Jumper by Steven Gould

First, forget ninety percent of the movie. Make that ninety-eight percent. The original novel doesn't have some nasty government agent or Paladin out to kill our hero, David. It doesn't have another Jumper flicking himself and David all over the place as he speeds around in some stolen sports car. And it doesn't have a long lost childhood love.

What it does have surpasses anything the movie even attempted.

What gives David the ability to teleport is never explained. At the beginning, it's simply a fact. In the end, we know a tiny bit more, but only a tiny bit. David doesn't wonder about how, he simply knows he can. When something life threatening starts to happen David teleports away. At first this teleporting is involuntary -- it just happens when David feels especially threatened. Quickly he learns to control the ability. He leaves home to escape an abusive father and settles in New York. After acquiring some money and living for a while in NYC, he meets Milli and even after she returns home to a college out west, she and David continue seeing each other.

Eventually, through some mistakes on David's part, the government learns that he is able to travel extremely quickly between continents, they want to know how, and they want him to work for them. He's not thrilled with the idea, but eventually agrees if they agree to help him.

Between the story of David and Milli, David and the government, and David and his family (which opens into a much larger narrative), I found this a very compelling book. Gould isn't the best writer out there, and this is his first book, which exacerbates the situation, but it's such a quick read that a lot of that can be overlooked. And I found David's cleverness in some of the things he does quite amusing. I won't spoil it, but watch for the first time he and the government agent meet.

What we see in Jumper is how a teenager might react to the powers David is given under the circumstances that he is in. In most ways it's quite believable. David sometimes takes chances and they don't work. His love life gets messed up because he's not willing to talk much about his life, especially once the government is after him. He takes revenge on people in ways that an adult probably would not, even given the circumstances. In short, David is a teenager who makes mistakes, and sometimes makes serious mistakes.

Jumper is compelling, interesting, and fun to read.

Because of the recent film, the book is back in print. It is followed by Reflex, which is not, but is often available through sellers on Amazon.com.

I guess maybe I ought to warn you. There is abundant usage of profanity, within the first few chapters there is an attempted homosexual rape, and if I remember correctly some non-explicit sex. If these things offend you, you probably shouldn't read the book.

Rating: 7.9/10