The Touch

Karen and Barney Stark were an ordinary young couple. More than anything they wanted a baby of their own. Finally, after months of waiting, Karen discovers she's pregnant. Suddenly a radiation accident turns their happiness into an endless nightmare.

This new edition of Keyes' second novel includes a preface and additional material by the author.

Reviews of The Touch

"Gripping, well-plotted book... radiation contamination has provided Keyes with a macabre and unusually provocative idea for a novel and he exploits it with narrative skill." --Washington Star

". . .another worthy attempt to probe the effect of suffering on the human condition. His characters "wince and cry aloud," yet they survive. The book merits purchase for fiction shelves." --Library Journal

"It's an all too believable could-happen insofar as the background details are concerned, but one wishes the obviously gifted author hadn't saved his one unerring jab to the heart for the very end of the novel." -- Publisher's Weekly

"A novel whose theme is courage, this tells of Barney's and Karen's problems after they find out that Barney has brought home radioactive dust on his shoes." --American Statesman

"Keyes' story is an engaging one which builds to its exciting climax from the very beginning, unlike many novels who don't gain momentum until the end. We think he has done an excellent job." --Indianapolis Star

"...what possibly could turn into a sort of science fiction thriller actually becomes a very human book with the spilling of emotions becoming more important that the radioactive accident." --Herald Advertiser