Reflex

By: Steven Gould

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

Davy has always been alone. He believes that he's the only person in the world who can teleport. But what if he isn't?

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. They have even 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. And it might save his life....

©2004 Steven Gould (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"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." ( Publishers Weekly)

"This is a fun, fast-paced novel that - like Gould's other books - also has a social conscience that gives it more depth than such a story might have in lesser hands." (Charles de Lint, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction)

A new take on being a jumper

This sequel has a bit of a different flavor from the previous book. The first book was mostly about Davey dealing with his emotional traumas and his burgeoning relationship with Millie, with his ability being a bit of spice that kept things interesting. This book focuses much more on his ability, both on the mechanics of how it works, and on the dangers in using it. Davey is held captive for almost all of this book. The main thrust is on how Davey is contained, how he tries to escape and resist, and what he discovers about his power in the process. I found this quite interesting, as much is revealed via a series of tests that Davey is made to participate in with a scientist. The physics perspective and potential uses for his ability (both those proposed and those imagined by the reader) are fascinating. Once again, Davey's ability to keep up with a physics grad as though he had all the same education, just from his "reading", strikes as unrealistic but I suppose we all like our heroes to be geniuses. I was also fascinated by the many insights Davey developed that could be useful in escaping and how he either used them or his captives foiled his plans.

The other, parallel, storyline follows Millie in her attempts to rescue Davey. I wasn't particularly intrigued by that part at any point but it was a compelling drama at times.

There is a good deal of torture in this one but it's not your traditional cutting/electrocuting/burning/etc. business. It's more... sophisticated. There are two last things that should be mentioned. One is that Davey gains a new and fun manipulation of his powers in this installment. The other is a spoiler. I choose to include this because I found it to be quite jarring to my immersion in the story and because when it comes up in the story it is just as random and unsupported as throwing it out now in a review. Nevertheless, IF YOU DON'T WANT THE SPOILER TURN BACK NOW...
Millie gains the ability to jump in this book. There is no reason given as to why other than it makes it easy for her to rescue Davey. It felt very much like an artificial plot development that the author used as a tool to make things work out. Moreover, it really ruined the feeling that had built up in the first book that jumping is a very special and unique ability. There are very few mutant stories that have only one person with the mutation and I kind of liked that from the first book. It seemed as though Millie got it at random just because the author didn't want her to feel left out being married to Davey, which is very disappointing to me and almost made me drop the story rating to 3 stars.

That said, despite the one very jarring development, this novel has a lot of interesting ideas and situations going for it and is a good addition to the jumper universe and brings a new perspective from the first book. I recommend it, with one reservation.

Entertaining

I like this one more than the Jumper-the first in the series. It was full of action with interesting characters and unpredictable events. I wasn't expecting it to be so entertaining and I got it only because it was on sale. I'm so glad I did, and I will probably get the next one in the series. For the people who like light sci-fi, this book will hold your attention and leave you satisfied at the end. Reader was very good as well.

it doent get to the point

Would you listen to Reflex again? Why?

no its a one time story

What was one of the most memorable moments of Reflex?

when davy seen milly again

What about Macleod Andrews’s performance did you like?

he expresses madness, sadness,and happyness

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes

Any additional comments?

i liked it but here are some other books that are as good if not better, percy jackson,sylo,pendragon,static(flight29dwn),the last apprentice, jack blank, shelter, i am number four, and January which audible probably does not have

Intense story

The book is far different from the movie, a good story with love, corrupt power and disregard for life by thise high in power. I was upset to see the lack of concern of people's rights. And though this is fictional, some bit of truth how those in power will do what they want.

Very Entertaining!

The fantasy merged with reality, science and politics is very entertaining. A couple of questions still linger which is a perfect primer for the sequel. I can't wait!