Mortal Touch: Vampires Of New England Series

by Inanna Arthen

Regan Calloway got more notoriety than she could handle seven years ago when she used her gift of psychic touch to help catch a brutal child murderer. When a string of bizarre assaults strikes the mill town of Sheridan, Massachusetts, Dr. Hiram Clauson persuades Regan to use her abilities to help him interview the victims. As the investigations take an unsettling turn, Regan's lifelong friend, Veronica Standish, begs her to try to find out more about a new man in town, Jonathan Vaughn. Regan and Jonathan's first meeting triggers an escalating series of disasters, for Jonathan Vaughn is one of the rare and scattered group of men and women known as vampires only to those few people whom they trust. In the chaos that follows, Regan struggles to hold on to everything she thought she could never bear to lose. As friends and associates turn into ruthless adversaries, and allies appear from unexpected places, Regan is forced to make choices she never dreamed she would have to face.

Genres: Vampires, Ebooks, Fantasy

368 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

About the author

Inanna Arthen has been a scholar and researcher of vampire fiction, folklore and phenomena for thirty-five years. A New England native and a life-long student of the paranormal, she holds a graduate degree from Harvard University. She currently lives in Massachusetts in a house full of books, computer equipment and cats."

Reviews

[Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. An imaginative and unique approach to the vampire. genre.

I am looking forward to the next book in this series. I stayed up all night to finish this one.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Mortal Touch" by Inanna Arthen is the first book in the Vampires of New England Series. This is a paranormal fiction novel and mystery that tells the story of Regan Calloway as she is taken out of her plain, structured world as a antique store owners and sometimes psychic into the life of a vampire, Jonathan Vaughn.




Regan Calloway used her psychic abilities to help solve a crime years ago but all the publicity ran her out of the town. Now she is settled in Sheridan working as an antique store manager, in fact, sole employee. Her psychic services are requested after a sting of attacks around the Sheridan area. While her time is consumed by work and helping Dr. Hiram Clauson conduct interviews on victims, she rarely has time for her best friend, Veronica. But Veronica desperately wants Regan to meet her new love interest, Jonathan Vaughn so she can "read" him. Regan doesn't get to do the read on Jonathan until he stops by her store at closing one night. This is when Regan finds out more than she wants to know about Mr. Vaughn. As Veronica is falling apart, more victims are discovered, and Regan is falling for Jonathan, all things start spiraling out of control. You must read this book to see what happens to Regan, Jonathan, Veronica, and even Dr. Hiram Clauson!




Overall, I liked this book a lot. The mystery and story line were really well put together. The romance...well, it was very "boring", it was hard to feel a real passionate connection with Reagan and Jonathan. "Shall we move off the couch? It's comfy, but a little cramped." He swallowed hard, but didn't answer, and she wondered what was behind his ambivalence. (chapter 9) The story was very easy to follow and I couldn't wait to keep reading to see how it was going end! All the characters are strong and bring something to story.



Other than the ending...which I'm not giving away...I loved this section in chapter 16...and it will make more sense when you read the book! Jonathan stood still at the edge of the trees, his face raised to the sky as though he was sniffing the air, as well as listening. Then he sighed unhappily. "I wish there wasn't such a stiff breeze." They hiked up the wooden slope, following the path that joined the network of trails that Sean had used himself when he was watching the house. Sean knew the trails well and had followed them in the dark, but he still stumbled a few times over roots or stones. As they paused at the top of the rise near the house, looking down the slope in the direction of town, Sean looked behind them and suddenly stiffened. "Jonathan," he said, almost not daring to whisper out loud, "Jonathan, look, what's that?"



One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "We don't know what they've been expecting, do we? I have a personal rule never to assume anything."

[Mandy Reads Indie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, here is the deal. I liked Mortal Touch pretty well with the mystery and all the crazy that happened. Well I did until the last half of the book. It seemed like the last part of the book every single thing was explained to death and that about ruined the book for me. I lost interest and found myself skipping over paragraphs. Conversations lasted way longer than necessary. It seemed the author was trying too hard to cover all her bases so no questions would rise up from the reader later on. But really…does the reader need to hear of a story of someone’s youth to justify how they got the sprinklers to go off in a restaurant?

The book was a little long for me too (400 plus pages). Mortal Touch easily could have been 2 books with all the plots running through the story. Sometimes I would forget about certain plots only to be reminded of them later on. I was ‘oh yeah, I forgot about you’. And of course more explaining would commence.

And my last fault I found was the relationship between Jonathan and Regan. I didn’t connect with them and everything about them seemed, well it seemed eh. Just when I thought the author was going to bring them to a level of being more personal…it went flat. The romance was ok, but almost nonexistent. And I understand that maybe the author wanted it to be more of a mystery read instead of a romance. But if that is the case…just leave the romance out altogether. I felt no spark for them. Nada.

So there you have it. I recommend this story to anyone who enjoys vampires and a good mystery. And you know what they say…no one reads the same book.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really wish Goodreads did half stars.

I enjoyed the author’s take on vampires and found it really compelling. I’m doing research on vampires for reasons and am really impressed by the way Arthen used traditional Slavic vampire myths in a modern setting. I also loved how delightfully mundane the vampires’ issues could be.

My issues were with the character of Veronica. While the character's history of mental illness gives the author some leeway, I struggled in a few places with both the extremes and with the main character's forgiveness of her actions.

I won’t spoil the mystery, as it was a lot of the fun!

[Bitten_by_Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Regan Calloway is a psychic who reads people and objects by touching them. She is working with Dr. Hiram Clauson to solve strange assaults that are occurring near their small Massachusetts town. When Regan touches the wound on the latest victim, she experiences the attack from the perpetrator’s point of view – right down to the taste of blood...

For the entire review please go to the Best Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Review site on the web, Bitten By Books for the review of Mortal Touch in it's entirety. You won't be sorry.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Mortal Touch because it wasn't just another paranormal romance story - it was also a mystery story that kept you turning pages. The main characters, Regan, Sean, and Jonathan, were very likeable, and even Veronica becomes likeable towards the end of the book. My only issue was with the believability of Regan and Veronica having been best friends their entire lives, when Veronica is shown as being nothing but horrible to her from the first chapter. That aside, this was a fast paced, enjoyable paranormal romance/mystery that I would recommend to anybody who likes the genre.

[Amp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought Mortal Touch from the author at an event held by my local library. The book had a strong start and intriguing concept. At some point in the middle, Regan began explaining everything. It felt like I was in a mystery class and she was the teacher's pet. I enjoy figuring things out and the dialogue took a turn towards tying up every single loose thread. This is part of a series but I don't think I'll pick up the sequel. It was far too easy to put this book down.

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy the idea of vamps living a normal life

[Tasula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vampire story with a psychic also. The characters' motivations and emotions didn't strike me as realistic or appropriate, and the whole book felt stodgy.

[Susan Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every moment of this very different book about vampires.