Untouchable

Written by Kate Brian

Narrated by Cassandra Campbell

Reed's boyfriend, Thomas Pearson-the popular, easygoing, irresistibly handsome and charismatic boy she fell in love with-is dead. No one knows how it happened, and everyone is after the truth. Or are they?

Life at Easton Academy begins to feel very different. Taylor is acting like the poster child for Prozac, Kiran is spiking her cornflakes, Noelle is being kind of...nice, and Arianna keeps floating along as if nothing has happened.

Thanksgiving break arrives, and Reed and Josh find themselves alone on campus. They are forced to confront the feelings they've been hiding. Those feelings combined with an empty campus result in the hottest hookup Reed could possibly imagine. But when Reed breaks the news about Josh to the Billings Girls, there's no fun game of tell-all. Instead, Josh begins to look like suspect number one in the murder of Thomas Pearson.

The perfect life Reed has constructed as a Billings Girl begins to crumble. And as everyone becomes more convinced of Josh's guilt, Reed's private suspicions lead her somewhere she doesn't want to go.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781400182336

Kate Brian

Kate Brian is the author of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Private series and its spin-off series Privilege. She has also written many other books for teens including Sweet 16 and Megan Meade’s Guide to the McGowan Boys.

Reviews for Untouchable

[darcia_10 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love Sibel Hodge's writing style, and I have immense respect for the way she takes on challenging and controversial topics. This story, though, didn't quite work for me.We have three narrators - Maya, Jamie, and Mitchell - all written in first person. Jamie's parts are written in the form of a journal he left behind, and Mitchell's narrating part doesn't come in until late in the story. All the transitions are clearly marked. The characters all have unique voices, making it easy to distinguish the narrators even without the headings.The content is powerful. We have the issue of suicide looked at from the survivor's perspective, we have PTSD from military trauma, and we have Jamie's secrets, which are handled with realism and care. Jamie's parts are intense and, at times, difficult to read. That being said, Sibel Hodge handles this well, showing us the necessary details and alluding to others.While this story has all the components needed to hold me riveted, I found myself drifting. The story tends to drag in the middle, as Maya spends a whole lot of time dwelling on issues and not a lot of time actively doing anything. We wallow in grief along with Maya. Then we have some overly detailed, mostly meaningless activity, before going back to wallow. Once Mitchell comes into the story, the pace picks up. Still, I wanted to delve deeper into the story of Jamie, and spend less time with Maya's sad but repetitious grief.Given the pace, I wouldn't call this a thriller. It's more slow burning dark suspense. Despite the genre labels and my quibbles, this is a powerful story calling attention to some disturbing but all too common issues.

[8f_sam · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was pretty good, but it takes a really long time to get into the story in this series. From the beginning until now, it seems like only rising action, building up to the story. Then at the end of this book, the third book in the series, at the end of it it seems like the story finally started. But that was on the last page too. This series should be one big book, not lots of separate little books. It just doesn't seem that right.

[kariannalysis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In Kate Brian’s Untouchable, it’s time for Thanksgiving break. Things are starting to look up for Reed. The girls have finally accepted her as one of their own, she is getting over Thomas, someone has been arrested in connection with his death, and she’s started to spend some time with a new boy. The new boy, however, is Thomas’ roommate, Josh.And just as soon as everyone leaves for break, except Reed and Josh, everything starts to go downhill. The two are caught together and are banned from seeing each other the rest of the break. Josh is being questioned AGAIN about Thomas’ death and when the girls come back, they have some startling news. Josh came to Easton after being kicked out of his former school for a scandal. Now he may be involved in another one.Good news? The real murderer of Thomas is arrested!Kate Brian is still amazing me with her plots. This book, just like the rest kept me reading. She keeps putting in twists and turns that I would never have imagined. I’m starting to get used to her writing, so by the end of the book, I had a better of idea what to expect around the corner, but it was still a great addition to the series.I give Untouchable 3 bookmarks. There really wasn’t anything wrong with it, it’s just been a couple of days since I finished it, and I don’t feel as passionate about it as I have the others after a couple of days after.

[scoutlee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Untouchable is the 3rd book in the Private series. The book opens with Thomas’s funeral. There are still unanswered questions surrounding his death. Everyone has different theories on why Thomas died and each thinks he was murdered. As the police continue to investigate, more and more details are revealed about Thomas’s life.Reed is trying to move forward after her first real loss. She doesn’t know what to do as everyone is constantly watching her every move and commenting on everything she does. She does find solace in her friendship with Josh, Thomas’s best friend.With Untouchable, the plot thickens and at times I found it difficult to believe what anyone said. I knew the Billings Girls were still keeping secrets from Reed, however were they protecting her or themselves? Their “friendship” felt more forced to me in this book than the previous novels. Reed appeared to feel this way as well, however she continued to make excuses to remain friends with them. Secrets, lies and cover-up continue to be the themes of this series.Now that a “suspect” has been arrested, I wonder will the details of Thomas’s death finally be revealed. I guess I’ll have to read Confessions to find out.