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Book CoverStevie‘s review of Untouchable by Ava Marsh
Political Thriller published by Berkley 06 Oct 15

I enjoy a well-written antihero, and I’m always on the lookout for romantic suspense stories and thrillers in which the heroine is perfectly capable of rescuing herself, though those have been few and far between recently. Stella, the heroine of Untouchable, is smart, savvy, and capable, but by no means heroic. She’s made mistakes in the past, and those haunt her thoughts and influence her deeds, but she’s determined to make up for previous errors, even if she has to step beyond the boundaries of the law and conventional morality to do so. I’d like her already, if she wasn’t trying so hard not to be likable.

Stella used to be called Grace, and that’s the name she still uses when volunteering on a rape crisis phone line. A former criminal psychologist, her main job now, following a case error that she blames herself for, even if exonerated by the official enquiry, is as a high-class call girl. Although Stella usually works alone, finding clients through her website – and dutifully filling in her tax forms as every self-employed businesswoman should – she sometimes teams up with others in her profession to entertain parties of men. It’s at one of those parties where the trouble really starts.

Stella and her friends are with a group of businessmen celebrating the birthday of a regular client. One of the men is a recent new client of Stella’s, who she already suspects of involvement with either the security services or high-end criminal activities. Various aspects of the evening strike her as odd, and it seems the men are celebrating more than just a significant anniversary. She carries on as normal over the following days, until a message comes in from the long-term partner of one of the women, wondering whether Stella has seen her.

When the missing woman is found dead, Stella starts to piece together her memories of the evening, and realises that one or more of the men at the party was almost certainly the murderer. However, the police are treating the death as just another prostitute killed by one of her clients. Stella realises that she and her friends will always be in danger, unless she can use contacts from her current and former professions to track down those responsible and stop them. On top of all that, the man whose case led to her resignation from her old job is out of prison and seems to be hunting for her.

This book gripped me all the way through. Even the banal everyday activities that Stella describes are infused with a humorous cynicism that kept me wanting to know more. Some of Stella’s actions, once she finds the men she’s been looking for, go well beyond self-protection and it’s hard to establish whether her incentives go beyond simple revenge and into the more extreme reaches of vigilantism. On the other hand, she does occasionally show a softer side towards certain of her clients, and some of her actions towards less savoury clients not involved in her investigation had me cheering for her.

Overall and excellent debut and I’m very keen to see what the author has for us next.

Stevies CatGrade: A

Summary:

Spend a night of sexual adventure with this gritty, debut thriller.

In a toxic world of lust, lies, and elegant hotels, London’s high-class escorts cater to the carnal appetites of powerful men. It’s a game Stella knows how to play, one that allows her to escape the nightmares of her past. The rules are simple: always leave your client satisfied, don’t get involved, and never disclose your real name. But when a fellow call girl is murdered, the game changes completely. And there’s only one rule—survival.

Once a respected professional, Stella knows how easily men can get away with murder—especially when the victim is a prostitute. Determined to get to the truth, she finds herself sucked into a deadly conflict with some of the world’s most powerful men. But while they may consider themselves above the law, there’s one secret every escort knows: no man is truly untouchable.

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