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karireads's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The main knock I have on this book is the pace was almost painfully slow at times. Everything else was good.
mg_in_md_'s review
3.0
I received a copy of this book during a mystery conference and had the pleasure of meeting the author, who was one of the honorees that year. This book is set during the 1920s in England. However, one of the main characters, Harris Stuyvesant, is an American agent with the Bureau of Investigation. Stuyvesant travels to England following a terrorist bombing in the U.S. that he discovers has ties to radical elements in England. He believes the swift investigation was a cover-up and the true culprit remains at large. The bombing impacted his personal life and he is on a quest to seek justice, even though it means he has gone a bit rogue with his investigation. After meeting with British intelligence agent Aldous Carstairs, who has a hidden agenda and is not entirely trusted by Stuyvesant, Stuyvesant is partnered up with Bennett Grey, a recluse code-named Touchstone who was once studied by British intelligence for his extreme sensitivity to the world's turmoil. The plot is quite complex and draws in many historical events and issues. I found the pacing a bit slow for my taste in the beginning but it contributed to the plot development. Once Stuyvesant and Grey meet and the investigation starts in earnest, I found myself more drawn into this tale of intrigue. I found myself wondering where this tale would eventually lead and curious to get to the end.
pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
I have listened to all of the Laurie R. King books that I have read. I started with the Kate Martinelli novels which are read by Alyssa Bresnahan. Ms Besnahan does a great job and I can’t imagine not hearing her voice with those characters.
Then I encountered the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series that starts with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. Most of those are read by Jenny Sterlin and once again Ms Sterlin’s voice is the only way I want to encounter those tales.
Along the way, King has written a number of books not in those two series and I listened to all of those. Or at least I thought I had gotten to all those novels until I encountered this one. I wouldn’t have known that King had written about Harris Stuyvesant in Touchstone if I hadn’t seen the second volume, The Bones of Paris. This audio was recorded by Jefferson Mays, who is an actor who has won several theater awards. I liked his voice as much as the other narrators for King’s books and I am hoping he reads the second volume.
I enjoyed this story a great deal. I liked Harris Stuyvesant and many of the other characters in the novel. There is a wonderful but awful evil character who made my skin crawl every time he appeared. King does a great job with her protagonists’ enemies. Because I really did not know anything about the general strike in Great Britain in 1926, I found the intrigue about that fascinating.
I am so glad that I found this audiobook and am looking forward to the second mystery with
Then I encountered the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series that starts with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. Most of those are read by Jenny Sterlin and once again Ms Sterlin’s voice is the only way I want to encounter those tales.
Along the way, King has written a number of books not in those two series and I listened to all of those. Or at least I thought I had gotten to all those novels until I encountered this one. I wouldn’t have known that King had written about Harris Stuyvesant in Touchstone if I hadn’t seen the second volume, The Bones of Paris. This audio was recorded by Jefferson Mays, who is an actor who has won several theater awards. I liked his voice as much as the other narrators for King’s books and I am hoping he reads the second volume.
I enjoyed this story a great deal. I liked Harris Stuyvesant and many of the other characters in the novel. There is a wonderful but awful evil character who made my skin crawl every time he appeared. King does a great job with her protagonists’ enemies. Because I really did not know anything about the general strike in Great Britain in 1926, I found the intrigue about that fascinating.
I am so glad that I found this audiobook and am looking forward to the second mystery with
ladyejayne's review against another edition
Great story, compelling characters. I hope King writes more of Stuyvesant.
lisanussd's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book. I read about 5 books while trying to finish this one. I was interested to see other readers on GR felt that the book could have been shorter. The writing was good, and somehow the style made me feel like I was reading something out of the early 20th century. It had a quirkiness about it, I can't quite describe. The main characters and plot were strong. The characters were well-developed. However, the subplot of anarchy just seemed to be a stretch. I might read the next one in the series...
karieh13's review against another edition
3.0
Although “Touchstone” got off to a rather confusing start (I wasn’t sure who I was reading about there for a while…), after the character of Bennett Grey was introduced, this book kicked into vintage Laurie R. King style and I was hooked.
This is a gripping story with characters more fully fleshed out than in your usual mystery/thriller. At times, Grey’s emotional pain was so strong that it practically leapt off the page. “Touchstone” has many of the usual elements of a thriller (twists, turns, doubting one character after another, an English country house…) and yet the reader gets far more than that. Beyond the mystery, there is also the sense that the reader truly is in the minds of Bennett Grey and Harris Stuyvesant. The relationship that develops between these two disparate people is much of what kept me reading, and enjoying, “Touchstone”.
This is a gripping story with characters more fully fleshed out than in your usual mystery/thriller. At times, Grey’s emotional pain was so strong that it practically leapt off the page. “Touchstone” has many of the usual elements of a thriller (twists, turns, doubting one character after another, an English country house…) and yet the reader gets far more than that. Beyond the mystery, there is also the sense that the reader truly is in the minds of Bennett Grey and Harris Stuyvesant. The relationship that develops between these two disparate people is much of what kept me reading, and enjoying, “Touchstone”.
tsenko2's review
5.0
A book that will linger
This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.
I will admit, I didn’t enjoy all of the politics and it dragged at times. The book was perhaps longer than it should have been and I understand why some readers wouldn’t finish.
That’s their loss, though, because the ending is tense, suspenseful, and very worth it.
This is a book that will stay with me for a long time.
I will admit, I didn’t enjoy all of the politics and it dragged at times. The book was perhaps longer than it should have been and I understand why some readers wouldn’t finish.
That’s their loss, though, because the ending is tense, suspenseful, and very worth it.
hgranger's review against another edition
3.0
Good mystery mixed with just a touch of the supernatural. I liked the writing style of seeng the story from different points of view. I severely disliked how slow-moving and occasionally repetitive the narration was. I did not need to be told repeatedly that Carstairs really enjoyed Machiavelli's methods and that he truly did not want to rule in the public eye. I felt that this novel suffered severely from the tell-instead-of-show syndrome.
I loved Harris. An arch-typical American hero; with courage and brawn, and then he was smart to boot. Yay. He may be a large part of the reason i didn't give the book two stars. I get that he was well-written and interesting. I loved Grey - until the end. I understand that he let Laura go. But Sarah?! And I am confused - do we now admire people blowing themselves up for a cause, because it makes the world think? Because that was heavily insinuated in the epilogue. I will read the sequel (hoping to have more show than tell) because I am not ready to part with Harris - although I am wondering from the description of it if He is again alone and suffering from a broken heart. Which I can see as useful in a story but I think he deserves better.
I loved Harris. An arch-typical American hero; with courage and brawn, and then he was smart to boot. Yay. He may be a large part of the reason i didn't give the book two stars. I get that he was well-written and interesting. I loved Grey - until the end. I understand that he let Laura go. But Sarah?! And I am confused - do we now admire people blowing themselves up for a cause, because it makes the world think? Because that was heavily insinuated in the epilogue. I will read the sequel (hoping to have more show than tell) because I am not ready to part with Harris - although I am wondering from the description of it if He is again alone and suffering from a broken heart. Which I can see as useful in a story but I think he deserves better.
gthieme's review against another edition
5.0
This is the kind of book that necessitates staring into space for an hour after you finish it. Just to ponder.