A Stranger's Touch

This book is awful. I got to page 62, couldn't take it any more and sat down to write this review. I wanted so badly to like it--because the plot seemed unusual--that I probably gave it twice as much reading time as it deserved.

Here's the problem: First, the author constantly tells you things rather than showing them. Second, she tells you the same thing over and over and over.

For example, on page 3, the protagonist's mother, who conveniently speaks aloud to her dead husband in order to impart all the vital information in the book to the readers, says "Somehow they become more receptive near large natural bodies of water, as if it is a portal for them, opening them to other extrasensories. I've tested them...they are very vulnerable by show more water, connecting with it somehow, and that leaves them unprotected."

Then, on page 57, she says, "If there's one place any of my daughters shouldn't be, it's near a major lake."

Then, on page 62, the protagonist herself notes, "Lake Michigan was exactly where she shouldn't be, near big water, a potential psychic portal; she could be very vulnerable."

If this were the only example, it wouldn't be so bad. You could just skip the prologue (the content of which is repeated, in its entirety, within the 62 pages I read, some parts more than once) and you'd be okay. But unfortunately this repetition and lack of subtlety seem to be stylistic choices and they make the book annoying beyond belief. show less

I enjoyed the story line which is the second book of a continuing puzzle begun in the book "At The Edge" (May07). The series will complete in Sep 08 with the release of "For Her Eyes Only".

Claire, Tempest, and Leona are triplets, their mother a famous psychic...and they have each inherited a part of her powers and an unbreakable connection to each other. Claire's story was the first, but this book was Tempest's story. Tempest is a touch-psychic, she can pick up information from people and objects by touch. She's spent most of her life shielding herself with gloves and trying to keep a lid on her power. She's also a sculptor and she met and 'conquered' Marcus at one of her successful showings. Unfortuantely for her, Marcus isn't quite show more willing to leave it at that, so he sets a trap for her. He will be the one to walk away, not her.

As I mentioned, I really enjoyed the overall story. The triplets are being pursued by an evil, an ancient curse, and each book reveals a little more about who/what is after them and what it wants. What didn't click with me was the relationship between the heroine and hero. They seemed to spend their time turning away from each other immediately after having some fairly passionate sex! By 3/4 into the book, I could script their actions pretty well. The book also had a mystery involving Marcus and the author did a great job of keeping my guessing til the end. Will I pick up the 3rd book? You bet. I just hope the hero and heroine have some more pleasing feelings for each other rather than almost constant strife. I would categorize these books as stories that contain elements of passion rather than love stories. show less

Tempest has a gift of psychometry, so she doesn't get close to people because she doesn't want to know everything about people and things. She left Marcus Greystone because they were getting too close but now she needs his help, her sisters have inherited power from their mother and they're in danger, a killer is chasing her and Marcus wants to prove she can't leave him again.

Not bad, want to read the rest of the series to decide what I really think.

I really enjoyed this book. I told a friend to read it and she loved it even more.