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A Touch of Death
It began as a burglary – And ended as a nightmare
When Lee Scarborough came upon the brunette sunbathing topless in her back yard, getting involved in a heist was the last thing on his mind. But somehow that’s where he found himself – sneaking through a stranger’s house, on the hunt for $120,000 in embezzled bank funds.
It looked like an easy score. But one thing stood between him and the beautiful and deadly Madelon Butler.
When Lee Scarborough came upon the brunette sunbathing topless in her back yard, getting involved in a heist was the last thing on his mind. But somehow that’s where he found himself – sneaking through a stranger’s house, on the hunt for $120,000 in embezzled bank funds.
It looked like an easy score. But one thing stood between him and the beautiful and deadly Madelon Butler.
250 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
20 people are currently reading
1073 people want to read
About the author
Charles Williams
33 books99 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Charles Williams
Charles Williams was one of the preeminent authors of American crime fiction. Born in Texas, he dropped out of high school to enlist in the US Merchant Marine, serving for ten years (1929-1939) before leaving to work in the electronics industry. He was a radio inspector during the war years at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington state. At the end of World War II, Williams began writing fiction while living in San Francisco. The success of his backwoods noir Hill Girl (1951) allowed him to quit his job and write fulltime.
Williams’s clean and somewhat casual narrative style distinguishes his novels—which range from hard-boiled, small-town noir to suspense thrillers set at sea and in the Deep South. Although originally published by pulp fiction houses, his work won great critical acclaim, with Hell Hath No Fury (1953) becoming the first paperback original to be reviewed by legendary New York Times critic Anthony Boucher. Many of his novels were adapted for the screen, such as Dead Calm (published in 1963) and Don’t Just Stand There! (published in 1966), for which Williams wrote the screenplay.
After the death of his wife Lasca (m. 1939) from cancer in 1972, Williams purchased property on the California-Oregon border where he lived alone for a time in a trailer. After relocating to Los Angeles, Williams committed suicide in his apartment in the Van Nuys neighborhood in early April 1975. Williams had been depressed since the death of his wife, and his emotional state worsened as sales of his books declined when stand alone thrillers began to lose popularity in the early 70s. He was survived by a daughter, Alison.
Please see: Charles Williams
Charles Williams was one of the preeminent authors of American crime fiction. Born in Texas, he dropped out of high school to enlist in the US Merchant Marine, serving for ten years (1929-1939) before leaving to work in the electronics industry. He was a radio inspector during the war years at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington state. At the end of World War II, Williams began writing fiction while living in San Francisco. The success of his backwoods noir Hill Girl (1951) allowed him to quit his job and write fulltime.
Williams’s clean and somewhat casual narrative style distinguishes his novels—which range from hard-boiled, small-town noir to suspense thrillers set at sea and in the Deep South. Although originally published by pulp fiction houses, his work won great critical acclaim, with Hell Hath No Fury (1953) becoming the first paperback original to be reviewed by legendary New York Times critic Anthony Boucher. Many of his novels were adapted for the screen, such as Dead Calm (published in 1963) and Don’t Just Stand There! (published in 1966), for which Williams wrote the screenplay.
After the death of his wife Lasca (m. 1939) from cancer in 1972, Williams purchased property on the California-Oregon border where he lived alone for a time in a trailer. After relocating to Los Angeles, Williams committed suicide in his apartment in the Van Nuys neighborhood in early April 1975. Williams had been depressed since the death of his wife, and his emotional state worsened as sales of his books declined when stand alone thrillers began to lose popularity in the early 70s. He was survived by a daughter, Alison.
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December 3, 2019
”She splashed crimson upon her mouth. In spite of myself, I watched her. She was arrogant and conceited as hell, but when you looked away from her for a moment and then looked back you went through it all over again. You didn’t believe that anyone could be that beautiful."
Lee Scarborough is a washed up football player and a man on the make. One moment he is trying to sell his car to some dame for much needed cash, and the next thing he knows he is breaking into a house to look for stolen money. I’ll tell you the dame’s name, but it doesn’t really mean anything because it isn’t her real name. Diana James dangles a lot of possibilities in front of Lee, and Lee thinks he is smart enough to figure out what she isn’t telling him.
Little does Lee know that he is only playing in the bush leagues with Diana. When he meets Madelon Butler, he is, as Crash Davis says in Bull Durham, finally in the show. The thing we have to keep in mind is that Lee falls short of making it to the show in football. The question is, can he measure up playing in a high stakes game of deceit, betrayal, and murder.
