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Touch No One
Body Modification is nothing new in Schengen City. Even Detective John Moglich has a cybered arm, on account of being shot by a punk with an auto-shotgun back when he was a cop. Naturally, when Detective Moglich is given a hefty sum to investigate the attempted murder of a woman with more than her fair share of mods, he doesn't hesitate.
As he gets deeper into the investigation, things get weirder. He discovers a fetish subculture centering on the worship of the female breast, and the conversion of its milk into a pain-soothing drug. The milk may be poisoned though, since those who drink it are dying in strange ways. Even worse is the discovery that those who taste the breast-milk are also found to be carrying an ugly parasite in their blood. The bloodsucker is half-monster, half-machine, and Detective Moglich must find its creator before it’s too late.
As he gets deeper into the investigation, things get weirder. He discovers a fetish subculture centering on the worship of the female breast, and the conversion of its milk into a pain-soothing drug. The milk may be poisoned though, since those who drink it are dying in strange ways. Even worse is the discovery that those who taste the breast-milk are also found to be carrying an ugly parasite in their blood. The bloodsucker is half-monster, half-machine, and Detective Moglich must find its creator before it’s too late.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 23, 2017
24 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Hirsch
50 books134 followersJoseph Hirsch’s work has appeared in many publications, including “3 AM Magazine,” “Film International,” and “Retreats from Oblivion: A Journal of NoirCon.” Several of his novels and novellas have also been published. He previously served four years in the U.S. Army, in which his travels took him to locales as disparate as El Paso, Texas, Darmstadt, Germany, and Bagdad, Iraq. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, is online @ www.joeyhirsch.com, and has dreams of one day finding a box filled with money.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 27, 2017
Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book in return for an honest review
I stopped reading this book when I got 11% into it as I am disgusted by the language the writer has used.
My concerns first started when the word "free walking femme" was used, I believe this is this world's name for a prostitute - the term is incredibly sexist & the fact that the prostitute is referred to as 'free walking' really bothered me; why wouldn't she be free walking? Because men pay her for sex, therefore she isn't free? No thanks.
My second issue arose at 3%, when the term "daddy issues" was used - this term makes me incredibly angry & makes light of mental health issues caused by bad parenting.
Next, Hirsch has written "...although most of that was suicides flinging themselves in front of the snake" (the snake is a form of transportation). This line bothered me because, 1. people who commit suicide are not "suicides" they were mentally unwell people who should have got the help they needed, & 2. the line was incredibly unnecessary to the story, so Hirsch has offended me for literally no reason at all.
At 8% Hirsch used the word "spastic" - CAN YOU NOT.
Next we had this passage:
"" I only asked because I thought maybe he had a tranny mod, or he was getting transition boosters. Who knows?"
He shook his head. "We thought of that. He was all man...""
And finally;
"I turned to the little brown man whose face was a reconstructed putty of flesh torn apart by something like napalm. Doing cyberpychosis tests was dangerous, but work was scarce for those few from the Edge who immigrated into one of the main Nodes. They knew that being expendable was still better than being hunted" - so y'all hunt "little brown men" & think they're expendable, okaaaaaaaaaay.
SO! Within the first 11% of this book we have sexism, making fun of mental health issues, ableism, transphobia and racism. I cannot believe this book has been published, I'm totally disgusted by it & I feel awful for anyone else who has read this book & has been offended by the disgusting language used. I also can't believe so many people have read it & enjoyed it! I'm so done.
I stopped reading this book when I got 11% into it as I am disgusted by the language the writer has used.
My concerns first started when the word "free walking femme" was used, I believe this is this world's name for a prostitute - the term is incredibly sexist & the fact that the prostitute is referred to as 'free walking' really bothered me; why wouldn't she be free walking? Because men pay her for sex, therefore she isn't free? No thanks.
My second issue arose at 3%, when the term "daddy issues" was used - this term makes me incredibly angry & makes light of mental health issues caused by bad parenting.
Next, Hirsch has written "...although most of that was suicides flinging themselves in front of the snake" (the snake is a form of transportation). This line bothered me because, 1. people who commit suicide are not "suicides" they were mentally unwell people who should have got the help they needed, & 2. the line was incredibly unnecessary to the story, so Hirsch has offended me for literally no reason at all.
