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Harris Stuyvesant #1
Touchstone
London, 1926. Harris Stuyvesant, agent of the US Bureau of Investigation, is on a mission. A series of bomb attacks on American soil, thought to be the work of an up-and-coming British politician, have left him with a vendetta more personal than professional. But when his search for answers leads him to government official Aldous Carstairs, the US agent may find himself in over his head. At Carstairs' recommendation, Stuyvesant enlists the help of Bennett Grey, a man with unique abilities. After the Great War left him with an excruciating sensitivity to human deceit, Grey has withdrawn from the world. Now, however, he must help the American insert himself into the terrorist's rich and radical social circle. Here Stuyvesant uncovers hidden secrets, a horrifying conspiracy, and wonders if he can trust his touchstone, Grey, to reveal the most dangerous player of all . . .
562 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
361 people are currently reading
3066 people want to read
About the author
Laurie R. King
136 books6,852 followersEdgar-winning mystery writer Laurie R. King writes series and standalone novels. Her official forum is
THE LRK VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB here on Goodreads--please join us for book-discussing fun.
King's 2018 novel, Island of the Mad, sees Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel from London's Bedlam to the glitter of Venice's Lido,where Young Things and the friends of Cole Porter pass Mussolini's Blackshirts in the streets. The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series follows a brilliant young woman who becomes the student, then partner, of the great detective. [click here for an excerpt of the first in the series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice] The Stuyvesant and Grey series (Touchstone; The Bones of Paris) takes place in Europe between the Wars. The Kate Martinelli series follows an SFPD detective's cases on a female Rembrandt, a holy fool, and more. [Click for an excerpt of A Grave Talent]
King lives in northern California, which serves as backdrop for some of her books.
Please note that Laurie checks her Goodreads inbox intermittently, so it may take some time to receive a reply. A quicker response may be possible via email to info@laurierking.com.
THE LRK VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB here on Goodreads--please join us for book-discussing fun.
King's 2018 novel, Island of the Mad, sees Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes travel from London's Bedlam to the glitter of Venice's Lido,where Young Things and the friends of Cole Porter pass Mussolini's Blackshirts in the streets. The Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series follows a brilliant young woman who becomes the student, then partner, of the great detective. [click here for an excerpt of the first in the series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice] The Stuyvesant and Grey series (Touchstone; The Bones of Paris) takes place in Europe between the Wars. The Kate Martinelli series follows an SFPD detective's cases on a female Rembrandt, a holy fool, and more. [Click for an excerpt of A Grave Talent]
King lives in northern California, which serves as backdrop for some of her books.
Please note that Laurie checks her Goodreads inbox intermittently, so it may take some time to receive a reply. A quicker response may be possible via email to info@laurierking.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 546 reviews
October 25, 2013
When I started reading Laurie R King's Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes series a couple of years ago after a very long break from her work, I didn't know about this novel. First published in 2007, it's been a standalone work until recently, when a second novel featuring the same main protagonists, The Bones of Paris, was published. I like King's writing. Her prose is excellent, she does a good job creating interesting (if not always believable) characters, her evocation of time and place is powerful and she weaves historical events and personalities into her stories in an interesting and unforced manner.
Touchstone is something of a departure from King's Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes series and her earlier Kate Martinelli series. Rather than crime fiction, it's in the thriller genre. The novel is set in England in 1926, in the lead up to a national strike in support of coal miners. Harris Stuyvesant, an agent with the Bureau of Investigation (precursor to the FBI) is in London following a lead in his investigation into a series of politically motivated bombings in the US. He crosses paths with the sinister eminence grise Aldous Carstairs and shell shocked veteran Bennett Grey, a man whose war injuries have given him a particular sensitivity to deception. (Grey is one of those interesting but not very believable characters King is particularly good at creating).
The narrative is in the third person omniscient style, giving an old-fashioned feel to the work which I quite like, although the rapidity with which the perpective switches from one character to another was sometimes a little annoying. Another feature of the work is its sedate pace. I don't read many thrillers and I don't need my fiction to be action packed, but even taking my patience with a slow narrative into account, there were times when this one went too slowly for me. There are too many cigarettes smoked, too many cups of coffee drunk and too many drinking sessions and hangovers described in minute detail. This does not make for a particularly thrilling thriller.
I worked out - well, correctly guessed - the identity of the perpetrator early on. However, I doubted myself because my guess didn't seem particularly credible. And indeed, the climax of the action was anything but credible. However, that happens in crime fiction - and in thrillers too, I suppose - so there's no point in reading such novels at all if you can't cross the suspension bridge of disbelief and enjoy the view from the other side. Notwithstanding my reservations, I enjoyed the view enough to give this 3 to 3.5 stars. I also liked it enough to move straight on to its newly published sequel. What can I say, it was there, ready to go. And it's set in 1920s Paris, one of my favourite literary locations.
