3 out of 4 stars
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What would you do if you discovered that you could physically travel through the internet? Where would you go? Who will you tell?
Alex Fine found himself in this situation accidentally. At 18 years old, he had been returned by multiple foster and adoptive parents back to the orphanage. Ms. Jenkins, the administrator, treated him like a son and made allowances for the potential she saw in him. The special treatment the other orphans saw did not endear him to them so he withdrew to himself and books. One day, Alex was engrossed at a donated computer after hours. After googling an exotic location, he touched a network cable and was instantly transported to the location he googled. Thus begins Alex's adventures in electroportation, in this coming-of-age sci-fi novel, Superhighway by another Alex, Alex Fayman.
The book fits the genre very well. It vividly describes Alex's confusion, reactions, and actions in dealing with his discovery. He experimented on what he could do with his power and he used it to do good. He didn't think long-term enough about the possible negative consequences of his actions, that targeting bad men would make him a target. He didn't give an update to Ms. Jenkins who was worried due to his disappearance. His immaturity and learning from his mistakes endeared me to him and this book. The teenage experiences and personalities are authentically portrayed, albeit not as diverse as I would have liked.
Another thing I enjoyed in the book were the action scenes and the suspense. I flipped through quickly to find out what Alex would do next, how he got his gift and even how he arrived at the orphanage. I lost sleep to continue reading when he found other teens who had the same power. I liked the use of a literary framing device acting as bookends to heighten the suspense. There are some details that are weak, such as Alex arriving at a different computer location even when returning; details which I hope will be ironed out in the sequels. There are also typos and grammar errors, like using "peak" instead of "peek", "waive" instead of "wave", misusing "evidenced", and some commas that were unnecessary. The definition of internet at the beginning could be removed.
Overall, these weaknesses are rare and do not distract from the enjoyment of the book but I am taking off a star for the imperfect editing. There are sex scenes and instances of violence but they are not explicit. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars and recommend it to lovers of the young adult and sci-fi genres.
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Superhighway
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