BOOK REVIEW: TOUCH by Jus Accardo

Book:  TOUCH (DENAZEN #1)

Author: Jus Accardo
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Category: Young Adult Paranormal Romance

Deznee is a thrill seeking teenager hell bent on getting her stoic father’s attention one way or another.  One night she meets Kale, whose fear, desperation and constant wonder at everything ordinary seemed out of place.  Turns out he escaped from Denazen, the company for whom Deznee’s father worked.  

Kale is one of the SIX, a group of people with special abilities being rounded up and trained to be the perfect assassins.  Kale’s ability is to disintegrate every living thing he touches…. Except for Deznee. She is somehow immune to his powers. She decides to help him when she finds out that her mother, whom she believed died giving birth to her, is actually alive and is kept prisoner at Denazen.  And in the process falls in love with Kale.

TOUCH is a combination of the book I AM NUMBER FOUR and the TV show HEROES.  Its plot is interesting with lots of action, drama and romance in between. 

Deznee’s character is the typical rebellious i-hate-my-dad-he-doesn’t-give-me-any-attention-so-I’ll-give-him-hell teen.  Since she was made to believe and feel that her mother’s death is all her fault, it’s no wonder she feels so much hate for her father at the same time, without pointing it out, she actually tries to always look for a spark of kindness and understanding in his eyes, which she gets only once…kind of.  

Sympathizing with her character is easy, more so Kale’s.  He is an innocent.  He was raised in captivity so he lives and breathes Denazen and knows nothing of the outside world.  He has never touched anyone he has never tried to kill so touching Deznee was like a miracle to him.  He looks at everyTHING with the eyes of a child yet looks at everyONE with those of a killer’s.  they get attached to each other pretty quickly since aside from being the gorgeous beings that they are,  Deznee also has abilities which in the end, may be more powerful than his. 

Marshall Cross, Deznee’s father, is much like Noah Bennet of Heroes.  You can’t quite pinpoint if he is pure evil or is still saveable.  Another interesting character is Alex, Deznee’s former boyfriend whose love for her forced him to make bad decisions.  My favorite though is Brandt, Dez’s cousin whose power comes out so much later yet may just be the best among them.  And there is a lot of them.  As the story moves further, more characters and powers come out, again, not unlike the tv show. 

The book is worth reading.  Lovers of Pittacus Lore books I AM NUMBER FOUR and THE POWER OF SIX will appreciate the adventure that is within the pages.  The pace is very good and the ending is hopeful, and yes, poised for book 2 or even book 3.  There is no lull in the story though admittedly I did not get quite as attached to its characters as I did with the abovementioned titles.  It does have a lot going for it though that I am sure lovers of science fiction will appreciate.