I listened to the audiobook version which is competently narrated by American actor Jefferson Mays. He's not bad at the English voices - although he mostly sounds like an American putting on an English accent and a Welsh accent proved beyond his ability - and he doesn't come over all falsetto with the female characters. All in all, Mays made listening pleasant.
January 27, 2008
This was a haunting book that carefully toed the line between supernatural fiction and mystery. Laurie King is the author of several excellent series (the Holmes/Russell books are among my all-time favorites) and this was definitely closer to the suspense/thriller side of mystery than her others. The story involves an FBI agent tracking down a terrorist in the 1920's, who gets pulled into a creepy organization built around a man with a very disturbing ability. The whole book has an air of melancholy, and all of the characters are already wounded in some way, whether physically or emotionally, and only face more of it during their lives. Still, it never really crosses into being maudlin, probably because of the crisp action scenes and the humor of the setting. Laurie King is truly a master storyteller, and this book only misses a five because I compare it to The Beekeeper's Apprentice and A Monstrous Regiment of Women, which I still think are better. :)
June 14, 2008
I usually like Laurie King's books,(she's on my author alert at the library,) but I took this out TWICE from the library, and couldn't finish it either time. The second time, I didn't even want to pick it up--there were just too many other interesting things to do or read.
The first time I got about halfway through before I had to return the book. The subject matter wasn't terribly interesting to me: it takes place in the 1920s, and involves espionage and one man who was left with psychic abilities from his injuries in WWI. So, perhaps this is a better book for someone who is interested in period pieces and warfare.
The first time I got about halfway through before I had to return the book. The subject matter wasn't terribly interesting to me: it takes place in the 1920s, and involves espionage and one man who was left with psychic abilities from his injuries in WWI. So, perhaps this is a better book for someone who is interested in period pieces and warfare.
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November 16, 2015When you'd rather fold laundry than read a book...it's time to put the book aside and move on to something else.
February 21, 2021
This book involved a period of political history I knew little about: 1926 and the General Strike in support of the miners. From this point of view, I learned a lot. Laurie King was able to evoke a real sense of setting and time too. However the pace was really slow; and the book felt like it was way too long; this really did mar my enjoyment. The characters were well drawn especially the villains of the piece!
January 6, 2020
This is the kind of book that necessitates staring into space for an hour after you finish it. Just to ponder.
March 28, 2016
Love the author's Russell & Holmes and Kate Martinelli series so I was glad to see she created another world and characters set in the '20s with dogged Harris Stuyvesant for the protagonist.
Harris is an American Federal agent and he is on the hunt for a bomber who struck several times in the US, but is an Englishman. He takes leave and heads to England to track him down. But this is no ordinary man and he circulates in the highest circles of English society. So Harris is forced to elicit the help of a shady and shadowy member of British government who leads him to a man, Bennett Grey, gifted with an ability that this government man, Carstairs, wants to exploit.
With the fragile Bennett at his side, Harris infiltrates the group surrounding Benson through the aristocratic Hurleighs who Bennett and his sister, who works with Benson's movement, know since childhood. The hunt is twisty and the game is deep. No one is without secrets or an agenda. But Harris has to figure it out before another incident happens and this time on English soil.
This sounds exciting in the blurb and it delivers on the promises there. But...
Yeah, there's a but. There is soooooo much build up that this moves along at a snail's pace. The characters, the settings, the historical backdrops, the relationships, the politics all take precedence so the forward motion is a hard slog. I think what was truly hard for me was the fact that I figured this one out and why pretty much after the players and their situations were all introduced. Not even the final twist was a shocker. I do like my surprises.
Now the stuff I did like were the characters and their interactions and even the atmosphere. Harris was fantastic. I loved spending time as he did his job. He's a working class American who thinks for himself and has a bit of rebel in him and he is plopped right into the middle of staid English English-ness. LOL. I know that sounds silly, but that's what it was like. He used the clod of an American role to his benefit as he moved around amongst the English upper classes and equally as snobby lower classes who get nervous with someone who doesn't know his place and doesn't fit into a niche. Then there's Bennett. Bennett has a gift that allows him to know when a person resonates true. He barely survived the war and then was misused to test him. And now he just wants to be left in peace. But Harris barges into his life and Bennett agrees to help even though he has secrets of his own.
The historical setting felt right. Post-WWI England, Political and Social unrest, Wounded Vets, Changing structure, Precarious Economy, High Society English country life, and detection and espionage work of the time. The dialogue, dress, mannerisms, activities was all detailed in as background without pushing out the story. Well other than the class wars and Political unrest which were big themes.
