Review: Untouched by Jayme Bean

 Doctor Julia Morrow and her graduate students Marisol and David are entering the Amazon rainforest to take part in an ongoing ecological experiment. Shortly before entering the rainforest, Doctor Morrow discovers that her other student who assists her on experiments has gone missing and has not contacted the villagers who provided him with supplies. Unable to reach him by satellite phone, Doctor Morrow is deeply concerned about his safety.

Normally enthusiastic, the guides who helped doctor Morrow and her students take supplies out to their base camp have suddenly become fearful, one dubbing the rainforest “Tierra Maldita,” or cursed land, and refuses to go further to the base camp. Without the help of the guides, Doctor Morrow, Marisol and David strike out on their own carrying all the supplies to the next base camp. After a long day of hiking and making the first base camp, the following morning Doctor Morrow is nowhere to be found.

Now David and Marisol must decide whether to push forward into the rainforest hoping to find Doctor Morrow further ahead or turn back. Facing numerous obstacles and attacks, Marisol and David persist in their endeavor, whether the rainforest wants them to or not.

Untouched was a very entertaining read so much so that I stayed up till 2:00 AM because I wanted to know how the book ended. Adventure is not a normal genre to read but I got very strong Crichton vibes from this story, and I loved it.

I loved how the camaraderie of David and Marisol developed from quiet strangers to best friends. Without giving too much away, one of the characters develops a relationship with an unnamed character and I now ‘ship them hard! I would love to see further stories of all of these characters by Ms. Bean in the future.

 

5/5 Stars

Thanks to the author and Book Sprout for providing me with a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.