How high, you say? $120,000.
Madelon’s husband absconds with the money from the bank he works at and is supposed to disappear with “Diana James,” but when he never shows, James begins to believe that the ice queen somehow parts him from the money and may have even parted him from his life.
Let’s just say things don’t go well when Lee breaks into the Butler estate. He doesn’t find the money, but does find himself saddled with the lovely and very dangerous Madelon Butler. She can slice him like a surgeon with her razor sharp tongue in such a maddening way that he starts considering creative ways to kill her, but then she looks at him a certain way or pulls on a pair of stockings in such a way that he begins to think about doing the horizontal bebop.
This is a problem, but it isn’t his biggest problem. His Achilles' heel is that he believes he is shrewd enough to outmaneuver whatever dastardly scheme is percolating in that pretty little head of Madelon Butler. He soon has cops looking for him, along with a murderous pair of siblings who hate Madelon with a purple passion. Diana James is wondering where her half of the money is, and Lee is desperate and greedy enough to know there is no splitting this opportunity down the middle. He wants it all.
This is his chance. His last chance to make it to the big show.
Has Lee designed the better coverage scheme for the last kickoff? As the final seconds click off the clock, will he be in the endzone performing his touchdown dance or will he be lying on the field staring up at the darkening sky after a satchel of $120,000 passes between the wrong goal posts?
The twist will have you whistling in admiration.
I recently read Charles Williams’s book The Hot Spot, which was fantastic. I can remember thinking to myself, well I’ve read his masterpiece. Now that I’ve read A Touch of Death,I will certainly make the argument that Williams has written two masterpieces of hardboiled noir. The question, of course, is, how many other wonderful depictions of lovely femme fatales, greedy schemes, and desperate men are waiting to be discovered between the covers of his other novels? I’ll certainly be finding out.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Lee Scarborough is a washed up football player and a man on the make. One moment he is trying to sell his car to some dame for much needed cash, and the next thing he knows he is breaking into a house to look for stolen money. I’ll tell you the dame’s name, but it doesn’t really mean anything because it isn’t her real name. Diana James dangles a lot of possibilities in front of Lee, and Lee thinks he is smart enough to figure out what she isn’t telling him.
Little does Lee know that he is only playing in the bush leagues with Diana. When he meets Madelon Butler, he is, as Crash Davis says in Bull Durham, finally in the show. The thing we have to keep in mind is that Lee falls short of making it to the show in football. The question is, can he measure up playing in a high stakes game of deceit, betrayal, and murder.
How high, you say? $120,000.
Madelon’s husband absconds with the money from the bank he works at and is supposed to disappear with “Diana James,” but when he never shows, James begins to believe that the ice queen somehow parts him from the money and may have even parted him from his life.
Let’s just say things don’t go well when Lee breaks into the Butler estate. He doesn’t find the money, but does find himself saddled with the lovely and very dangerous Madelon Butler. She can slice him like a surgeon with her razor sharp tongue in such a maddening way that he starts considering creative ways to kill her, but then she looks at him a certain way or pulls on a pair of stockings in such a way that he begins to think about doing the horizontal bebop.
This is a problem, but it isn’t his biggest problem. His Achilles' heel is that he believes he is shrewd enough to outmaneuver whatever dastardly scheme is percolating in that pretty little head of Madelon Butler. He soon has cops looking for him, along with a murderous pair of siblings who hate Madelon with a purple passion. Diana James is wondering where her half of the money is, and Lee is desperate and greedy enough to know there is no splitting this opportunity down the middle. He wants it all.
This is his chance. His last chance to make it to the big show.
Has Lee designed the better coverage scheme for the last kickoff? As the final seconds click off the clock, will he be in the endzone performing his touchdown dance or will he be lying on the field staring up at the darkening sky after a satchel of $120,000 passes between the wrong goal posts?
The twist will have you whistling in admiration.
I recently read Charles Williams’s book The Hot Spot, which was fantastic. I can remember thinking to myself, well I’ve read his masterpiece. Now that I’ve read A Touch of Death,I will certainly make the argument that Williams has written two masterpieces of hardboiled noir. The question, of course, is, how many other wonderful depictions of lovely femme fatales, greedy schemes, and desperate men are waiting to be discovered between the covers of his other novels? I’ll certainly be finding out.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
January 10, 2022
Non-stop noir suspense with a cold blooded, unflinching femme fatale that's more clever and devious than Lee Scarborough, our poor shmo protagonist, could possibly imagine. Though he's got a bit more in the brains department than your average dumb jock.