At 8% Hirsch used the word "spastic" - CAN YOU NOT.
Next we had this passage:
"" I only asked because I thought maybe he had a tranny mod, or he was getting transition boosters. Who knows?"
He shook his head. "We thought of that. He was all man...""
And finally;
"I turned to the little brown man whose face was a reconstructed putty of flesh torn apart by something like napalm. Doing cyberpychosis tests was dangerous, but work was scarce for those few from the Edge who immigrated into one of the main Nodes. They knew that being expendable was still better than being hunted" - so y'all hunt "little brown men" & think they're expendable, okaaaaaaaaaay.
SO! Within the first 11% of this book we have sexism, making fun of mental health issues, ableism, transphobia and racism. I cannot believe this book has been published, I'm totally disgusted by it & I feel awful for anyone else who has read this book & has been offended by the disgusting language used. I also can't believe so many people have read it & enjoyed it! I'm so done.
January 31, 2018
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
"Body Modification is nothing new in Schengen City. Even Detective John Moglich has a cybered arm, on account of being shot by a punk with an auto-shotgun back when he was a cop. Naturally, when Detective Moglich is given a hefty sum to investigate the attempted murder of a woman with more than her fair share of mods, he doesn't hesitate.
As he gets deeper into the investigation, things get weirder. He discovers a fetish subculture centering on the worship of the female breast, and the conversion of its milk into a pain-soothing drug. The milk may be poisoned though, since those who drink it are dying in strange ways. Even worse is the discovery that those who taste the breastmilk are also found to be carrying an ugly parasite in their blood. The bloodsucker is half-monster, half-machine, and Detective Moglich must find its creator before it’s too late."
DNF'd at 28%
Anyone who knows me knows I am a thriller nut and as this book was marketed as a thriller, I assume that is why I requested it. However, now I have reread the synopsis, I don't know why I ever requested this title. It is not something that usually interests me and it just sounds weird.
It was weird, but that is not where my problems lie. I was first concerned when Hirsch used the term 'daddy issues' in the first few pages. I hate this term. Anything that makes light of mental health issues, whether they are caused by bad parenting or not, just doesn't sit right with me. A few pages later, he uses the term 'spastic'. I don't think I need to go any further on that one.
I carried on, hoping that they were just a bad choice of terminology but I was wrong to be optimistic.
When we come across the attempted murder victim, our protagonist asks "She's been strangled. Do you know anything about her sex life?". Maybe I am wrong, but when you discover a woman who has been beaten and strangled to the point of near death, that should not be your initial thought. He then goes on to think "If.... she said 'drink soothing opium from my nipple', why wouldn't he be tempted to oblige?". I am not for any victim shaming.
Throw in some stupid phrases like 'higher than a giraffe's vagina' and you're basically caught up to speed. I just couldn't take any more of the transphobia, making fun of mental illnesses, racism and definitely no more of the sexism. I cannot believe there are so many good reviews. I'm disgusted.
"Body Modification is nothing new in Schengen City. Even Detective John Moglich has a cybered arm, on account of being shot by a punk with an auto-shotgun back when he was a cop. Naturally, when Detective Moglich is given a hefty sum to investigate the attempted murder of a woman with more than her fair share of mods, he doesn't hesitate.
As he gets deeper into the investigation, things get weirder. He discovers a fetish subculture centering on the worship of the female breast, and the conversion of its milk into a pain-soothing drug. The milk may be poisoned though, since those who drink it are dying in strange ways. Even worse is the discovery that those who taste the breastmilk are also found to be carrying an ugly parasite in their blood. The bloodsucker is half-monster, half-machine, and Detective Moglich must find its creator before it’s too late."
DNF'd at 28%
Anyone who knows me knows I am a thriller nut and as this book was marketed as a thriller, I assume that is why I requested it. However, now I have reread the synopsis, I don't know why I ever requested this title. It is not something that usually interests me and it just sounds weird.
It was weird, but that is not where my problems lie. I was first concerned when Hirsch used the term 'daddy issues' in the first few pages. I hate this term. Anything that makes light of mental health issues, whether they are caused by bad parenting or not, just doesn't sit right with me. A few pages later, he uses the term 'spastic'. I don't think I need to go any further on that one.
I carried on, hoping that they were just a bad choice of terminology but I was wrong to be optimistic.
