Touching Death

by Becky Johnson

Coming Soon

231 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 26, 2016

About the author

Books are my passion and always have been. I used to get in trouble in school for reading during class!
I have degrees in social work and history, and for my day job I am a social worker. In my writing I try to answer a question that is important to both social work and history, why. I always want to know why people do the things they do or feel the way they feel.
When I am not reading or writing I enjoy yoga, running and cooking. I make a pretty mean chili!
Thank you for stopping by my goodreads page. I hope you enjoy my stories.

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

Having read Becky Johnson’s (“Johnson”) “Charlotte Marshall Mysteries,” which I absolutely loved, I was excited to see that she had a new novel, “Touching Death.” Unfortunately, “Touching Death” was a disappointment, nowhere near as good as Johnson’s other novels.

The premise of the novel is one I found really appealing, even liked, that Rachel (the heroine) has the gift of touch sensing things when she touches ordinary (or special) objects. In “Touching Death,”” when she touches a knife to place it in away and having no knowledge that someone used it, she’s shocked to see and feel someone used the knife to kill someone, and worse, what the killer is seeing, thinking and feeling as he kills. She just can’t see his face. While the premise was great, I thought it lacked mystery and suspense, plus I didn’t think it was fully developed which may explain why the novel was so short.

Reading we get to learn more about Rachel, who she is, her background, etc. Unfortunately, I thought her “friend” (she keeps calling Sam that even though he’s the hero of the story), Sam lacked serious character development. There’s really not much you learn about him except he was once a cop, now head of security, is friends with Rachel’s brothers and knows a lot of one liners from various novels. I have to say that it didn’t feel like he was the hero because there’s really not much written about him. Even Kat, Rachel’s best friend, there’s very little about her that we know. Rachel, as well never came across as a heroine to me. To be honest, I didn’t think much of her. I’m sure some will disagree with me but I didn’t find her to be strong or courageous or intelligent. In fact, I thought she had absolutely no brains. I mean it was so obvious who the killer was yet she couldn’t figure it out.

- Rachel walks into her office and sees Derek is already sitting there.

“Derek Shanks was lounging in a visitor chair inside my office. The already small space felt suffocating and the tension I had so recently released came charging back. His dark hair was brushed back from his face and his suit was killer. His cologne was expensive and pleasant, but strong. My office would smell like Creed for a week.”

“He stepped forward, crowding me back against the office door. His cologne wrapped around me, a strong scent that my senses.”

- Sam trying to get as much information from Rachel about the killer.

“A scent. In every memory, or reading of the killer I realized there was a particular scent.”

(Sam) “What kind of scent”

“I don’t know. It smelled good and I know I have smelled it before; kind of woodsy and flowery and herby at the same time. Maybe a type of soap or air freshener or cologne. I just can’t quite place it.”

She recognized the scent but couldn’t place it. Give me a break! Adding a second person who’s wearing cologne when he never has before to throw the reader off, keep them in suspense, doesn’t work. Nice try though.

I also thought her to be weak and helpless, how she kept saying that if she stayed just one night at her parents she’d never leave their home. Maybe she should since she’s living in squalor. Her mattress is on the floor, it’s winter and there’s not heat and no hot water and she’s living off of Ramen noodles and cereal. Sorry folks but I’d rather move back home with my parents or sibling or friend than live like that. She used to live in a nice home, drive a nice car when she lived with her ex, but when she found out her ex was cheating on her, not only does she leave, she sells her car to pay off the huge debt that her slime ball ex created by maxing out all her credit cards. She’s too ashamed, too proud to tell anyone what her ex did and why she lives the way she does. Puhlease! It’s so ridiculous it’s asinine. Having brothers who are cops, I’d definitely sic them on her ex. There’s being proud and there’s being a total idiot. It takes her forever to get to her parents’ place since she has to take the bus. She tells her family she parked her car down the street. Give me a break! When her brother takes her home to her place, is he also dumb and blind not noticing how she’s living? Why is it that not one family member can see her wasting away since all she eats is cereal and Ramen noodles? (Though it’s not really mentioned anywhere in the novel, she has to be wasting away right?) Query, even if she’s paying off the credit cards, one would think she’d take some money from her pay (I mean she has a good job) and buy food, real food! Ever heard of budgeting? She doesn’t have to worry about clothes as she kept all her awesome, expensive and name-brand clothes to wear to her job. If you’re not going to budget, perhaps you can sell a few so you could eat? Just a thought.