"It wasn’t that I was afraid of a 125-pound woman with a pair of drugstore scissors in her hand. It was that she wasn’t human. She was invulnerable. She was unbeatable. Nothing could touch her. There was a wild, crazy blackness foaming up inside me, urging me to leap up and run, or to lunge for her and tear the scissors away and take her throat in my hands and see if she could be killed. I hung poised over empty nothing."
Williams packs in a torrent of double crosses and plot twists, masterfully putting you in Lee's shoes as the noose tightens around him and the dame, pitting them in a harrowing war of nerves as he tries desperately to figure out the score, constantly harboring a nagging suspicion that he hasn't quite caught onto everything she's trying to pull. You think? It's enough to drive a guy nuts.
"It wasn’t that I was afraid of a 125-pound woman with a pair of drugstore scissors in her hand. It was that she wasn’t human. She was invulnerable. She was unbeatable. Nothing could touch her. There was a wild, crazy blackness foaming up inside me, urging me to leap up and run, or to lunge for her and tear the scissors away and take her throat in my hands and see if she could be killed. I hung poised over empty nothing."
Williams packs in a torrent of double crosses and plot twists, masterfully putting you in Lee's shoes as the noose tightens around him and the dame, pitting them in a harrowing war of nerves as he tries desperately to figure out the score, constantly harboring a nagging suspicion that he hasn't quite caught onto everything she's trying to pull. You think? It's enough to drive a guy nuts.
November 7, 2011
When washed up football player Lee Scarborough gets hired to steal $120,000 from a banker's widow, how can he pass it up? Little does Lee know that other people have their sights set on the money and the widow herself. And Madelon Butler, the widow, is the most deadly of them all...
A Touch of Death has many of the things I look for in a crime novel. There are multiple double crosses, gunplay, and the tension of being on the run. Madelon Butler is by far the most interesting character in the novel; beautiful, cold, calculating, and deadly. Lee had big hopes for the dough but wound up way over his head.
So why only a 3? William's writing seems really stiff compared to the other work of his that I've read, The Hotspot. It felt like he was afraid to really cut loose. There was no sex and only a little violence. The suspense was good but not as good as in the Hotspot.
The final verdict is that this isn't a bad read but is neither the best Hard Case nor the best Charles Williams book.
A Touch of Death has many of the things I look for in a crime novel. There are multiple double crosses, gunplay, and the tension of being on the run. Madelon Butler is by far the most interesting character in the novel; beautiful, cold, calculating, and deadly. Lee had big hopes for the dough but wound up way over his head.
So why only a 3? William's writing seems really stiff compared to the other work of his that I've read, The Hotspot. It felt like he was afraid to really cut loose. There was no sex and only a little violence. The suspense was good but not as good as in the Hotspot.
The final verdict is that this isn't a bad read but is neither the best Hard Case nor the best Charles Williams book.
May 16, 2019
Lee Scarborough is a former football star who has been failing as a salesman. When he meets a woman by chance he gets embroiled in a scheme to recover $120,000 of stolen money.
Guess how that goes?
This is a tasty slice of pulp fiction that has a unique hook and provides plenty of twists and turns. The book doesn’t end anywhere near where you think it will based on the early chapters, and there’s plenty of paranoia fueling the plot by the end of it. I hadn’t read any of Charles Williams’ work before this, but now I’d like to check out more.
Guess how that goes?
This is a tasty slice of pulp fiction that has a unique hook and provides plenty of twists and turns. The book doesn’t end anywhere near where you think it will based on the early chapters, and there’s plenty of paranoia fueling the plot by the end of it. I hadn’t read any of Charles Williams’ work before this, but now I’d like to check out more.
July 30, 2021
This was one of the fastest-paced and most intense novels I've ever read, and I'm a little surprised at the somewhat mixed reviews here. I was never less than fully absorbed in this tale of a former college football star who plans to steal $120,000 in "easy money" from a vacant house, but gets a lot more than he bargained in his newly-met, ultra-conniving female partner, who, unfortunately for him, is the mastermind behind the plan.
The action here never lets up, and it's impossible to turn away as the narrator gets in way over his head, but is in too deep to ever turn back. It's got everything any fan of noir could ever want, with plenty of double crosses and twists that even someone like me, who's read his fair share of these types of stories, never saw coming, not to mention one of the best and most cunning femmes fatales this side of James M. Cain.
