From a remote cottage in Cornwall to the great house of an ancient and noble family, to the smouldering streets of London in the strife-wracked years between the two World Wars, King's suspenseful novel pits one hardheaded American agent on the track of an anarchist bomber against the Machiavellean schemes of a ruthless opportunist who will use any tool that comes to hand in his grasp for ultimate power.
When Harris Stuyvesant of the nascent Federal Bureau of Investigation shows up on his London doorstep just days before the General Strike of 1926, Major Aldous Carstairs seizes on him as an opportunity to regain control of the reclusive man he has code-named "Touchstone" for his remarkable ability to reveal when people are telling the truth or lying. Carstairs tried once before to use Bennett Grey in his project to develop new methods of psychological interrogation, but Grey was so repulsed by Carstairs' sadistic delight that he refused to continue. Now Carstairs thinks he can use Stuyvesant to coerce Grey into cooperating with him again. But Stuyvesant is not the big, dumb, crass Yank that Carstairs thinks he is manipulating.
A entertaining tale, full or twists and turns, rich with historical details of a period of social upheaval, political intrigue and potential violence. King is the bestselling author of two mystery series, the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series and the modern day Kate Martinelli series, as well as a number of stand-alone suspense novels. The Bones of Paris, a sequel to Touchstone, is due out this fall.
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