Jumper (Steven Gould)

Jumper
Steven Gould
Starscape
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
*** (Okay)

DESCRIPTION: One night, facing his drunken father's belt buckle for failing to mow the lawn, David Rice suddenly finds himself standing in the Stanwood library building. A short time later, he escapes another terrible situation, instantly and inexplicably. Are these traumatic blackouts, or something more?
David's new-found ability to "jump" to anywhere he has ever been, anywhere he can visualize clearly, helps him escape his abusive father. It even helps him get money to start over again in New York City, no easy task for an underage kid with no GED, social security card, or even a copy of his birth certificate. But it can't help him put the pieces of his shattered life together again, nor can it help him answer the questions that haunt him: What really happened to his abused mother? Can anyone else in his family do what he does? And how is a freak of nature ever supposed to find happiness?

REVIEW: This book starts fairly fast. David's life is one of violence, abuse, and lies, and even when he flees his father the darkness follows him, tainting his choices. His jumping ability is both a gift and a curse, a temptation to crime and vengeance. It has limits, but no apparent cost, save to his own psyche. Round about the midpoint, the book starts to lose its way, much like David. I had the vague impression that Gould, having come up with David's exceptional skill, wasn't quite sure what to do with it or the boy burdened by it. The final third or so sees the plot pretty much disintegrate, as he runs afoul of national security forces and starts a one-man war to avenge his mother. It all leads up to an ending that fails to live up to the earlier potential. Jumper is at its best when it's exploring the life of a scared young man dealing with a power he cannot understand, trying to rebuild himself with nothing but broken pieces. Unfortunately, it doesn't trust that strength enough to stay there for the whole book.