I'll definitely be on the lookout for more Charles Williams the next time I go on one of my too-frequent vintage paperback buying binges.
5 Stars
The action here never lets up, and it's impossible to turn away as the narrator gets in way over his head, but is in too deep to ever turn back. It's got everything any fan of noir could ever want, with plenty of double crosses and twists that even someone like me, who's read his fair share of these types of stories, never saw coming, not to mention one of the best and most cunning femmes fatales this side of James M. Cain.
I'll definitely be on the lookout for more Charles Williams the next time I go on one of my too-frequent vintage paperback buying binges.
5 Stars
April 1, 2024
Pulp Perfection
If you choose to read just one pulp novel in your lifetime, this would be an excellent choice. Guaranteed you will choose to pick up another one or two. Charles Williams was one of the top authors of the pulp era of the fifties. He is not to be confused with the other Charles Williams, who wrote theological books and was often linked with C.S. Lewis. This Charles Williams wrote in a smooth, flowing style that had wider appeal than just the pulp audience of many other authors. This book is not some dark and dreary crawl through the gutter of life by some two-bit punk who ran off with the boss's wife and money. Rather, it is a well-executed, well-plotted masterpiece that is worth reading more than once. It is obvious why Hard Case Crime chose this book from among Williams' work to feature in its crime series.
Here you have an ex-college football player (Scarborough) reduced to selling door-to-door who explains that "You can't eat six-year-old football scores." He's soured and possibly has run out of dreams at the ripe old age of twenty-eight.
You have Diana James, a brunette "sunbathing in the bottom part of a two-fragment bathing suit" who offers him a chance to walk off with a piece of $120,000. She was no bimbo, though. "She was sharp." "She had it figured out from every angle." She gave him a chance to think about the reward first and, when he got used to that, "you could let your ideas grow a little. You didn't have to jump in cold. You waded in."
You have a second femme fatale at war with the brunette. This one, Madelon Butler, was also a brunette, "with a magnolia complexion and big, smoky-looking eyes. And a bitch right out of the book." "She was almost unbelievably beautiful, and she was drunk as a lord." She scared the living hell out of him. "An icicle walked slowly up my spine and sat between my shoulder blades." Even when she's in his arms, she is like "a beautiful and enraged wildcat." "If she wanted ice water, I thought, all she had to do was open up a vein." Wow! "God knows what went on inside that chromium-plated soul of hers, but no human being born could go on taking that kind of pressure forever without breaking."
So you have two crazy, gorgeous women, a hidden fortune that had been embezzled from the banks, a man who was probably dead, although his body was never found, married to one of these women and having an affair with the other. Once you mix that together, boy, do you have a tale to tell. He had warned James that he did not want any "wild-haired babes blowing their tops."
Scarborough isn't sure how he fits in here and wonders if he is being set up as a patsy or a "dead duck." James is setting him up as a "sucker" and, if he can't pull off the job, she would just send out the next sucker. "I'd been played for a sucker by a smooth operator," he explains. These two women are both lying to him and throwing him curves, left and right. Throughout the story, there is suspicion and distrust and he constantly wonders if the knife will end up in his back or the scissors in his throat.
Scarborough is never sure who all the players are or who is setting up who. Not even when the ash blonde with the angelic face pays him a visit.
This book has it all, murder, kidnapping, snipers, police dragnets, and, most of all, it has it all turning to hell as Scarborough starts to become more and more unglued. He had been warned about her, hadn't he? He would never get any of the money, he'd been told. "I wished she were dead. I wished she'd never been born, or that I had never heard of her," he says. "
This novel is so well-written that the pages literally melt into your hands as you read them. It is narrated in such a perfect pace that the reader doesn't stumble over long flowery descriptions or complain that there is too much action or too many players.
Williams tells this tale perfectly, as Scarborough feels the noose tightening around his neck and the cage he is in gets smaller and smaller, the reader feels him breaking apart.
If you choose to read just one pulp novel in your lifetime, this would be an excellent choice. Guaranteed you will choose to pick up another one or two. Charles Williams was one of the top authors of the pulp era of the fifties. He is not to be confused with the other Charles Williams, who wrote theological books and was often linked with C.S. Lewis. This Charles Williams wrote in a smooth, flowing style that had wider appeal than just the pulp audience of many other authors. This book is not some dark and dreary crawl through the gutter of life by some two-bit punk who ran off with the boss's wife and money. Rather, it is a well-executed, well-plotted masterpiece that is worth reading more than once. It is obvious why Hard Case Crime chose this book from among Williams' work to feature in its crime series.