The suspense is twisted and there are enough suspicious people to keep the reader occupied. It's more of a cerebral suspense than an action one. Though Harris is the sort of hero that can deliver on the action and spying when called upon.
There is a whiff of romance and an aching love affair, but these are minor plots. Though, maybe later in the series.
So, this one was a plodder and not as devious as I like, but it shows promise. I definitely plan on continuing on to the next book.
Harris is an American Federal agent and he is on the hunt for a bomber who struck several times in the US, but is an Englishman. He takes leave and heads to England to track him down. But this is no ordinary man and he circulates in the highest circles of English society. So Harris is forced to elicit the help of a shady and shadowy member of British government who leads him to a man, Bennett Grey, gifted with an ability that this government man, Carstairs, wants to exploit.
With the fragile Bennett at his side, Harris infiltrates the group surrounding Benson through the aristocratic Hurleighs who Bennett and his sister, who works with Benson's movement, know since childhood. The hunt is twisty and the game is deep. No one is without secrets or an agenda. But Harris has to figure it out before another incident happens and this time on English soil.
This sounds exciting in the blurb and it delivers on the promises there. But...
Yeah, there's a but. There is soooooo much build up that this moves along at a snail's pace. The characters, the settings, the historical backdrops, the relationships, the politics all take precedence so the forward motion is a hard slog. I think what was truly hard for me was the fact that I figured this one out and why pretty much after the players and their situations were all introduced. Not even the final twist was a shocker. I do like my surprises.
Now the stuff I did like were the characters and their interactions and even the atmosphere. Harris was fantastic. I loved spending time as he did his job. He's a working class American who thinks for himself and has a bit of rebel in him and he is plopped right into the middle of staid English English-ness. LOL. I know that sounds silly, but that's what it was like. He used the clod of an American role to his benefit as he moved around amongst the English upper classes and equally as snobby lower classes who get nervous with someone who doesn't know his place and doesn't fit into a niche. Then there's Bennett. Bennett has a gift that allows him to know when a person resonates true. He barely survived the war and then was misused to test him. And now he just wants to be left in peace. But Harris barges into his life and Bennett agrees to help even though he has secrets of his own.
The historical setting felt right. Post-WWI England, Political and Social unrest, Wounded Vets, Changing structure, Precarious Economy, High Society English country life, and detection and espionage work of the time. The dialogue, dress, mannerisms, activities was all detailed in as background without pushing out the story. Well other than the class wars and Political unrest which were big themes.
The suspense is twisted and there are enough suspicious people to keep the reader occupied. It's more of a cerebral suspense than an action one. Though Harris is the sort of hero that can deliver on the action and spying when called upon.
There is a whiff of romance and an aching love affair, but these are minor plots. Though, maybe later in the series.
So, this one was a plodder and not as devious as I like, but it shows promise. I definitely plan on continuing on to the next book.
February 12, 2008
I've been a Laurie King fan since I read her first book in the Holmes/Russell series, The Beekeeper's Apprentice. Before Touchstone I'd never really been able to get into what I think of as her stand alone titles, rather than those that build into a series, but this one really sucked me in.
I admit, I'm always intrigued by novels set during and around World War I, perahps because it was such an awful landmark for modern warfare, and its affect on both the world and individuals dealing with mechanized warfare and biological agents for the first time. The trenches always chill me to the bone, and this book uses echoes of that to discuss a lot of things: heroism, shell shock, the aftereffects of being involved in that kind of way. Of course, as the book is set in 1926, there's also a lot of investigating the environment and politics that led to the beginnings of World War II.
Aside from all of that, which has many connections to the distressing state of the world today, this book is all about the characters, and I loved them all. As a mystery, it isn't really much of one, in that I pretty much guessed who the culprit was from almost the beginning of the book. Then again, I don't think the mystery was at all the point -- the point was how people got to that point, and that is the far more interesting story.
I do hope she writes more with these characters (the novel ends in such a way that she very well could) as I'd love to see them go forward.
I admit, I'm always intrigued by novels set during and around World War I, perahps because it was such an awful landmark for modern warfare, and its affect on both the world and individuals dealing with mechanized warfare and biological agents for the first time. The trenches always chill me to the bone, and this book uses echoes of that to discuss a lot of things: heroism, shell shock, the aftereffects of being involved in that kind of way. Of course, as the book is set in 1926, there's also a lot of investigating the environment and politics that led to the beginnings of World War II.
