Reflex (Jumper) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "The first time was like this..." (more)
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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?
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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

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (November 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312864213
• ISBN-13: 978-0312864217
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #386,133 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	K. Maxwell "katmax1" (Perth, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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)

11 of 11 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

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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steven Gould's sf novels, December 19, 2006

By	Dana Stabenow (Alaska) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

One of the best writers now in the science fiction field is Steven J. Gould. Try Jumper, about Davy the inadvertent teleport, and its sequel, Reflex, defying all known laws of sequels by being just as good. Gould credits sf legend Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination for inspiration, but I've read Bester, too, and Gould has spent a lot more time sitting around thinking about what life would be like if you could teleport yourself from one place to another in the blink of an eye. It isn't all roses. Gould also wrote Wildside (what would you do if you found a door into a parallel but alternate universe?) and Helm, about human beings escaping from an apocolyptic war on Earth to settle on another planet, only to discover they didn't leave war behind.