Here you have an ex-college football player (Scarborough) reduced to selling door-to-door who explains that "You can't eat six-year-old football scores." He's soured and possibly has run out of dreams at the ripe old age of twenty-eight.
You have Diana James, a brunette "sunbathing in the bottom part of a two-fragment bathing suit" who offers him a chance to walk off with a piece of $120,000. She was no bimbo, though. "She was sharp." "She had it figured out from every angle." She gave him a chance to think about the reward first and, when he got used to that, "you could let your ideas grow a little. You didn't have to jump in cold. You waded in."
You have a second femme fatale at war with the brunette. This one, Madelon Butler, was also a brunette, "with a magnolia complexion and big, smoky-looking eyes. And a bitch right out of the book." "She was almost unbelievably beautiful, and she was drunk as a lord." She scared the living hell out of him. "An icicle walked slowly up my spine and sat between my shoulder blades." Even when she's in his arms, she is like "a beautiful and enraged wildcat." "If she wanted ice water, I thought, all she had to do was open up a vein." Wow! "God knows what went on inside that chromium-plated soul of hers, but no human being born could go on taking that kind of pressure forever without breaking."
So you have two crazy, gorgeous women, a hidden fortune that had been embezzled from the banks, a man who was probably dead, although his body was never found, married to one of these women and having an affair with the other. Once you mix that together, boy, do you have a tale to tell. He had warned James that he did not want any "wild-haired babes blowing their tops."
Scarborough isn't sure how he fits in here and wonders if he is being set up as a patsy or a "dead duck." James is setting him up as a "sucker" and, if he can't pull off the job, she would just send out the next sucker. "I'd been played for a sucker by a smooth operator," he explains. These two women are both lying to him and throwing him curves, left and right. Throughout the story, there is suspicion and distrust and he constantly wonders if the knife will end up in his back or the scissors in his throat.
Scarborough is never sure who all the players are or who is setting up who. Not even when the ash blonde with the angelic face pays him a visit.
This book has it all, murder, kidnapping, snipers, police dragnets, and, most of all, it has it all turning to hell as Scarborough starts to become more and more unglued. He had been warned about her, hadn't he? He would never get any of the money, he'd been told. "I wished she were dead. I wished she'd never been born, or that I had never heard of her," he says. "
This novel is so well-written that the pages literally melt into your hands as you read them. It is narrated in such a perfect pace that the reader doesn't stumble over long flowery descriptions or complain that there is too much action or too many players.
Williams tells this tale perfectly, as Scarborough feels the noose tightening around his neck and the cage he is in gets smaller and smaller, the reader feels him breaking apart.
April 1, 2024
04/2016
This fiction does not have the most likable of characters. The extreme readability of Charles Williams books is met by the phenomenal plotting.
This fiction does not have the most likable of characters. The extreme readability of Charles Williams books is met by the phenomenal plotting.
September 25, 2019
My fourth book by Charles Williams - my favorite crime fiction writer after Charles Willeford.
You have the tortured hero (just like in The Hot Spot and River Girl) who falls in with not one but two beautiful and devious women in a plot to recover some stolen money.
One of the things that separates Williams from other crime fiction writers is his attention to detail. Williams is quite knowledgeable about boats, fishing, sailing and water bodies in general (he used this knowledge to create authentic characters and settings in both River Girl and Dead Calm). Most other crime fiction writers that I have read (like Gil Brewer, Jim Thompson and Day Keene) don't seem to know much about anything and their characters and plots come across as artificial. Unfortunately, A Touch of Death belongs in the latter category of crime fiction novels.
The characters are always pouring a drink or lighting a cigarette. Nothing wrong with that. But the two major plot points are wasted by Williams. The second one where Lee Scarborough and Madelon Butler are cooped up in a flat could have been used to create some great scenes that provide revealing insights into the characters motivations. Lee Scarborough seems to be a straight laced type at the beginning of the novel but then we don't really know why he becomes so desperate. Also, Madelin Butler's character is a complete mystery.
However, the book does have some great twists. Madeline Butler is an impressive creation. There are some loose ends and parts which are hard to digest. But Charles Williams ties it all up quite well in the end.
You have the tortured hero (just like in The Hot Spot and River Girl) who falls in with not one but two beautiful and devious women in a plot to recover some stolen money.