Aside from all of that, which has many connections to the distressing state of the world today, this book is all about the characters, and I loved them all. As a mystery, it isn't really much of one, in that I pretty much guessed who the culprit was from almost the beginning of the book. Then again, I don't think the mystery was at all the point -- the point was how people got to that point, and that is the far more interesting story.
I do hope she writes more with these characters (the novel ends in such a way that she very well could) as I'd love to see them go forward.
October 26, 2017
IMHO, Laurie King is a gifted author. I've enjoyed her mysteries. Most recently, I received and read her new book, LOCKDOWN. Many people like her Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes novels, but I've not been able to get into them. I was looking for a audiobook while traveling, and ran across this novel. It takes place shortly after WWI and involves a veteran who suffers emotionally from war experiences. The unique premise of King’s plot is that Bennett Grey, the veteran has the ability to understand what other people are thinking. Harris Stuyvesant, an FBI agent, is the main protagonist, makes contact with Grey, hoping he will introduce Stuyvesant to people in the society. I really enjoyed the characters of both Grey and Stuyvesant and what they go through. It's an exciting thriller. I want to read the second of King's involving Stuyvesant.
March 1, 2008
I normally adore Laurie King, but the shifting point of view in this book drove me crazy, to the point where I got so angry I didn't want to finish the book. It was written in 3rd person omniscient, so we could leap between people's heads, but it was so jarring every time, I felt like I never got the chance to care for anyone (or hate the bad guys.) Maybe I'll try it again sometime, but it just troubled me.
October 31, 2013
This is a stand-alone novel, not related to either of her series. It's 1926, and FBI agent Harris Stuyvesant has come to London in search of a bomber; for help, he's sent to Englishman Bennett Grey, whose experiences in World War I have left him with an unearthly sensitivity to other people's thoughts and who has been hiding in Cornwall for years. Almost against his will, Grey agrees to help Stuyvesant by gaining him entry into an elite milieu which includes Lady Laura Hurleigh, who is devoting her life to social reform; charismatic politician Richard Bunsen; and Grey's sister Sarah, Lady Laura's best friend.
It's a good book in many ways, but it lacks focus; it's not as tight as I think a suspense novel ought to be. There are well-developed, complex characters, but too many of them are POV characters (six, and I thought only four or five at most were necessary), and King head-hops occasionally. There are lovely, rich settings, which are often over-described. The plot is intriguing, but it takes forever to get going and occasionally bogs down in description and dialogue (though the last hundred pages or so are quite tense). I think Touchstone would have better if it had been shorter and tighter, but I did enjoy it after finally getting absorbed in it, due largely to King's richly developed characters.
It's a good book in many ways, but it lacks focus; it's not as tight as I think a suspense novel ought to be. There are well-developed, complex characters, but too many of them are POV characters (six, and I thought only four or five at most were necessary), and King head-hops occasionally. There are lovely, rich settings, which are often over-described. The plot is intriguing, but it takes forever to get going and occasionally bogs down in description and dialogue (though the last hundred pages or so are quite tense). I think Touchstone would have better if it had been shorter and tighter, but I did enjoy it after finally getting absorbed in it, due largely to King's richly developed characters.
April 11, 2008
It took me a little while to get into this political thriller - a stand alone book from King, whom I love for her excellent series. Set in the 1920s, in an England torn between unions and a conservative government, an American agent arrives seeking a terrorist suspect. Secret agents and terrorists aren't really my favourite sort of books, so it took me a little while to get past that, after which I really enjoyed this.
It's not your average secret-agent-terrorist-plot book, of course - there's the ex-soldier with mysterious and debilitating abilities, the charismatic politician, the aristocratic family with ties to the unions - it's wonderfully set up, with fantastic characters (as you expect from King), and a conclusion that manages to devastate while still giving you some semblance of a happy ending.
It's not your average secret-agent-terrorist-plot book, of course - there's the ex-soldier with mysterious and debilitating abilities, the charismatic politician, the aristocratic family with ties to the unions - it's wonderfully set up, with fantastic characters (as you expect from King), and a conclusion that manages to devastate while still giving you some semblance of a happy ending.
February 15, 2008
I like Laurie King and was excited that she wrote a nice, thick book. I was so bored with this book, but I kept reading hoping it would get better. No luck. Her other books I recommend (they are mysteries) but don't bother with this one. BOOOOORRRIING!
June 26, 2008
Like all of Laurie’s work it is finely weaved and very well told.
I was able to pick up most of the breadcrumb trail as to “who” and marvel at Laurie’s talent for sculpting that character so well that the “why” is not only believable but could even be considered admirable.
I was able to pick up most of the breadcrumb trail as to “who” and marvel at Laurie’s talent for sculpting that character so well that the “why” is not only believable but could even be considered admirable.
February 11, 2024
The characters were fully realized and the book deftly plotted. I really enjoyed it, and I am glad there is a second in the series.
February 4, 2021
Touchstone, Laurie R. King, 2007.
Intense. Likable characters. Compelling plot. FBI man goes to England in 1926 for evidence to hang a bomber. Miners' strike in England. Weaves actual current events and political situation into the plot.
Turns of phrase:
The man must have the patience of a tick. chapter 13.
Grey's color improved until it no longer matched his name. chapter 51.
Intense. Likable characters. Compelling plot. FBI man goes to England in 1926 for evidence to hang a bomber. Miners' strike in England. Weaves actual current events and political situation into the plot.
Turns of phrase:
The man must have the patience of a tick. chapter 13.
Grey's color improved until it no longer matched his name. chapter 51.
December 16, 2022
A suspenseful novel with strong characters both male and female. It takes place eight years after the Great War and is a great psychological study of the ravages of war.
October 21, 2015
http://tinyurl.com/osxhcj5
Maybe I shouldn't read too much King in a row. This one was just a slog for me.
I think there's a point in an author's career where s/he doesn't get as much love from their editor as they should. Meaning, it is assumed that at a certain point, whatever a popular author writes will be basically well received by the fans, even if s/he starts a new series, takes an entirely different thematic tack, etc. Therefore, more words are a good idea! I appreciate that to some extent, but it results in logy tomes, if nothing else.
In this first Harris Stuyvesant novel, at least the first 2/3 of the book is encumbered by ultra-detailed description of settings and scenes, as well as pages upon pages of thought process that, frankly, was already detailed 50-100 pages before. There was only so many times I could handle Harris wondering what Carstairs was up to, or Grey musing on how difficult his life was, or Carstairs himself being a schmuck. I actually started skimming these parts.
Yes, the ending is pretty decent (although I saw two major plot points coming because, again, she wrote too damn much about them in advance), but I won't be continuing on to the next book. I'll stick with the magnificent Russell/Holmes series instead.
Also, you can't use the name Carstairs unless you actually are channeling the CIA director from Dorothy Gilman's mystery series. I couldn't read that name, each and every time, without thinking of Mrs. Pollifax. Not quite the same feel, these two series!
Maybe I shouldn't read too much King in a row. This one was just a slog for me.
I think there's a point in an author's career where s/he doesn't get as much love from their editor as they should. Meaning, it is assumed that at a certain point, whatever a popular author writes will be basically well received by the fans, even if s/he starts a new series, takes an entirely different thematic tack, etc. Therefore, more words are a good idea! I appreciate that to some extent, but it results in logy tomes, if nothing else.
In this first Harris Stuyvesant novel, at least the first 2/3 of the book is encumbered by ultra-detailed description of settings and scenes, as well as pages upon pages of thought process that, frankly, was already detailed 50-100 pages before. There was only so many times I could handle Harris wondering what Carstairs was up to, or Grey musing on how difficult his life was, or Carstairs himself being a schmuck. I actually started skimming these parts.
Yes, the ending is pretty decent (although I saw two major plot points coming because, again, she wrote too damn much about them in advance), but I won't be continuing on to the next book. I'll stick with the magnificent Russell/Holmes series instead.
Also, you can't use the name Carstairs unless you actually are channeling the CIA director from Dorothy Gilman's mystery series. I couldn't read that name, each and every time, without thinking of Mrs. Pollifax. Not quite the same feel, these two series!
June 10, 2008
A break from the various series King pens, this book introduces Harris Stuyvesant, an FBI man (although at the time the FBI isn't called the FBI) from the 1920s. Stuyvesant is in England at a time of strife: miners are close to striking, war still looms on the minds of many, and communism is a great fear. Stuyvesant's goal is to atone for the death of an innocent woman and the life-altering injury of his brother. Along the way, he encounters many people who may be friend or foe, including the schadenfreude ridden Carstairs and the unusual Bennett Grey - whose mysterious gift of empathy is more of a curse. Full of King's usual twists and turns, the ending comes as quite a surprise. Those non-native to England may get caught up in some of the language and history (I mean, in 2008 America it's hard to relate to the British bureaucracy), but the story makes it worth while.
January 9, 2008
A brilliant historical thriller set against the turmoil of England's 1926 general strike. In it, an FBI agent crosses the Atlantic on the track of a bomber who could push England into outright revolution. He joins forces with a human "touchstone," a shattered WWI veteran with an uncanny knack for discerning the truth, to avert disaster. There is a bevy of fascinating characters and a gobstopper of an ending that will occupy your thoughts long after you finish the book.
