Deadly Little Games
Touch, Book #3
By Laurie Faria Stolarz
ISBN# 9781423134961
Author’s website: http://www.lauriestolarz.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer member Annabell

Synopsis:

High school juniors Camelia and Ben have discovered a powerful bond: They both possess the power of psychometry, the ability to sense things through touch. For Ben, the gift is a frightening liability. When he senses a strong threat or betrayal, he risks losing control and hurting people. Camelia’s gift is more mysterious. When she works with clay, her hands sculpt messages her mind doesn’t yet comprehend.

Before either teen has a chance to fully grasp their abilities, a new danger surfaces, but this time, Camelia is not the target. Adam, a familiar face from Ben’s past, is drawn into a puzzle he can’t solve…and his life is on the line. As the clues pile up, Camelia must decide whether to help him and risk losing him or do nothing and suffer the consequences. But in these games, who can be trusted?

Review:

I have been a fan of Stolarz’s Touch series since the books first came out. Camelia, Ben, Wes, and Kimmie were such great written characters. The mystery behind Camelia and Ben’s powers was a wonderful journey to go on. The suspense throughout each of the books builds gradually and one of my favorite things (from the first book) was the stalker journal entries. I liked the way the antagonists were developed in each book. I had liked the way the story was told from Camelia’s point of view since she was a good hearted and relatable character.

So you could imagine my excitement at being able to finally have the chance to read the third installment . . . But my joy was soon depleted. Camelia and Ben get lost in Deadly Little Games. Camiela is so unsure of herself and she makes choices that made me really dislike her. Ben isn’t really part of the story and when he is all he does is whine about Camelia getting closer to Adam and act too much like a punk (not in a good way). Wes and Kimmie are still their banter witty selves which I was grateful for. They were the only salvageable part to the book, outside of the creepy psych sessions with the killer.

The plot was sterile and dragged on to the point of numbing. The entire book basically consisted of Camiela and Adam driving around in his car or hanging out at his apartment (instead of Camiela working her relationship with Ben) discussing the killer who is after Adam, but for some reason they never bother going to the cops even though Camiela keeps saying they should. There was just no point to the plot! The two main characters get completely lost. Adam, the secondary main character, is shallow and has no common sense or brains whatsoever. The revelation of who the villain is, was incredibly anti-climatic and the villain was just so boring and whinny!

I had to force myself to read and finish the book. I kept hoping there would be a point where the story would liven up but sadly, to the bitter end, the story remained just as pointless from the first page. The ending was disastrous!

For fans of the Touch series, you may want to skip over this one and wait for the next installment. Crossing my fingers that the author will redeem herself and bring back the characters I once enjoyed reading.