When we come across the attempted murder victim, our protagonist asks "She's been strangled. Do you know anything about her sex life?". Maybe I am wrong, but when you discover a woman who has been beaten and strangled to the point of near death, that should not be your initial thought. He then goes on to think "If.... she said 'drink soothing opium from my nipple', why wouldn't he be tempted to oblige?". I am not for any victim shaming.
Throw in some stupid phrases like 'higher than a giraffe's vagina' and you're basically caught up to speed. I just couldn't take any more of the transphobia, making fun of mental illnesses, racism and definitely no more of the sexism. I cannot believe there are so many good reviews. I'm disgusted.
March 31, 2017
In a world where body modification is the norm, Detective John Moglich is no exception. With a cyber arm and other helpful implementations (he's 80% meat), he investigates the attempted murder of a woman. Strangely, her breasts are the only indications that she may be pregnant, but it's clear that she's not. She's been modified to "lactate" a pain-soothing drug that men (or women) can drink from. And if that's not strange enough for you, it seems that this milk is being poisoned. Parasites are being put into this liquid and people are dying - their tongues erupting from their bodies and taking off.
What.The.Hell.Did.I.Just.Read. While I do love me some sci-fi, I think this was just a case of reader and book not meshing. I felt like I was in an episode of Total Recall where I didn't get to select my journey and was put into a man's (cyber) body. Then thrown into a world without a dictionary. But thank god for my mod that allows me to understand all languages... kinda. I did love that this was completely off the wall and out there. I applaud that. However, for me this type of sci-fi is better suited for me to watch than to read.
What.The.Hell.Did.I.Just.Read. While I do love me some sci-fi, I think this was just a case of reader and book not meshing. I felt like I was in an episode of Total Recall where I didn't get to select my journey and was put into a man's (cyber) body. Then thrown into a world without a dictionary. But thank god for my mod that allows me to understand all languages... kinda. I did love that this was completely off the wall and out there. I applaud that. However, for me this type of sci-fi is better suited for me to watch than to read.
February 8, 2017
I love it when the speculative still has people trying their best in the face of what has typically been humanity's endless problems. Touch No One hits the sweet spot on that, giving us the possibilities of a wondrous future and the believability of what people would likely and unfortunately do in it. It's gripping and gritty too, making me think of the book as Raymond Chandler meets Mondo 2000 in a bar run by Phillip K. Dick. Had a great deal of fun. I was tickled when I first saw my name in the dedication, and I was highly proud of that by the end.
March 13, 2022
Touch no one by Joseph Hirsch.
Body Modification is nothing new in Schengen City. Even Detective John Moglich has a cybered arm, on account of being shot by a punk with an auto-shotgun back when he was a cop. Naturally, when Detective Moglich is given a hefty sum to investigate the attempted murder of a woman with more than her fair share of mods, he doesn't hesitate. As he gets deeper into the investigation, things get weirder. He discovers a fetish subculture centering on the worship of the female breast, and the conversion of its milk into a pain-soothing drug. The milk may be poisoned though, since those who drink it are dying in strange ways. Even worse is the discovery that those who taste the breastmilk are also found to be carrying an ugly parasite in their blood. The bloodsucker is half-monster, half-machine, and Detective Moglich must find its creator before it’s too late.
A very enjoyable read. Great story and characters. 4*.
Body Modification is nothing new in Schengen City. Even Detective John Moglich has a cybered arm, on account of being shot by a punk with an auto-shotgun back when he was a cop. Naturally, when Detective Moglich is given a hefty sum to investigate the attempted murder of a woman with more than her fair share of mods, he doesn't hesitate. As he gets deeper into the investigation, things get weirder. He discovers a fetish subculture centering on the worship of the female breast, and the conversion of its milk into a pain-soothing drug. The milk may be poisoned though, since those who drink it are dying in strange ways. Even worse is the discovery that those who taste the breastmilk are also found to be carrying an ugly parasite in their blood. The bloodsucker is half-monster, half-machine, and Detective Moglich must find its creator before it’s too late.
A very enjoyable read. Great story and characters. 4*.
March 14, 2017
I guess going into this book, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. It was definitely more on the science fiction side when I was expecting more of a thriller/mystery.