One of the things that separates Williams from other crime fiction writers is his attention to detail. Williams is quite knowledgeable about boats, fishing, sailing and water bodies in general (he used this knowledge to create authentic characters and settings in both River Girl and Dead Calm). Most other crime fiction writers that I have read (like Gil Brewer, Jim Thompson and Day Keene) don't seem to know much about anything and their characters and plots come across as artificial. Unfortunately, A Touch of Death belongs in the latter category of crime fiction novels.
The characters are always pouring a drink or lighting a cigarette. Nothing wrong with that. But the two major plot points are wasted by Williams. The second one where Lee Scarborough and Madelon Butler are cooped up in a flat could have been used to create some great scenes that provide revealing insights into the characters motivations. Lee Scarborough seems to be a straight laced type at the beginning of the novel but then we don't really know why he becomes so desperate. Also, Madelin Butler's character is a complete mystery.
However, the book does have some great twists. Madeline Butler is an impressive creation. There are some loose ends and parts which are hard to digest. But Charles Williams ties it all up quite well in the end.
August 12, 2025
Man, what a great crime thriller! This would be a great start if you're looking to get into the vintage noir genre. It reads very smoothly, and it's got it all: thrills, suspense, twists, and dames.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴’ 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘧. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘯.”
"𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘯."
"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮."
Highly recommended. One of the best from the genre I've read in a while. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more by this author.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴’ 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘧. 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘯.”
"𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘯."
"𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮."
Highly recommended. One of the best from the genre I've read in a while. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more by this author.
September 17, 2013
It's not necessarily a bad book, especially when considered as a product of its time but I was quite disappointed by Charles Williams' A Touch of Death to the point where I'm reconsidering my slavish devotion to the Hard Case imprint.
A down on his luck ex-football player gets sucked in to a scam to steal $120k from somebody who has already stolen it from a dead man who had stolen it from a bank. Sounds fun and convoluted but Williams lost me almost immediately as his naive protagonist immediately became an expert in shady deals, gunplay, criminal planning and house breaking amongst other things. There are innocent men who get sucked in to these kinds of shenanigans who have a past that could make you believe that they could adapt to an undesirable lifestyle if required but a former poster boy who has most recently failed in the real estate business isn't one of them.
It was a bit of a chore to read so I stopped taking it with me whilst travelling around England and it took a concerted effort to finally get to the end today, not a great recommendation in my mind.
A down on his luck ex-football player gets sucked in to a scam to steal $120k from somebody who has already stolen it from a dead man who had stolen it from a bank. Sounds fun and convoluted but Williams lost me almost immediately as his naive protagonist immediately became an expert in shady deals, gunplay, criminal planning and house breaking amongst other things. There are innocent men who get sucked in to these kinds of shenanigans who have a past that could make you believe that they could adapt to an undesirable lifestyle if required but a former poster boy who has most recently failed in the real estate business isn't one of them.
It was a bit of a chore to read so I stopped taking it with me whilst travelling around England and it took a concerted effort to finally get to the end today, not a great recommendation in my mind.
March 5, 2009
As with many noir novels, the less you know about the plot going in, the better. So let me describe my reading experience in abstract: This was my first Charles Williams novel, and when I first read it, I did not know anything about him or his work. To me, this was just another Hard Case Crime reprint. When I started the book, it did not seem like anything special. But then Williams got his claws into me, and the further I read, the deeper they sank. By the time I was done with the book, Williams had me shuddering . . . and then applauding. A perfect book of its type.
First reading: circa January 2006.
Second reading: 2 March 2009.
First reading: circa January 2006.
Second reading: 2 March 2009.
September 14, 2025
Re-read. 5 stars the first time. Even better this time.
Some perspective: Maltese Falcon (or maybe The Big Sleep) is the best detective noir. Asphalt Jungle (or maybe Clean Break) is the best heist novel.
Well, A Touch of Death is the best “doomed guy” noir there is. (Yes, better than Cain.)
Some perspective: Maltese Falcon (or maybe The Big Sleep) is the best detective noir. Asphalt Jungle (or maybe Clean Break) is the best heist novel.
Well, A Touch of Death is the best “doomed guy” noir there is. (Yes, better than Cain.)
September 1, 2008
Charles Williams's A Touch of Death is a tour de force. While none of the characters have a great deal of psychological depth, the two elements that I read noir fiction for--suspense and paranoia--are in full force here. Halfway through, once Williams has set up everything, the story moves forward like a ticking clock. The tension builds on each page, and doesn't let up until the last chapter. Readers who demand characters with detailed backstories and psychologically comprehensive motivations may find this novel a little slim, but I highly recommend it for all fans of hard-boiled and noir fiction.
