A very Walter Mosley sci-fi novel. Hits many themes that feature in Mosley's sci-fi: a Black everyman protagonist who is suddenly imbued by aliens or higher powers with incredible abilities (most commonly perception), a quest (usually to save life on earth), breaking away from everyday life (to go on the quest), a team assembled by the protagonist (often composed of people he wronged, or who wronged him), & some weird sex stuff. You can kind of say that most of Mosley's sci-fi writing is about the power and necessity of seeing through the everyday routine to know what must be done. Touched also features the criminal justice system, SoCal's white supremacists, & some transhumanist speculation. In many ways Touched & other Mosley sci-fi are similar to some 70s weird sci-fi I've read, or maybe Stranger in a Strange Land if it was written by a Black socialist instead of a rabid right-libertarian.