"Jumper" by Steven Gould

Annotation:

While being abused by his father, Davy Rice discovers that he can jump. That is, he can teleport. He discovers that even with the ability to jump, the world is still a dangerous place. Even more so once the Government discovers him.


Justification For Nomination:

Davy Rice discovers that he can jump to anyplace he’s ever been, and uses this ability at first to escape his father’s abuse, and later to escape being raped by a truck driver. He moves to New York, to make it on his own, but due to his status as a minor, finds it difficult to make a living honestly. So he uses his ability to rob a bank, and gets away with it, though he is plagued by guilt and fear afterwards.

Davy at first uses the ability to jump to get ahead financially, for petty revenge, to play tricks on his father, and as a cheap alternative to airfare. He tests his abilities numerous times, and discovers that his powers do have limits. During his stay in New York, he eventually meets a girlfriend, Millie, a few years older than he, and they fall in love, but as his life progresses, he seems to be attracted to individuals intent on harming him. Davy jumps his neighbor to stop a domestic abuse, which gets the NYPD on his trail. While people at parties randomly pick fights with him.

He uses his ability to jump to find, and meet his mother, but after she dies in a terrorist bombing, Davy slumps into depression, and uses his gifts to track down the terrorists. He soon becomes the hunted though as the NSA discover that he can teleport and they hunt him down, popping up in unexpected places with tranquilizers. As they pursue him, he jumps his hunters all over the globe as revenge of sorts. Davy turns the tables by capturing his mother’s murderer, kidnapping a high ranking NSA official and negotiating the release of his girlfriend, and reaches an accord with the NSA. All while still a teenager.

Jumper gets a nomination because this book grabbed, me pulled me in, and jumped me all around the world with Davy. Written in first person perspective, the reader gets to see and feel everything that Davy does. The author crafted these internal events well. This is a character novel, not a superhero novel. In fact the author made Davy so real; I almost believed that I could teleport too. In this respect, it is a great vehicle for a teen to experience independence, as well as what it may be like for someone like them to have super powers.

The book is not only a great thrill ride, but it hits upon some developmental points, and puts Davy, a teen, into a position where he is in power. Davy gains independence from his father at 17, moving to New York. He does steal food, and messes with his father, but realizes that he’s on his own now, and should be more self sufficient. Davy resolves to take nothing else from his father’s house, unless it’s from his own room. He establishes his independence. He even paid his father back for money he took from him.

Davy also enters into a relationship with a woman a few years older than he, defying the sexist opinion of society that the man should be older. He convinces her that if he were older than her, it would be acceptable to society, but since she is older it’s not. His feelings of attraction are normal for a teenager, and his emotional reaction is believable when he reveals to Millie that he is a virgin. They have sex, and later on the relationship grows into something real. They break up briefly, which is complicated by his mother’s death, but in a very adult like fashion, he eventually makes up with her, and they continue the relationship.

He doesn’t seem to be terribly idealistic, except in his morality about killing, and in trying to avoid becoming his father. Early in the book, he had a chance to kill his father, but didn’t. He also could have killed many terrorists, but subdued them instead, and in fact felt guilty when one terrorist committed suicide by bomb. He also was tempted to jump his enemies into rough neighborhoods, but had mercy enough to merely inconvenience them. In fact, he seemed to take some pleasure at just irritating his enemies rather than harming them. One great moment of one-upmanship by Davy: he is surrounded by 5 NSA agents, they want to know who he is, and how he’s doing what he does, he says “We mean no harm to your planet.” I have never laughed so hard in my life.

The power of jumping is also kind of an allegory for the development process, whether done willingly by the author or not. Physically teens are testing out their bodies, Davy tests out his powers. Davy at first doesn’t know the limit of his powers, so throughout the book, he tests their limits, much like a teen tests the limits of what is possible for them to get away with. Once he has mastered one aspect of his ability, he comes up with another way to pioneer a new use for it. He also searches periodically for others like him; much like a teen would search out others like themselves for a sense of identity.

I would classify this more as thriller than Sci-Fi mainly because a Sci-Fi novel, would have delved deeper into the how’s and why’s of jumping. The book spends more time describing Davy’s feelings about things he has done, or considers doing, and he also is incredibly paranoid of people watching and catching him. From robbers and police, in the beginning and middle, to the NSA and terrorists at the end, someone is always after Davy.

One additional note about the book, though published in 92-93, it is incredibly relevant today, with mentions of Shiite and Sunni Muslims, terrorist hijackings and Davy’s personal war on terror, and Government officials illegally wiretapping citizens. I was surprised this book was written in 92 after reading it, because 15 or so years later, these issues have only grown in importance.

Suggestions for Improvement: none. a practically flawless novel.


Genre: Thriller, Science fiction, adventure