Review: Interesting and Imaginative
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 22, 2013
"At First Touch" is an original and imaginative story about sixteen year old, Liz Hannigan, who after a near fatal accident and some medical tinkering develops the unusual ability to download a person's thoughts with a touch of her hand. Pursued for years by the FBI and a nefarious organization called the Coalition that wants to exploit her abilities, Liz and her father finally settle in the small town of Pound, West Virginia where her life becomes somewhat normal. It is in this town that Liz begins to make new friends like VJ and the mysterious Carey Drake with his striking good looks and athletic physique. Only when Liz is attacked by a Coalition agent and stalked by a sinister FBI officer does her life begin to unravel and she has to decide to flee or fight to stay in her new home.Liz and her father are realistic and likeable characters; both struggle emotionally, wanting to protect each other, trust others and feel secure in a world filled with evil men that want to exploit Liz's gift. Thrasher is believable as the enigmatic FBI agent whose moral ethics, honesty and sense of justice wins the Hannigan's trust. Even though Preston Deene's characterized as arrogant and abusive I couldn't relate to him. His vengeful hatred of Liz is too sudden and too intense, bordering on psychotic.VJ's personality is a contradiction, She's too down-to-earth and jovial for someone from a dysfunctional and unloving family.Like Liz, Carey's a loner who has always stayed clear of emotional entanglements because of his secret. But,unlike Liz who continually questions her strong feelings and sudden connection to Carey, he's quickly obsessed by his infatuation for her. There seems to be no explanation in the story as to how Carey obtained his power, his connection to the police force and why, if he's a local hero, others in town haven't discovered his secret. Nonetheless this is an interesting story that's worth reading.