August 15, 2021
A difficult and confusing read for someone like me that absolutely loves Laurie R King's Holmes and Russell series. The first 150 pages seemed interminable. Things picked up once our heroes got to Hurleigh House and female characters were introduced. A satisfactory conclusion, if not a particularly happy one. I look forward to reading the next in this series and hope that since the major players have been thoroughly introduced it will move a bit faster.
April 19, 2024
Laurie King's writing style is as gorgeous as ever and shockingly in this one there is no lesbian couple as there are in some of her other books. Despite all that, there was just so much sexual stuff in this book... Mostly just implied although there was one scene where I just started skimming so hard. Anyway, I don't recommend this one. Read Mary Russell if you want her good things.
January 26, 2020
The plot, the characterizations, and particularly the writing - great!
May 28, 2021
2.5 stars
May 25, 2022
Too long- agonizingly too long. I finally I skipped th3 last 150 pages and felt no disorientation on reading the end.
March 3, 2024
I managed to finish this only by skipping a lot of the endless interior monologues and descriptions of the house and its paintings, as none of it was relevant to the plot. As the villain's political philosophy became clear, I expected the plot to be much more action-packed than it turned out to be. If this was supposed to be a thriller, it failed in that for me. It worked reasonably well as a psychological study, although the constant harping on the hero's violent nature made me not like him very much. I think King tried to imply that Bennett Grey's "gift" (whose origin wasn't very believable to me) wasn't supernatural but more what we would now call behavioral analysis. But all in all, there just wasn't enough focus on story for me, and the ending really fell flat.
King's writing is fluent and approachable, and I've enjoyed most of her other novels from the Mary Russell series through the few other stand-alones I've read. In fact, the followup to this one, The Bones of Paris, is much better. I read it before this one and enjoyed it on its own.
King's writing is fluent and approachable, and I've enjoyed most of her other novels from the Mary Russell series through the few other stand-alones I've read. In fact, the followup to this one, The Bones of Paris, is much better. I read it before this one and enjoyed it on its own.
June 17, 2018
Touchstone – Laurie R. King
Audio performance by Jefferson Mays
4stars
This is the first book of a detective series by Laurie King. I’m already a committed fan of her Holmes/ Mary Russell series and I’ve also enjoyed many of the books featuring the contemporary San Francisco police detective, Kate Martinelli. This book combines some of the best features of those books with a new detective. Like the Mary Russell books, it is historical fiction set in England between the wars. It features a tough, hard-headed FBI agent named Harris Stuyvesant. The storyline resembles the suspense/thriller plots of the contemporary Martinelli series.
Harris arrives in England days before the 1926 General Strike. He is on the trail of an anarchist/bomber. As a detective, Harris fits a stereotype; he’s intelligent and brash, a bit too quick with his fists and a push over for a pretty girl. He is not popular with his superiors and is always on the verge of being fired. As a WWI veteran, he also sufferers from lingering shell shock. An extreme form of shell shock is pivotal to the character of Bennett Grey. Grey’s war experience left him crippled with unnaturally heightened perceptions. The growing threat of a terror plot connects Harris, Bennett Grey, and the despicable Major Carstairs of British Intelligence.
This book is thick with historical detail. The seething political unrest is set against a British Manor house with its aristocratic inhabitants. Two of the other leading characters, Sarah Grey and Laura Hurleigh, tap into the changing role of women and feminist frustrations. King gives each character a back story with details that encompass the Great War, the rise of socialism, the history and traditions of anarchism, along with their current and failed love affairs.
Fans of Laurie King’s police procedural books may feel this story is too slow with all of its background detail. Fans of the Mary Russell series may not like the heightened suspense and its dark violence. I thought the combination worked very well.
Audio performance by Jefferson Mays
4stars
This is the first book of a detective series by Laurie King. I’m already a committed fan of her Holmes/ Mary Russell series and I’ve also enjoyed many of the books featuring the contemporary San Francisco police detective, Kate Martinelli. This book combines some of the best features of those books with a new detective. Like the Mary Russell books, it is historical fiction set in England between the wars. It features a tough, hard-headed FBI agent named Harris Stuyvesant. The storyline resembles the suspense/thriller plots of the contemporary Martinelli series.
Harris arrives in England days before the 1926 General Strike. He is on the trail of an anarchist/bomber. As a detective, Harris fits a stereotype; he’s intelligent and brash, a bit too quick with his fists and a push over for a pretty girl. He is not popular with his superiors and is always on the verge of being fired. As a WWI veteran, he also sufferers from lingering shell shock. An extreme form of shell shock is pivotal to the character of Bennett Grey. Grey’s war experience left him crippled with unnaturally heightened perceptions. The growing threat of a terror plot connects Harris, Bennett Grey, and the despicable Major Carstairs of British Intelligence.
