Book Review: Leaper (by Geoffrey Wood)

I came across this curious novel at Booksale. Leaper talks about the "misadventures of a not-necessarily-super-hero". Based on the cover, the book is about a neurotic coffee barista named James, who suddenly discovers that he has a super power. 

Flipping through the first few pages of the book, I saw how James discover his ability to teleport or "leap" from one spot to another. He found himself transported to the house of his ex-wife and struggled to make sense out of the whole predicament.


Based on my initial impressions, I thought the book was a good read. It had everything that I like in a story -- a quirky protagonist struggling to make sense of his new ability and what to do with it. The humor and snappy dialogue made the story even more entertaining.


After buying the book and making through the next couple of chapters, I got to learn more about James. He has been coping poorly with life, thanks to his divorce. His ex-wife took away everything and all he has left was his job at the coffee house and his apartment. The super power that he discovered made his situation even worse.


I did not expect the author to take the next few chapters to another direction, which was different from the typical superhero stories that I read before. It turns out that James was a non-practicing Catholic and wondered if his new power was given to him by God. I did a little research on Geoffrey Wood, and it turns out that he is a Christian writer and most of his works revolve on faith and religion.


As I continued reading the novel, I learned that it was God who as the one responsible for James's newly acquired power. I part of me cringed, thinking that the story would become one of those preachy religious parables that promotes Catholicism and religion.


Despite his sudden renewal of faith, James's situation continues to deteriorate. He loses his job, alienates his friends, becomes a fugitive, and gets arrested. I noticed that the humorous writing (which was present in the first few chapters) had been replaced with a grim and darker tone. With everything gone, James only had his faith left and learned to trust in God.


The novel had a satisfying ending (I won't spoil it for those who want to read the book), but I am not sure if the book would have the same impact for non-Christians. Wood took the risk in using God as the source for James's leaping power. The superhero story eventually became a spiritual journey of man who rediscovers his faith and reconciles with his own failures.


I find the book a worthy read. It's been a while since I came across a good Christian-based fiction. Despite living in a Catholic country, I noticed that we do have a lack of worthy Catholic stories and novels. Most that I encountered fall into two extreme opposites -- bashing the Church (and God) or blatantly praising them. For me, a good Christian-based fiction is a story that uses religion and faith to explore human nature, from its flaws and imperfections. Such stories don't have to end with people singing and praising God, but religion can be used as a catalyst to either help resolve or to heighten the conflict. It is still the protagonist (and not religion) that makes the choice and finds an appropriate ending for the story.