3 out of 4 stars
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Superhighway 2 is Alex Fayman’s second book of a trilogy. In it, Alex Fine wakes to find himself a human lab rat, having his memories forcibly retrieved by scientists desperate to discover the secret of his ability to travel through the internet by electroportation. Alex was supposed to be confined in a secret location after a terrified world had learned of his abilities. No one wanted any one country to have sole access to him. The experiments weren’t part of the deal.
In the first book of this trilogy, Alex had taken refuge from his life and relationship woes at his island home, ready to find a new path in life. Unfortunately, he was interrupted by helicopters and armed men. This second book tells of his escape from that, of his marriage to Yana, and the birth of his son. As the world situation starts falling apart due to tensions between Russia and the U.S., in part because of Alex’s actions, Alex’s life falls apart again along with it.
There’s a paragraph that sums up at least one of the life lessons I’m getting from this author:
The decisions made early in life may seem inconsequential at the time but gain significance as they are compounded over the course of a lifetime. Ironically, some of the most important life-framing decisions have to be made when a human being is hindered by youth and is least prepared to make them.
Much of Alex Fine’s story illustrates this philosophy vividly as we watch Alex careen wildly from one bad life decision to another. Buying an island from someone with the very money he stole from that man is one. Indulging in excessive alcohol and drug use is another. Once he finally gets his life somewhat together, those past choices come right back at him, demanding he pay the consequences. Some of the things he does are almost admirable. Bankrupting a major criminal to use the ill-gotten gains to help those in great need doesn’t sound so bad, maybe even worth commendation. But the lack of foresight Alex shows, and his youthful impulsiveness cost him greatly, just as they do in real life.
There was a part where I was so relieved that he had finally acknowledged the downward spiral he was racing along. He had no choice but to be the man that, age-wise, he now was. The relief didn’t last long though and I was saying (literally, out loud) “No, no! Oh, no.” There were also a few humorous lines, like when he and Yana were discussing his being in IT (information technology), Yana’s response was really funny.
Unfortunately, many of the amusing moments came about because of odd word usage. Superhighway2 is a mixture of exquisite and bizarre use of English. I would be seeing the scenes, feeling the emotions, then suddenly either reel back asking “What?” or crack up laughing. Examples are women “flopping their eyelashes” and Alex complaining about his destroyed sleep schedule, “My Arcadian rhythm was in shambles.” I enjoy linguistics and found myself often intrigued by trying to figure out how he ever came up with the specific wrong words and expressions. If that’s not an area of interest to you, you will probably be annoyed by the overwhelming number of these mistakes. Because of them, I rate this 3 out of 4 stars instead of a full four. In addition to that, if you detest reading about drug and alcohol abuse, don’t read this. Alex uses these as a way to cope with, and escape from, his problems much too often.
Readers who enjoy political intrigue and are suspicious of intrusive government should enjoy this. International relations, the CIA, and espionage play large parts in the story. Anyone who has been young and foolish themselves can read this and be grateful that they, hopefully, never had quite so much at stake as this young man did.
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Superhighway 2
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