This book is thick with historical detail. The seething political unrest is set against a British Manor house with its aristocratic inhabitants. Two of the other leading characters, Sarah Grey and Laura Hurleigh, tap into the changing role of women and feminist frustrations. King gives each character a back story with details that encompass the Great War, the rise of socialism, the history and traditions of anarchism, along with their current and failed love affairs.
Fans of Laurie King’s police procedural books may feel this story is too slow with all of its background detail. Fans of the Mary Russell series may not like the heightened suspense and its dark violence. I thought the combination worked very well.
August 26, 2015
I liked this book despite often feeling as though I did not know what was going on. This is probably my fault as I explain at the end. I would have liked to give this 4.5 stars, but I can't.
Harris Stuyvesant, American investigator, comes to 1926 London to investigate a man he believes is responsible for a series of bombings in the US. Initially, he gets no help from authorities but then is offhandedly directed to a man named Aldous Carstairs. Carstairs says he is familiar with the man he seeks and will help, but that first Stuyvesant must go to Cornwall to meet Bennett Grey. Then, according to Carstairs, he will be able to begin his investigation.
Bennett Grey was injured in the War and now finds that he is too sensitive to others and knows things about them that make it impossible to live near people - a kind of heightened awareness brought on by his injuries. What Stuyvesant eventually discovers is that Carstairs wants to use Grey to find out what people are hiding in his own questionable espionage work. Working with Grey, getting him away from his quiet home in Cornwall, and eventually giving Carstairs access to Grey, is what Carstairs requires of Stuyvesant.
Lots of espionage as Harris and Bennett work to determine the bomber, to prevent a class war between the unions and the owners in England and thwart a massive general strike. Harris is given help by Carstairs, but the help is always suspect. What is real, what is a lie?
Ultimately, a secret gathering is scheduled to let the owners and the union reps along with the Prime Minister, meet and come to an agreement. Will this meeting reveal the saboteur?
King is a wonderful writer who has proven herself time and again in her Judith Russell/Sherlock Holmes books. She weaves her knowledge of the times nicely into the story.
Now, why did it take me more than a month to read a book like this? I am so addicted to the computer at this time that I am unable to focus on anything for too long. Time to wean myself from that beast. I am not sure how to go about it.
Harris Stuyvesant, American investigator, comes to 1926 London to investigate a man he believes is responsible for a series of bombings in the US. Initially, he gets no help from authorities but then is offhandedly directed to a man named Aldous Carstairs. Carstairs says he is familiar with the man he seeks and will help, but that first Stuyvesant must go to Cornwall to meet Bennett Grey. Then, according to Carstairs, he will be able to begin his investigation.
Bennett Grey was injured in the War and now finds that he is too sensitive to others and knows things about them that make it impossible to live near people - a kind of heightened awareness brought on by his injuries. What Stuyvesant eventually discovers is that Carstairs wants to use Grey to find out what people are hiding in his own questionable espionage work. Working with Grey, getting him away from his quiet home in Cornwall, and eventually giving Carstairs access to Grey, is what Carstairs requires of Stuyvesant.
Lots of espionage as Harris and Bennett work to determine the bomber, to prevent a class war between the unions and the owners in England and thwart a massive general strike. Harris is given help by Carstairs, but the help is always suspect. What is real, what is a lie?
Ultimately, a secret gathering is scheduled to let the owners and the union reps along with the Prime Minister, meet and come to an agreement. Will this meeting reveal the saboteur?
King is a wonderful writer who has proven herself time and again in her Judith Russell/Sherlock Holmes books. She weaves her knowledge of the times nicely into the story.
Now, why did it take me more than a month to read a book like this? I am so addicted to the computer at this time that I am unable to focus on anything for too long. Time to wean myself from that beast. I am not sure how to go about it.
August 25, 2010
As a great fan of Laurie R. King, Touchstone was a very interesting read. It was the first stand-alone of hers that I've read and, to be quite honest, I prefer her Kate Martinelli and Mary Russell books.
Touchstone is a well-developed story with quite a lot of information about Communism and anarchy in the 1920s both from the point of view of an American and from the British aristocracy. It's quite fascinating information, but it seems as though more emphasis is put on the development of the political situation rather than on the characters. While this shouldn't have bothered me so much if it had been any other book, I love Laurie R. King's characters and, on the whole, these fell a little bit flat. She's a much better series writer when she can build characters over the course of several books, rather than trying to create and contain every character in a single book.
