3 out of 4 stars
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Superhighway 2 by Alex Fayman is a science fiction novel which follows Alex Fine’s continuing adventures. Narrowly escaping death at his stolen Caribbean mansion, Alex leaves his former life and tragedies behind in an attempt to start over. Entranced by a Russian beauty with a history sadder than his own and sliding down the slope of severe drug addiction; Alex’s new life falls very short of his aspirations. Every new possibility of finding meaningful life brings Alex’s past one step closer to him. His superhuman ability to travel through the internet, manipulate, and download data into his brain has not been forgotten by jealous and fearful powers. The world spins into warfare with Alex and his talents in the middle of the conflict.
Fayman’s writing continues to impress in this sequel. The dialogues are much smoother, the background descriptions have been evened out, and the action has been taken to higher levels. The story itself is much more streamlined than the first novel. With the larger amount of time covered, many of the small and particular scenes have disappeared which I found to be a relief. The author continues the use of detailed food descriptions to expand his scenes but has thankfully lessened the number of brand name references that he used in the first novel to highlight the opulence of Alex’s lifestyle.
Alex Fine’s character continues to strike a chord and bond with the reader. The adolescent short-sightedness transforms into a young man’s continued poor choices. The character is nothing short of tragic and each new experience leaves you feeling worse for the man, but yet his choices and preferences leave no doubt that he has brought his own fate upon himself. I do, however, have some complaints about the supporting characters. Alex’s love interests, though many, just seem to be the same woman in a different skin. Their tragic pasts are different yet their dialogues and actions towards Alex are too similar. I did not care for the introduction of the character Angela as a past and dear friend as she had not been mentioned until the story had a need of her presence. Since the story focuses more on Alex’s relationship and bonding problems, someone of the almost sister-like importance given to Angela should have been introduced earlier in the novel. The character ended up feeling pasted in and some less connected character could have served the story purpose just as well.
The story introduces a much higher level of action than the previous novel which focused on Alex’s small clandestine adventures. Here we see, full scale, the result of his mistakes. The author’s use of flashbacks through Alex’s captivity was in keeping with the feel from the first novel and handled very well. The action scenes were well thought-out and described, but tended to feel rushed in the overall flow of the story. His escape, in particular, was so rushed that I missed a very key element until later chapters brought the element to light. The novel wrapped up a bit short in my opinion, and too prettily as well. A few loose ends in a story as hectic as this one would not be amiss.
Overall, Superhighway 2 was as enjoyable as the first novel and again I would recommend it to science fiction fans as a light read. I do not recommend it for the younger teenage reader as the sex and drug descriptions are increasingly explicit. There were several editing errors, but nothing so severe as to disturb the flow of reading. The unfocused background characters, the rushed action scenes, and quick wrap up prevent me from giving the novel the highest of ratings. I did enjoy the book, look forward to reading the final installment, and give it a rating of 3 out of 4 stars.
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Superhighway 2
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Not a prude at all. I am not either but I shudder to think of a young teenager picking up this book and making Alex Fine into some sort of role-model.
