Just last night...or this morning perhaps depending on your viewpoint (almost 2:20 am XD) I finished this novel for the first time and I'm a fan.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The notion that while Sam always does the right thing, he may not always leave a leapee in a better situation and that one could recall his face and want revenge is brilliant. Though I don't buy that Ann-Marie hadn't deserved to go to prison. She was after all as much a criminal as the man Sam used her to turn over. It would have been stronger with a leapee who hadn't deserved a lousy outcome as I am reminded of the episode Last Dance... which is pretty much an equal.
An example of an innocent leapee who'd met an undeserved outcome was Clayton Fuller of Trilogy part 1.
It would have helped to know the original timeline of the Ann-Marie leap, why the change that was made was so important to make a comparison however it was stated that Sam had supposedly done the ONLY thing that could have put her involvement in the smuggling operation on the radar. So I can see where that would be a pisser.
So perhaps I've initially looked at it from the wrong angle, undeserved outcome or no doesn't necessarily dictate the right to be angry for it.
It's even arguable that she could be held responsible for her choices in the smuggling operation since she was a sociopath which Sam contradicted when acting as her.
So I do find it believable how Al felt so much guilt and sympathy for her. I have no doubt Sam (the leaping Sam not the 1988 Sam that we also briefly see) would have felt the same had he known the situation. That epilogue was pretty amazing.
Ann-Marie came across beautifully as a very sick and disturbed character, particularly through the drawings of Sam. Wow.
I enjoyed the mud wresting leap. It related well to Sam having been set in a small farm town and is refreshing because we have here the only female leapee in the novel series (or rather leapees if we're counting Ann-Marie) unless one counts the three or four year old in Ashley MCconnel's The Wall. Although it focused on a serious conflict it peppered in the right amount of viewpoints which used the amusing aspect of the situation, the female persona. There were times I had to contain myself from laughing aloud while imagining Sam in a bikini because I'd done some of the reading on the bus to class. :roflmao:
Going behind the leaps; the use of Sammy-Jo I found to be probably the best in the novel series though I'm sorry referring to her as Samantha (which at least one other novel does) feels wrong to me. I just don't associate that full version of the name with her. It was nice to actually see her working on the theory we are hinted at in Trilogy Part 3 and that was tied in well with applying it to Al for his leap...well mostly. It was said that due to the amount of Leaps Sam has done his neurons and masons are becoming too diluted for the retrieval program to established a lock on however due to Al leaping so few times it had a higher success rate on him. What I would have liked them to clarify is then why did it not work on Sam in his first leap? By this logic it should have.
One of my favorite things about the project in this novel is how while the rest of the novel series selects a perspective of Sam's leaping to portray, soul or body, this author instead acknowledges that it's a debatable matter by having the project be unsure.
The brief scene where this was discussed reminded me of a conversation I had with Lighting McQueenie about 8 1/2 Months when this author expresses the belief that the fetus HAD in fact leaped with Billy Jean as I do and then apparently leaped back alone before her. After which Tina suggests a theory of Lightning's regarding a bullet Al had taken during his leap which was missing inside the wound when he'd been retrieved. She suggests that it had ended up in some void and that perhaps the same is what must happen to Sam in between leaps.
Well done Christopher DeFilippis.
One thing that didn't fit perfectly was Donna appearing at the end as all of Sam's changes were restoring for two reasons. It stated that Al hadn't been aware that she was missing. That's wrong, Al remembers all timelines. Something this author does acknowledge when Al wonders how pissed the committee will be that he'd leaped against their orders but Ziggy informs him that that conversation no longer happened.
The other thing is that shouldn't Donna have been there at the beginning up until Diane McBride was erased as that was established as when it had started?
This author also gave me one of those 'FINALLY!' moments when he acknowledged Diane McBride on the committee, the only one to do so! Even though her role was only brief because she'd then been erased by Sam's impending murder.
Now with Al's leap into 1988 I had a few issues other than the retrieval program logic.
Two factors peeved me the most; Al meeting his past self and his considering warning Sam not to get into the accelerator early.
Though I did like the opportunity he'd taken with his past self, to whip the younger drunk into shape it still wasn't smart. That's kind of time travel 101, most time travel fiction advises against that.
Then it made no sense for Al to even think about keeping Sam from leaping early when he'd watched one of the changes Sam made while leaping save his life in the form of Dana Barrenger-LoNigro who'd provided the distraction which allowed Al to disarm Ann-Marie. Very interesting use of her character by the way and to have connected her to a character in the mud wrestling leap. Not only that but Al knows very well how important all the changes Sam makes are especially with the closeness he'd felt to Jimmy.
Personally I thought the whole leap wasn't done from the best angle, that it not only would have fulfilled the purpose more effectively but would have provided the project with something interesting to work with had Al been lept into Sam himself. This is a version of Sam that had begun to plan the project so while they'd probably still have to be careful of what they revealed, perhaps he could have been useful. Though the opportunity for Al to hug Sam, which was nice, was probably the central reason for not taking this route.
This would have also prevented a potential flaw which crossed my mind; considering their brain cell connection shouldn't the 1988 Sam have been able to see Al not the aura? It's slightly implied by the lack of repeat occurrences that they may have adjusted Al's side of that while in the imagining chamber after Samantha Stormer. Though that is completely inconclusive so it was actually a smart move not to work with it. There is also the trigger of their making psychical contact however, an effect that had been observed in the waiting room between Al's leapee and the mud wrestler leapee. shouldn't that have worked both ways?
What I did like about Al's leap was the use of Sammy Jo as his hologram. How it had somewhat introduced us to what we might have needed to expect from the sixth season of the show that was under consideration. Supposedly in at least the opening episode Al was supposed to leap to find Sam whose aura hadn't returned to the waiting room with Sammy Jo as his hologram.
One thing that confused me was the whole thing Al tried with the mason jar? I didn't grasp what that was.
The one positive thing that came from the choice of Al's leapee was the interaction between him and the mud wrestler leapee in the waiting room and how Gooshi had threatened to use a photo of Sam and Al's auras waltzing as Christmas cards. Plus Beeks' ick reaction was priceless. Too bad we couldn't get an opinion from Sam, that had me quite intrigued.
Overall 5/5 stars. Excellent.