Laurie R. King: Touchstone (UK 2013)

From the Publisher:
A captivating 1920s thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of the Mary Russell &amP; Sherlock Holmes series.
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 enacted by 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 After the Great War left him with an excruciating sensitivity to human deceit, Grey has withdrawn from the world.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...

Laurie R. King: Touchstone. An Agent Harris Stuyvesant Novel. Allison & Busby, ISBN: 9780749015459 (August, 2013), 560 p., £7.99, eBook £6.99.

Laurie R. King: Touchstone (USA 2008)

From the Publisher:
New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King takes us to a remote cottage in Cornwall in this gripping tale of intrigue, terrorism, and explosive passions that begins with a visit to a recluse code-named...

Once studied by British intelligence for his excruciating sensitivity to the world's turmoil, Bennett Grey has withdrawn from the world -- until an American Bureau of Investigation agent comes to assess Grey's potential as a weapon in a new kind of warfare.

Agent Harris Stuyvesant needs Grey's help to enter a realm where the rich and the radical exist side by side -- a heady mix of power, celebrity, and sexuality that conceals the free world's deadliest enemy. Soon Stuyvesant finds himself dangerously seduced by one woman and -- even more dangerously -- falling in love with another. As he sifts through secrets divulged and kept, he uncovers the target of a horrifying conspiracy, and wonders if he can trust anyone, even his touchstone.

Laurie R. King: Touchstone. Bantam Books, ISBN: 9780553586664 (December, 2008), 560 p., $12.00.

Laurie R. King: Touchstone (USA 2008)

From the Publisher:
Hailed for her rich and powerful works of psychological suspense as well as her New York Times bestselling mysteries, Laurie R. King now takes us to a remote cottage in Cornwall where a gripping tale of intrigue, terrorism, and explosive passions begins with a visit to a recluse upon whom the fate of an entire nation may rest -- a man code-named...

It's eight years after the Great War shattered Bennett Grey's life, leaving him with an excruciating sensitivity to the potential of human violence, and making social contact all but impossible. Once studied by British intelligence for his unique abilities, Grey has withdrawn from a rapidly changing world -- until an American Bureau of Investigation agent comes to investigate for himself Grey's potential as a weapon in a vicious new kind of warfare. Agent Harris Stuyvesant desperately needs Grey's help entering a world where the rich and the radical exist side by side -- a heady mix of the powerful and the celebrated, among whom lurks an enemy ready to strike a deadly blow at democracy on both sides of the Atlantic.

Here, among a titled family whose servants dress in whimsical costumes and whose daughter conducts an open affair with a man who wants to bring down the government, Stuyvesant finds himself dangerously seduced by one woman and -- even more dangerously -- falling in love with another. And as he sifts through secrets divulged and kept, he uncovers the target of a horrifying conspiracy, and wonders if he can trust his touchstone, Grey, to reveal the most dangerous player of all...

Building to an astounding climax on an ancient English estate, Touchstone is both a harrowing thriller by a master of the genre and a thought-provoking exploration of the forces that drive history -- and human destinies.

Laurie R. King: Touchstone. Bantam, ISBN: 0553803557 (January, 2008), 560 p., $24.00.