Novel adopted
by:
Michelle Morrison
For more by Chris DeFilippis, check out his essay on "Mirror Image" here and his short story following "Mirror Image" here!
| Novel # | 16 |
| Title: | Foreknowledge |
| Author: | Christopher DeFilippis |
| Printed: | March 1998 Berkley/Boulevard |
| ISBN #: | 0-425-16487-X |
| Leap Date: | October 25, 1988 |
| Cover: | Stephen Gardner |
| Pages: | 242 |
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Download a 30-minute radio broadcast featuring the author of Foreknowledge describing the start-to-finish events of the novels' publication! Read the transcript of a special chat with the author of this novel, Christopher DeFilippis, and our members on July 17th, 2005. |
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1976
New York City, New York
October 25, 1988
Wilson, Arkansas
In the year 1976, Sam Beckett leaps out of a woman named Ann Marie Renerie. But this lady is not pleased with her new life--a plea-bargained jail term she never agreed to accept. Now the year is 1988, and Ann Marie's sentence is over and she's vows revenge on the man who put her there. Now Al and the rest of the project must struggle to stop a madwoman before she stops the good doctor forever.
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Sam has leapt from Ann-Marie Renerie into Candy Apple (Sarah Bullock), a female mud wrestler. Sam moves on with his assignment for this leap, which involves keeping the club where Sam’s host works open. Little does he know that Ann-Marie remembers him, is angry about the way things have turned out and wants him dead. Back at the Project, Al is trying to figure out what is happening with Ann-Marie and what is going on with Ziggy, and Sammie Jo is working on getting Sam home.
Place(s)
The places the leaps occur are in New York, Wilson, Arkansas, and MIT
in Massachusetts.
Name of Persons Leaped Into
Sam leaps into Ann-Marie Renerie and then into Sarah Bullock (AKA Candy
Apple). Al leaps into a security guard named Morgan.
Project Trivia
Sammie Jo is an employee at the Project and is working on a retrieval
program to bring Sam home. She doesn’t
know he’s her father, but she does have a connection with him that she
remembers only having with Larry Stanton when Sam leapt into him.
Al and Sammie Jo become a Leaper and
Observer.
Ziggy is being difficult because of a
“space time continuum” problem.
Sam Trivia
Sam doesn’t exactly like the profession of the Leapee, but he does
think people should be allowed to go see mud wrestling if they choose
to. We get a glimpse of Sam during his
Nobel Prize days just before he started building the Project.
Al
Trivia
Al feels it is his fault Sam is still leaping.
Tina is Al’s girlfriend.
Al’s parents and his past in the orphanage are
referred to.
Al is dealing with the Committee, and Sam’s leap
is changing things with them.
Al deals with himself from an earlier time.
Al thoroughly enjoys himself in the wrestler’s dressing room.
Miscellaneous Trivia
Various characters seen or talked about in different QL episodes are
mentioned: Sam’s family (Dad, Mom,
brother, sister and brother-in-law), Diane Frost, Roberto, Alia, Larry
Stanton and Abagail .
Writers
Christopher DeFilippis
Copyright Date
March 1998
Leap Date(s)
Sam: 1976 and October 25, 1988. Al: Around
November of 1988.
Regular Characters
Sam, Al and Ziggy (or the com link used to communicate with her).
Guest Characters
Kathy Scheber-Dawson, Richard Dawson, Kyle Singer, Theresa (Tawny)
Singer, Nancy Dotoroviz, Allison Wottawa, Jerry Browne and Rex
Barrenger are the guest characters in Sam’s leap. Professor
Sebastian LoNigro and his wife, Dana Barrenger-LoNigro , who have
significant roles in Sam and Al’s past are the guest characters in Al’s
leap.
Guest character notes
Kathy (Kat) Scheber-Dawson and her husband Richard are the owners of
the Kit Kat Bar where Sam’s host works. Kat
is a former actress who starred in movies with titles like “Die,
Virgins, Die”, which of course Al has seen. Richard
was a bit player in various B-movies. Tawny
is a wrestler who is estranged from her brother and father. Kyle Singer is a reporter who is onto a big
story. Nancy Dotoroviz, a reporter, and
her cousin, Allison Wottawa, a young lady who works in the hall of
records, are instrumental in helping Kyle with his story.
Jerry Browne is a reporter with a secret.
Rex Barrenger is a sleazy politician with an agenda.
Characters Who Appeared in
QL TV Episodes
Sammie Jo appeared in the Trilogy part 3. Gooshie,
Dr. Beeks, Donna and Tina are at least mentioned in various QL
episodes; we saw them in Genesis, The Leap Back, Star Crossed and
Mirror Image. Dr. LoNigro and his
wife Dana are seen in Her Charm.
Personal Review
This was a very well written story that explores what happens when
someone Sam has leapt into remembers him later and attempts to kill him. When Sam leaps out of Ann-Marie Renerie at the
beginning of the story, assumes that he has fixed what he is supposed
to and that he is done with that particular leap. He’s
wrong, because Ann-Marie somehow remembers him and decides she wants
revenge for ending up in prison. He leaps
from Ann-Marie into a (of all things) female mud wrestler.
His job is to make things right for Kat and her husband
Richard, his host and the other wrestlers. Chris
has a great understanding of the characters and combines drama and
comedy very effectively. He also moves
smoothly between the scenes of Sam’s current leap, Al and the Project
and Ann-Marie. I initially really
disliked Ann-Marie; I thought she was totally self-absorbed. I understood as I read further that, although
she was selfish in many ways and made bad choices, she was also a
victim of circumstances. Her circumstances
are largely of her own making, yes, but she doesn’t remember the events
that led to her being in prison. The scene
at the end between Ann-Marie and Al is touching. This
is a book I will be glad to read more than once.
Best Line
Sam: You’re a pig.
Al: At least I wasn’t rolling around in
the mud, although I’d like to.
Best Scene
I would have to include several scenes as my favorites.
I loved it when Al was in the dressing room leering at the
ladies and I loved Sam’s response. It was
classic Al and Sam. The scene near the end
where Sam has to wrestle just before he leaps is a riot.
Al’s interaction with Ann-Marie at the end is
compassionate and touching too.
Say What?
I found it a little farfetched that Ann-Marie would just happen to find
out where Sam is by picking up a magazine, but Chris handled that well. It could have been totally ridiculous but it
wasn’t; Chris makes it believable.
Quotable Quotes
(Ann-Marie is confronting Sam at MIT before Sam has built the Project
and started leaping, trying to get him to admit he ruined her life)
Ann-Marie: You
got cotton in your ears, man? I just told
you. Why do you insist on keeping up this
charade? It’s confession time. I’ll give you one more chance.
Sam: Chance
at what? I’ve never seen you before in my
life.
(Al is telling Sam about a
representative from a production company who will be at the club at an
opportune time. This is just
priceless).
Al: The guy
is going to offer them some cash to film a special that will air on
cable stations nationally….The Mud Queens Mud Wrestling
Extravaganza, they’ll call it.
Sam: What
does that have to do with my leap?
Al: Ziggy
says that a rep from a modeling agency will be watching…
Sam: Oh,
no…No, no, no…
Al: Yes,
yes, yes…
Sam: Don’t
say it, Al. Don’t say it.
Al: Ah, is
your bikini clean?
ISBN Number
0-425-16487-X
Author’s Notes
The author mentions that the events take place after the Trilogy.
Info about author
Chris lives in New York and has a blog.