed a technology that would be able to keep David well within their reach.

Little do they know, however, is that David's wife, Millie, can also teleport now. Once David goes "missing," Millie makes it her undying quest to find him and put an end to the devilish plot that unfolds.

This is an excellent and exciting book from Gould. Even though teleportation has been covered ad-nauseum in so many other sci-fi books and movies, Gould brings a fresh new perspective to the concept that is both intriguing and thought provoking. After I finished reading this book, I wanted the story to continue.