Note: I read the second edition, which was published by Fawcett Gold Medal in 1963, ten years after the novel's original publication. I compared the first dozen pages or so with the newest edition published by Hard Case Crime, and the model makes of all the cars were changed for the 1963 edition. A "late model" "1953 Pontiac" became a "late model" "1962 Pontiac," and a " '53 Cadillac" became a " '63 Cadillac." That seems to be the only thing that was changed, however. All the dollar amounts are the same. There's a mention of Nikita Khrushchev on the radio that I initially thought might have been inserted to make the story more contemporaneous, but I guess Khrushchev was pretty big news in 1953, too.
Note: I read the second edition, which was published by Fawcett Gold Medal in 1963, ten years after the novel's original publication. I compared the first dozen pages or so with the newest edition published by Hard Case Crime, and the model makes of all the cars were changed for the 1963 edition. A "late model" "1953 Pontiac" became a "late model" "1962 Pontiac," and a " '53 Cadillac" became a " '63 Cadillac." That seems to be the only thing that was changed, however. All the dollar amounts are the same. There's a mention of Nikita Khrushchev on the radio that I initially thought might have been inserted to make the story more contemporaneous, but I guess Khrushchev was pretty big news in 1953, too.
November 21, 2023
This is another banger by Charles Williams, where a broke ex-football player gets sucked into a robbery plot by a scheming brunette in a bikini.
…looking like something the censors cut out of a sailor’s dream.It really stands out because not only was it constantly surprising but it features one of the coolest femme fatales in the genre, a master manipulator that never once used sex to seduce our lead sucker because she simply doesn’t need it; she’s that good. Seriously, I constantly kept waiting for the clothes to come off but was always surprised. In fact, the moment that the two meet, they hate each other, and the hate only grows hotter as the story moves forward.
”You’re a business proposition to me, a hundred and twenty thousand dollars’ worth of meat to be delivered on the hoof.”The other thing that grows is the tension, which is the real star of the show here. The moment the plot gets going, the suspense never lets up, and I was right there in the protagonist’s shoes, not sure how much more I could take, and nearly yearning for the police to just catch them already or for the double-crosses to happen, if only to allow me to breathe for a bit. And when the ending comes, it’s not like I didn’t see it coming, but I didn’t expect it to be as satisfying. While this one isn’t as much of a slam-dunk classic as Hell Hath No Fury (The Hot Spot), it’s still a fantastic noir by Charles Williams.
There were no days now. Time had melted and run together into one endless and unmarked second of waiting for an explosion when the fuse was always burning and forever a quarter of an inch long.
May 13, 2021
A former football star and femme fatale are after a 120,000 dollar hoard.
This is my second read of Charles Williams, ‘River Girl’ being the first. I’m going to withhold judgement on Williams a little longer, as what I liked and disliked about the first book also applies here. He has a nice ‘n easy style to read, and like 'River Girl,' the narrative starts and ends well. What he doesn’t do however is sustain enough interest in the story to fill a novel. This feels very much like a stretched out short story. It begins well, and ends with plenty of thrills; better and more tension packed in fact than ‘River Girl.’ But unfortunately the middle is flabbier than Sydney Greenstreet, and longer than the legs of Cyd Charisse, but far less interesting. His characters are not as memorable as Hammett, nor the dialogue filled with the wisecracks of countless others in the genre.
I will continue to read Williams. As I say, he’s easy to read, and when he’s good, as is the case in the latter part of this book, he’s very good. It races along. Will they get the money? How will it turn out between them? etc. It would have made a great short story or novella. But as it is, it’s fine if a tad wormy - thin and stretched out.
This is my second read of Charles Williams, ‘River Girl’ being the first. I’m going to withhold judgement on Williams a little longer, as what I liked and disliked about the first book also applies here. He has a nice ‘n easy style to read, and like 'River Girl,' the narrative starts and ends well. What he doesn’t do however is sustain enough interest in the story to fill a novel. This feels very much like a stretched out short story. It begins well, and ends with plenty of thrills; better and more tension packed in fact than ‘River Girl.’ But unfortunately the middle is flabbier than Sydney Greenstreet, and longer than the legs of Cyd Charisse, but far less interesting. His characters are not as memorable as Hammett, nor the dialogue filled with the wisecracks of countless others in the genre.