I did, though, enjoy meeting Bennett Grey. Although Harris, Sarah, and Carstairs all fell flat at sometimes (and Laura felt like a caricature), Bennett was a wonderful character. I was unable to predict his back story and could never quite predict what he would do throughout the story, although when viewed as a whole, his actions are quite logical. I almost found myself wishing that he would "guest-star" in a Mary Russell book, as he does fit the time-frame and I would adore seeing how she and Holmes reacted to him.
In the end, I enjoyed Touchstone, but only because I actually became invested in the characters in the last hundred pages or so. The previous four hundred pages lacked Laurie R. King's usual flair. The lack of her flair, though, takes Touchstone from being quite amazing just to being somewhat good. I'm hesitant to start another stand alone of hers because I'm afraid that it too won't stand up to how good of an author she is.
Touchstone is a well-developed story with quite a lot of information about Communism and anarchy in the 1920s both from the point of view of an American and from the British aristocracy. It's quite fascinating information, but it seems as though more emphasis is put on the development of the political situation rather than on the characters. While this shouldn't have bothered me so much if it had been any other book, I love Laurie R. King's characters and, on the whole, these fell a little bit flat. She's a much better series writer when she can build characters over the course of several books, rather than trying to create and contain every character in a single book.
I did, though, enjoy meeting Bennett Grey. Although Harris, Sarah, and Carstairs all fell flat at sometimes (and Laura felt like a caricature), Bennett was a wonderful character. I was unable to predict his back story and could never quite predict what he would do throughout the story, although when viewed as a whole, his actions are quite logical. I almost found myself wishing that he would "guest-star" in a Mary Russell book, as he does fit the time-frame and I would adore seeing how she and Holmes reacted to him.
In the end, I enjoyed Touchstone, but only because I actually became invested in the characters in the last hundred pages or so. The previous four hundred pages lacked Laurie R. King's usual flair. The lack of her flair, though, takes Touchstone from being quite amazing just to being somewhat good. I'm hesitant to start another stand alone of hers because I'm afraid that it too won't stand up to how good of an author she is.
September 8, 2013
Having only read Ms. King's Holmes/Russell series before starting Touchstone, I was fascinated by the difference of tone and atmosphere upon entering the world of Harris Stuyvesant. It is much darker and more sensual than I expected. There's a sort of smoky, half-lidded, dangerous allure to the entire story, not just to the charismatic radical leader Stuyvesant is chasing.
Stuyvesant is a wonderful hero; strongly-principled, determined, sharp-tempered yet deceptively easygoing. His past is one of misadventures, tragedy and lurking secrets. I have a feeling that a dozen books would not be enough to tell his many stories. Bennett Grey, his somewhat reluctant accomplice, is an equally brilliant character. He's badly damaged, heart, body and soul after suffering terrible injuries and heartbreak. One of his few remaining attachments to the world is his sister, Sarah, a buoyant, naive, idealistic young woman who is the perfect foil to Stuyvesant and Bennett's grimmer personalities.
Major Carstairs is one of the most repellant characters I've come across in a long while; all slime and cruelty with a thread of disturbing perversity. On the other hand, Bunsen, suspected anarchist, is sophisticated and personable, though oddly insecure. And then there's Laura, the troubled beauty. Is she involved in the bombings, or is she simply caught up in Bunsen's glamour? I could go on and on about the characters. They came alive in such a way I feel like I can almost see their faces.
The plot was complex and utterly engrossing. Schemes and counter-schemes abound with suspects everywhere and allies who may be worse than their enemies. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves intricate conspiracies and a mystery that will keep you guessing all the way to the end.
Stuyvesant is a wonderful hero; strongly-principled, determined, sharp-tempered yet deceptively easygoing. His past is one of misadventures, tragedy and lurking secrets. I have a feeling that a dozen books would not be enough to tell his many stories. Bennett Grey, his somewhat reluctant accomplice, is an equally brilliant character. He's badly damaged, heart, body and soul after suffering terrible injuries and heartbreak. One of his few remaining attachments to the world is his sister, Sarah, a buoyant, naive, idealistic young woman who is the perfect foil to Stuyvesant and Bennett's grimmer personalities.
Major Carstairs is one of the most repellant characters I've come across in a long while; all slime and cruelty with a thread of disturbing perversity. On the other hand, Bunsen, suspected anarchist, is sophisticated and personable, though oddly insecure. And then there's Laura, the troubled beauty. Is she involved in the bombings, or is she simply caught up in Bunsen's glamour? I could go on and on about the characters. They came alive in such a way I feel like I can almost see their faces.
The plot was complex and utterly engrossing. Schemes and counter-schemes abound with suspects everywhere and allies who may be worse than their enemies. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves intricate conspiracies and a mystery that will keep you guessing all the way to the end.
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