When Sam, her “friend” sees how’s she’s living, he doesn’t do much except put locks on her front door and a security alarm. You would think that because he cares about her that he’d actually talk to her brothers. By the way, considering how scared she was because the killer knew all about her, it’s a little too convenient that the one night she doesn’t bother with the security alarm is the same night she’s grabbed by the killer. Cue eye rolls. Having brothers who are cops, you’d think she would’ve learned how to protect herself but no, she’s clueless and helpless. Of course, she is. Damsels in distress in this day and age is pathetic especially since she has to rely on others to save her. My eyes are still rolling.

I gather this novel has some romance, or romance brewing between Rachel and Sam. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any heat or sparks between them, nothing. No chemistry whatsoever. I could be wrong but the feeling I got was that the romance, or lack thereof, will not play a huge role in the series. Who knows. It’s just my opinion.

At the end of the day, Rachel is one of the weakest heroines I’ve come across in a long time. As for the next novel in the series, will she continue to be meek and weak? Still live in squalor? Keep eating noodles and cereal? Make her ex pay for everything he’s done? Use her brains? I have no idea nor do I really care as I don’t think I’ll be continuing with this series.

[Judi Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel works at the local Museum in charge of all of the artifacts. Ever since she was a small girl and visited a museum, this is all she wanted all her life.When she has a schoolgirl, going to one of the local museums, she touched one of the artifacts, an ancient bowl, and was able to see back into the past.

Now, after her boyfriend broke up with her, took all her money, she is living in a very small apartment and trying to get out of debt. Her best friend, Kat, who knows her "secret" is there to always offer help.

But, this time, Rachel may be in too deep. She is having a gala event at the museum featuring the "Mask of Death", hoping this will help her career and the evening will be a success, but not for Rachel. She stumbles across a dead body, when she gets the Security Manager, Sam, the body is gone and no one believes her. But Rachel has felt the killer and knows his secrets. But, will that bring Rachel into danger?

A quick read, and enjoyed it.

[Leslie Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome murder mystery!

Rachel Angeletti has a gift, one she tries to hide from the world, but a murder at her museum brings out her ability to "see" things by touching them. It all begins with touching a knife. She sees the murder. Sam the Head of Security and her friend try to help Rachel, but the killer wants the gold death mask. Trouble and danger follow her everywhere.

A wild adventure, a must read.

I hope the author, Becky Johnson will write more Rachel Angeletti adventures. This one deserves a sequel.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read

Enjoyed this book. I liked the characters and the plot. Looking forward to reading more novels with these characters. It's a good weekend read.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good

[Laura Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m huge on character driven stories and really enjoy a strong female protagonist. I got that in Touching Death, along with a fun mystery.

Rachel is down but not out for the count. Her rich boyfriend dumped her for some arm candy, and the creep stole her money, even though he’s got plenty of his own. She’s living in a box, a tiny flat, with a mattress on the floor and empty cupboards and fridge. She does have all of those designer clothes though. They come in handy for working as curator at the museum.

The author has a great character in Rachel. She doesn’t whine about her predicament. She’s not vindictive towards her ex, much. And she keeps her financial woes close to the vest. It was sad yet uplifting to meet such a wonderful character. Did I mention her sense of humor? She has plenty of that too.

It’s finally here, the biggest night of Rachel’s life. She set up the main exhibit for the museum and poured her heart and soul into it. Things don’t go as planned at the opening event. She stumbles upon a dead body, and it mysteriously disappears by the time she leads the police to its location.

Now she has a big red target on her back, and not much help forthcoming from the doubtful police. She’s going to have to use her “woowoo” to solve the case, or she might be put on display as: dead girl here.

Rachel’s touch/know gift, her ability to touch objects and sense things, ramps up the suspense. There are some pretty dark scenes she’s witness to. I think the author gave this book a great title to represent her story.

There’s the potential for some romance too. I like how the author had her character’s become friends, with room for their relationship to develop into something more.

If you like a good paranormal mystery with some suspense and a touch of romance, I “sense” you’ll enjoy Touching Death.

I received this book for my honest review.

[B.A. Gene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching Death was surprising. More suspenseful than I expected.