There definitely were the thriller elements to it though! The difference is that it's set in the future in a more dystopian type world (that's how I interpreted it), the investigator has a cyber arm, and body modifications aren't just tattoos and piercings.
Detective John Moglich is asked to investigate the attempted murder of a woman. The parts that stick out to him the most are that she has an unusual bite mark on her breast and that she has a lot of different body modifications. Now, body modifications aren't just limited to tattoos and piercings (like most are now), these can include different memory chips, eye lenses that enhance your vision to extreme levels, cybered limbs, and even completely new fingerprints (one that Kyra has - the victim). As Moglich gets further into this investigation, he is introduced to a fetish culture that worships the female breast, and specifically the conversion of breast milk into a pain relieving drug. However, some of the followers of this fetish are getting sick and are all found to have the same parasite infecting their blood. So now Detective Moglich has a new mission - to find whoever is poisoning the breast milk and the creator of this parasite.
While this was a very interesting read, I wasn't prepared (I guess that's the right word) for this story. The body modifications aspect was very intriguing to me. If you're a fan of science fiction and mysteries, then I would definitely recommend this to you! It was a quick read so that helped with the pace of the story. I give this 3.5 stars!
Thanks to Black Rose Writing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
There definitely were the thriller elements to it though! The difference is that it's set in the future in a more dystopian type world (that's how I interpreted it), the investigator has a cyber arm, and body modifications aren't just tattoos and piercings.
Detective John Moglich is asked to investigate the attempted murder of a woman. The parts that stick out to him the most are that she has an unusual bite mark on her breast and that she has a lot of different body modifications. Now, body modifications aren't just limited to tattoos and piercings (like most are now), these can include different memory chips, eye lenses that enhance your vision to extreme levels, cybered limbs, and even completely new fingerprints (one that Kyra has - the victim). As Moglich gets further into this investigation, he is introduced to a fetish culture that worships the female breast, and specifically the conversion of breast milk into a pain relieving drug. However, some of the followers of this fetish are getting sick and are all found to have the same parasite infecting their blood. So now Detective Moglich has a new mission - to find whoever is poisoning the breast milk and the creator of this parasite.
While this was a very interesting read, I wasn't prepared (I guess that's the right word) for this story. The body modifications aspect was very intriguing to me. If you're a fan of science fiction and mysteries, then I would definitely recommend this to you! It was a quick read so that helped with the pace of the story. I give this 3.5 stars!
Thanks to Black Rose Writing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Read
October 9, 2017Futuristic crime story. Hard to follow at first with the language of the future, but worth continuing. I'll have to read more by this author.
September 21, 2019
Not sure why people had a problem with this book. It was well written and had a wonderful story. There wasn't that much colorful language, and what there was fit with the narrative style. I highly recommend this one to any fans of Philip K Dick or Isaac Asimov. It's not a PG-rated kids book, and that's just fine.
October 3, 2017
I've rarely written something that I feel can be summarized with an "elevator pitch" of the type that movie producers and Hollywood execs like to hear, usually something of the "X meets Y," variety. "Touch No One" is an exception, inasmuch as a couple of at-hand works can be plugged in for the variables. "Blade Runner" meets "Blue Velvet" seems to encapsulate the book's gist. It's set in the future or an alternative present (I'm not sure, as extrapolation wasn't really my aim) and deals with a grizzled detective who stumbles onto a conspiracy involving blackmail, weird sexual fetishes, and genetic warfare.
One legitimate criticism was that the detective character was maybe not fleshed out enough. Still, this is one of my genre benders where what at-first-blush seemed like disparate or incompatible elements gelled. Perhaps this was more by accident than design, but occasionally you get lucky.
One legitimate criticism was that the detective character was maybe not fleshed out enough. Still, this is one of my genre benders where what at-first-blush seemed like disparate or incompatible elements gelled. Perhaps this was more by accident than design, but occasionally you get lucky.
November 16, 2017
The cover is definitely eye grabbing and the book summary only adds to the curiosity. And while I definitely enjoyed the strange story and convoluted mystery, I can't say I'm in love with the writing style. I totally get that you have to write to the character and Detective Moglich is not exactly refined, but sometimes it's difficult to read from his perspective.
**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**
**I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**
Want to read
August 13, 2018This book isn’t for me, couldn’t finish! The writing type didn’t draw me in and I couldn’t really get into it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews