Leaper
The Misadventures of a Not-Necessarily-Super Hero

by Geoffrey Wood

Leaper, subtitled The Misadventures of a Not-Necessarily-Super Hero is a fantastic frolic in the weird and wacky hyper-caffeinated world of James, the “anti-hero”. What appears at first to be simply a delightful bit of hilarious fluff develops, in its own kooky fashion, into a farcical philosophic exploration of the nature of faith.

James, with his funky apartment, coffee-holic jitters, and aptness at absurdly inappropriate yet heart-rending dialogue, is totally clueless about what is going on in this bizarrely comic and touchingly tragic, very personal drama. Surprised by his sudden and strange new super power, James gradually learns to believe in and semi-control his ability to “leap” or to, almost effortlessly, move himself magically from one location to another.

Geoffry Wood, himself an inveterate Starbucks fanatic, debuts his hyper-imaginative quirky style in Leaper , envisioning an unsuspecting superhero who doesn't believe in his own powers or know how to handle them. Does he need a costume? What about good deeds? Far from invincible, James wrestles with his new superpower, loses fall after fall, and, after concluding that his new ability comes from God, tries to give it back.

In addition to botching every attempt to reinvent a relationship with his ex wife, Meg, James also fails to strike even preliminary sparks with his new love interest, Monica, and her quirky family. He also manages to get fired from his job, have a major duct tape adventure, save a kidnapped boy, land in jail, and alienate almost everybody except for Father Chavez, the saintly priest.

The ‘coffee house junky' jokes get a little stale, but the juicy repartee lingers appealingly on the palate. The delicious wordplay with the 911 operator is worth salivating for.

With a whole new, playful take on God-given gifts and superpowers as embodied in cracked, dented and otherwise limited human beings, Wood lifts his delightfully talented voice to offer Leaper to all of us would-be leapers who are forever in search of a poignant, provocative, peculiar paperback to offer us laughter as strong as our java. Enjoy this one and make a wish to soon be lucky enough to share his wiles again.