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Impulse    by Steven Gould Amazon.com order for
Impulse
by Steven Gould
Order:  USA  Can
Tor, 2013 (2013)
Hardcover, CD, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Impulse follows Jumper and Reflex in Steven Gould's brilliant series of SF thrillers starring young David Rice. He discovered that he was able to teleport in Jumper, fell in love with Millie, and was discovered by the NSA, who came after him and anyone close to him.

In Reflex, an adult David worked for the NSA until he was kidnapped by Hyacinth Pope and steadily, and viciously conditioned to do his captors' will. Millie - a psychologist who had found out after David's disappearance that she could jump too - played Jane Bond to get him back.

Now in Impulse, they have long kept themselves under the government radar, and have brought up their daughter Cent (named Millicent after her mother) in isolation from society 'sixty miles south of the Arctic Circle.' Cent is beginning to rebel against this, as can be seen from the sign on her bedroom door: 'Help! / Being Held Prisoner by Teleporting Aliens! / Kept from Normal Life. / Send Friends. / Also Ice Cream.'

Cent is a great kid. And when she too discovers the ability to jump, her overprotective (in her view) parents have no choice but to give her more freedom before she takes it anyway. So Cent goes to high school, where she makes good friends and bad enemies, joins a snowboarding club, and falls in love. In her spare time, she helps her parents move supplies to refugees in crisis areas. While she does all this, Her dad Davy is on the trail of Hyacinth Pope, who has escaped from prison.

Like her parents, Cent will not stand by and watch injustice. At school (and outside it as well), Caffeine and her vicious cohorts are abusing and blackmailing three juniors. Cent takes action that unfortunately reveals her existence to her parents' enemies. However she has been experimenting with her new abilities beyond anything her parents ever attempted.

Impulse is a wonderful addition to an extraordinary series, highly recommended. I love Steven Gould's work and hope for more, the sooner the better.

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