Marianne Waters experiences signs about the future multiple times per day, through the newspapers, conversations, glances at people or objects, and so many other ways that bring a literal shudder to her body. In a sense it's a curse as she's learned she can't change the future, but that doesn't stop her from trying. And it doesn't stop her from wishing a different life for her daughter, Gabrielle, a sixteen year-old with the same abilities.

After predicting a life-threatening end for Gabrielle's best friend which comes true, Marianne decides that she needs a change of scene and moves them both from New York to St. Louis. There she meets a group of women with similar abilities, but this isn't a comfy book club scenario.

Jean's way of handling what life and predictions bring is to pursue men, while maintaining a laissez faire agreement with her husband. Suzanne believes the voice of God is giving her both predictions and commands, with a religious intensity that is driving away Jean, her best friend.

After Marianne witnesses a brutal murder, she predicts her own death and circumstances begin to unfold that impress upon her that most fearful reality which she may not be able to thwart. Add to that the appearance of a police investigator, Detective Derek Richard, who soon seems more than professionally interested in Marianne, and a heap of trouble for Gabrielle who blurts out her own predictions at school.

Touch of Fate is a thrilling, roller-coaster ride through an alternative reality of signs to come!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on September 26, 2007

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