Gabe Cooper, in Leslie Parrish's Cold Touch, is a police detective (the accumulation of loners in the military and police force is obviously no accident). Olivia Wainwright, Parrish's heroine, has the unenviable ability to touch a corpse and relive his or her last moments. She gained that "gift," so to speak, after a harrowing ordeal as a young girl in the hands of a sadistic murderer. She now works for eXtreme Investigations, solving cases by reliving death experiences. When she sees a report about the discovery of a boy's body that seems to link to her childhood kidnapping, she contacts Gabe. The pair come from utterly different backgrounds; Olivia is "all soft southern gentility, and [Gabe] is one step above po' white." As the case unfolds, Gabe has to put aside his hardened skepticism and learn to listen. And when he starts to fall in love, he has to learn about how to speak about emotion. "I don't suppose you're ever been" to therapy, Olivia asks, and Gabe's dry rejoinder speaks for itself: "It's been recommended by a woman or two over the years." Olivia's heart-wrenching gift makes her life very difficult. But a loner who falls in love is the best protection against the world's sorrows: "she knew, down to her soul, that he would move heaven and earth to makes sure nothing ever hurt her physically." As the seemingly ancient case breaks into the present, Olivia and Gabe move together toward a "normal" – and joyous – life.
