Untouchable

by Michael J. Martineck

FBI Special Agent Leah Capello knew the art world had a dark side, but kidnapping is a whole new hue. To save a young child she accepts the help of Joshua Fawls, who claims to be an art expert, seems a little psychic and is probably, more than likely, a delightfully skilled conman. Together they bend conventions, break rules, and learn that the artist Edgar Degas was right: Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. Just like the perfect crime.

276 pages, Paperback

Published January 6, 2021

About the author

The Tongue Trade just came out from EDGE. Love this book. Worked on it on and off for more than 30 years, from which you can assume I've had a writing problem for quite some time. I started writing stories when I was seven and never really stopped. Over the years, I’ve put out short stories, comic book scripts, articles and trio of novels. I’ve put countless other ventures in the drawer. The drawer is in my house on Grand Island, NY., a little cap of clay nestled between the US and Canada. This is also the location of my Ego Retention Program, whereby my beautiful wife and two lovely children continuously call out my various shortcomings, keeping me from becoming the screaming, self-centered artist I long to be. DC Comics published a couple of stories in the early 90s. Planetmag, Aphelion and a couple of other long-dead e-zines helped me out in 00s, along with The Misspellers and The Wrong Channel. Cinco de Mayo was released from EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy in 2010 and was short-listed for an Alberta Readers Choice Award. Very exciting, you know, for me. The Milkman, came out in 2014.fiollowed by The Link Boy (EDGE) and Untouchable, from Our little Secret Press

Reviews

[Melisende]

This is a tale about the murky underworld of black market art sales and the lengths that some may go to in order to gain the piece that they so desperately want.

Add an FBI agent with a dash of naive notoriety and a man who is a "... fine looking, erudite, scam artist, art maven with a smile that makes you gushy ..." - and you have a narrative that could quite easily have been written with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson in mind.

Quite an entertaining caper!

[Kristel Greer]

I was sent a copy of this book for review.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
FBI Agent Leah Capello works in Art Crime and her recent sting operation involving Stepan Markov didn’t go to plan after the mysterious Joshua Fawls entered the room. The deal goes south and months of work are wasted. Leah is called to a gallery theft by the NYPD but Markov has staged the robbery to leverage her help locating Joshua in exchange for the missing painting. She finds Joshua in a compromising position and events get weirder from that point on. Leah learns the reason Joshua constantly wears gloves and refuses to be touched. He has psychic abilities and reads the emotion and circumstances surrounding an object with touch. Leah doesn’t know whether he is telling the truth or is simply a highly skilled conman.


Either way, she needs his special skills, uncanny luck and art world connections to save Markov's son who was kidnapped to keep Markov from an exclusive auction. The unlikely partners try to track down the location of the boy and the auction while identifying the kidnapper. An elaborate, fast-paced, and exciting search ensues full of intrigue, revelations, crazy ex-girlfriends, and dangerous adversaries at every turn. Is Joshua selling Leah a fabricated story just to cover his involvement in the kidnapping or is he honestly trying to help her solve the case? It doesn’t help that there is an obvious and tenable attraction between them that might be clouding her judgment.


This was a 🌟🌟🌟🌟 story with thrilling action and a compelling plot that involved high society manoeuvring, intricate storyline weaving with an unexpected supernatural twist. Leah and Joshua were fascinating and excellently written characters. You get a genuine sense of who they are and their motivations quite quickly which makes them easy to like. Their endless witty banter and obvious chemistry bring depth to the story as you will them to succeed both as individuals as well as a pair. Overall I was impressed with the narrative style and character portrayal. The ending did seem a little open for more but that might just be my wishful thinking.

[Michael Martineck]

Doesn't get any better than this.

[Lily]

I wasn't sure how into this I would be able to get. The art world is, admittedly, mostly over my head. This goes so much deeper than art. Even before you get to the main plot (kidnapping), you've been drawn into the story. I loved Leah's no-nonsense attitude, while still being human, and I wasn't entirely sure what to make of Fawls at first. He's definitely unique. Although the art world is the backdrop, you don't need to know much about the scene, or about art, to enjoy the mystery, characters, twists, and turns that populate the pages of this book. Highly recommend for all mystery lovers.

[Scott Martineck]

This book is the genuine article

A good mystery that is both fun and surprising.
Vivid settings, and a fascinating collection of characters. Enjoyed spending time in the world as much as seeing the mystery unfold.

[Kristina Watts]

Entertaining, gritty, fun story but not his best work.

[Noémie Media]

Loved this! Sharp writing, smart twists, and a fascinating look into the art world. Joshua Fawls might be my new favorite fictional wildcard.