Jump Cut by Ted Staunton has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine. It is the one of the “Seven: The Series” books.
Jump Cut by Ted Staunton has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine. It is the one of the “Seven: The Series” books.
When Spencer’s grandfather dies, he leaves each of his grandsons a unique mission to complete. Since Spencer loves filmmaking, he’s given the task of finding and kissing Grandpa’s favorite film star, Gloria Lorraine. Spencer is also required to film the kiss. The young man is less than thrilled about kissing an old woman, but he locates her, sends her a message online and accepts her invitation to meet in Buffalo, New York. His dad, Jer, goes with him.
In Buffalo, Jer waits in the car while Spencer goes into the retirement home to meet Gloria. Jer doesn’t expect to be there long. But Gloria wants Spencer to do something for her as well. She tells him they need to run a few errands before she will give him the kiss. She takes him to a Cadillac convertible in the parking lot and tells him to drive.
Gloria directs Spencer to the home of her granddaughter, AmberLea, who is about Spencer’s age. Gloria is annoyed to hear that AmberLea’s mother is gone with the Mercedes. She orders AmberLea to come with them.
They stop at a store for several items, including adult diapers for Gloria. When they try to put the items in the trunk, they find a man and his Chihuahua in there, bound and gagged. Gloria takes the man’s gun before ordering the kids to untape him.
The man’s name is Al Capoli, and his dog is Mister Bones. The car they’ve been driving is his, as are the large plastic bags full of white powder in the trunk. Al assures everyone he’s a baker and the powder is icing sugar, but no one is convinced.
Gloria puts Al back in the trunk with his merchandise before the group crosses the border into Canada. She says she can tell Al is a gangster on the run, so his best bet is to stay with them and hope he’s not noticed. She tells AmberLea they’re making this trip because she has something important she needs to do while there is still time. She urges Spencer to film some of their trip since his grandfather wanted him to make a movie.
As they continue to drive through Canada, they evade a car full of Al’s enemies. Spencer and AmberLea get to know each other, and Gloria reveals more information about her past. After several more days on the road, they reach a small town called Jackfish. Spencer knows his grandfather lived in this town for a while.
They find the Superior Hotel, where Gloria is reunited with her ailing brother and his adult son. Gloria finally explains her connection to Spencer’s grandfather and reveals more secrets of her past: She was in Jackfish during the Great Depression, when she met a boy named Danny. They planned to marry, but Danny was killed in a boat accident.
Gloria learned she was pregnant with his child. She knew she couldn’t tell her family. Spencer’s grandfather was still just a boy at the time, but he offered to marry Gloria and take care of her. He gave her money for a train ticket out town. She started a new life in another city, where she was so depressed, she considered killing herself. Then a talent agent discovered her at the lunch counter where she worked, and her film career began.
Gang members find the white powder in the Cadillac, and Gloria, AmberLea, Spencer and Al find themselves in the crossfire of a war between rival gangs. AmberLea contacts the police. Her mom, Spencer’s dad and Gloria’s nephew all arrive with the police. Just before the paramedics take Gloria away, AmberLea records her kissing Spencer.
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Gloria curses constantly and orders others around. She says she was a terrible parent, and AmberLea’s mother runs on Valium because of it. Jer does little to locate Spencer during his unexpected journey and refrains from telling his wife the boy is driving through Canada with strangers.
The Lord’s name is used in vain several times. Words including crap, h—, a–, d–n, screw and butt appear frequently. The text mentions characters using “the f-bomb,” and a scene involving gang members includes the word bleep a number of times. The actual curse words are not spelled out in the text in these scenes. Gloria discusses “boob jobs” and “gonads,” and she calls a former co-star a “bum-grabber.”
Gloria kisses Spencer twice on the cheek. Spencer makes several comments about AmberLea’s body, first saying she’s not super hot because she’s small on top and her hips are too wide for her skinny jeans. He notes he’s not exactly a sex-god himself. He later imagines filming a movie scene where AmberLea swims naked. By the end, after he’s gotten to know and like AmberLea, he says he has completely rethought his position on her tight jeans.
Crime: Gang members shoot guns and fight over drugs. AmberLea tells Spencer she and some friends ditched a cab rather than paying the driver after a night of partying. A judge sentenced her to house arrest.
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