Touch

By Elmore Leonard

Book Overview

A Michigan woman was blind and now she can see, after being touched by a young man who calls himself Juvenal. Maybe it was just coincidence, but Bill Hill -- who used to run the spectacular Uni-Faith Ministry in Dalton, Georgia, and now sells RVs -- can see dollar signs when he looks at this kid with the magic "touch." The trouble is that others see them also, including a wacko fundamentalist fascist with his own private army of the faithful and an assortment of media leeches. But everyone who's looking to put the touch on the healer is in for a big surprise -- because Juvenal's got a trick or two up his sleeve that nobody sees coming.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877959056
• ISBN13: 9780877959052
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Arbor House
• Length: 245 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.

Customer Reviews

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR THANKSGIVING

If only I had read this book back in the 70's, then it may have had an impact on me, somehow. But seeing as to the fact that I'm approaching 80, and will soon be too old to actually appreciate the sub-text of this wonderful novel - I'd have to say that tho' it is one of EL's best books he'd ever written, I would have to agree with my wife who keeps telling me to put the book down and connect myself back to reality.

Eerie. But brilliant.

I loved this book because for once EL has a direction which he follows. The main character Juvenal is vintage EL but with a human side. You can say he searches himself through the adventure taken by his main protagonist. Difficult to come to terms with at first, the final outburst of orginality makes the waiting worthwhile. Highly recommended.

This is a damn good.

This is a damn good book. It gets off to a slow start start, but even then, it is still a really good book, and i would recommend that anybody read it. He author seems to spend about the first half warming the charecters up, but then in the second half, it goes weird, every page theres something to laugh at.Go read it.

Blood but no bullets

After reading this book you have to suspect that Elomore Leonard not only has a superb ear for dialogue but also a feel for the supernatural. In "Maximum Bob" the heroine could see "auras". In "Killshot" there was character assessment by graphology. In "Touch" I learned all about stigmatas through the ages. Now when you've got used to Leonard's character's having itchy trigger-fingers it's a sudden change to find one (Juvenal) who heals by laying on of hands. And he does it without claiming anything, expecting anything or extorting anyone. There are plenty of other characters in the book to do that. Leonard's "tour de force" comes late in the book in the confrontation between good and evil (the latter represented by a talk show host). My blood boiled as I read how a saint could be given a satanic spin by someone who is intent on boosting their viewing figures (more seating room in the Colosseum, please!)