I will continue to read Williams. As I say, he’s easy to read, and when he’s good, as is the case in the latter part of this book, he’s very good. It races along. Will they get the money? How will it turn out between them? etc. It would have made a great short story or novella. But as it is, it’s fine if a tad wormy - thin and stretched out.
March 30, 2021
Ex-jock narrator falls for a cute bikini woman’s scheme to help rob some stolen cash from an uninhabited house, but then he unexpectedly finds it occupied by a drunken hottie who turn out to be even more devious than the first. A great opening sets the stage for a taut rollercoaster of a noir that never fails to keep ramping up the tension as the narrator keeps digging himself into a deeper hole. Williams expertly unwinds the story of the stolen cash and the players involved in a way that doesn't make the complex plot feel that way. The puzzle pieces fall into place forcing the beleaguered narrator to keep continuously adjusting his plans. Terrific dialog, clever plotting, and some very interesting characters make this one a masterpiece of 1950s paperback noir. Highly recommended.
May 19, 2022
Are you a fan of Jorge Luis Borges? Because I am.
He once wrote a meditation on one of Zeno's paradoxes. Zeno set out to prove that motion is impossible. If motion were possible then Achilles, a fast runner, would have no problem catching up to a moving tortoise. Not so easy, according to Zeno. He points out Achilles would first have to reach the spot where the tortoise was, but by the time he did the tortoise would have moved forward. Achilles then would have to reach the new spot the tortoise occupied, but by the time he did...etc.
Borges often shuddered at the vertiginous aspects of this sort of scenario. The proposition--arrived at in such a seemingly rational mode of thought--is almost frightening. Rationality taken to extremes resembles the logic of a nightmare.
I was thinking about what moved me so much about Touch of Death and was reminded of Borges and Zeno's paradox. This book is a kind of gloss on that paradox.
The narrator, Lee Scarborough, is offered the chance to score a lot money which he desperately needs. The problem is that to get it he needs the cooperation of Madelon Butler, a very fatal femme, who unsurprisingly has an agenda of her own. Every time he moves closer to the money, she seems already one or two steps ahead of him. His considerable smarts get him closer and closer, but the golden prize always seems just out of reach, until...Well, I won't give it away.
Williams knows how to wind each scene to it's maximum tension. Every new angle, every new complication he just keeps winding and winding until the whole thing snaps and turns into a nightmare. As the final lines reveal:
"You see why I wake up that way? It's a dream I have...
Scream?
Who wouldn't?"
He once wrote a meditation on one of Zeno's paradoxes. Zeno set out to prove that motion is impossible. If motion were possible then Achilles, a fast runner, would have no problem catching up to a moving tortoise. Not so easy, according to Zeno. He points out Achilles would first have to reach the spot where the tortoise was, but by the time he did the tortoise would have moved forward. Achilles then would have to reach the new spot the tortoise occupied, but by the time he did...etc.
Borges often shuddered at the vertiginous aspects of this sort of scenario. The proposition--arrived at in such a seemingly rational mode of thought--is almost frightening. Rationality taken to extremes resembles the logic of a nightmare.
I was thinking about what moved me so much about Touch of Death and was reminded of Borges and Zeno's paradox. This book is a kind of gloss on that paradox.
The narrator, Lee Scarborough, is offered the chance to score a lot money which he desperately needs. The problem is that to get it he needs the cooperation of Madelon Butler, a very fatal femme, who unsurprisingly has an agenda of her own. Every time he moves closer to the money, she seems already one or two steps ahead of him. His considerable smarts get him closer and closer, but the golden prize always seems just out of reach, until...Well, I won't give it away.
Williams knows how to wind each scene to it's maximum tension. Every new angle, every new complication he just keeps winding and winding until the whole thing snaps and turns into a nightmare. As the final lines reveal:
"You see why I wake up that way? It's a dream I have...
Scream?
Who wouldn't?"
January 27, 2016
A hard case I truly enjoyed....even though he was trying to get money an easy way, I dug the main character. The back of the book is right in describing the woman as one of the coldest out there. The ending reminds of me a surreal ending to a movie in the older days. A bizarre turnout but you couldn't help but be enthralled during the whole ride. Most of the time there was plenty of action going on, but during the moments when there wasn't - it felt like there was still much going on, primarily from Williams' awesome writing style. Highly recommended and fun for hard case crime noir buffs out there.
August 15, 2018
Really fine noir novel. It's difficult to write a character's internal monologue and keep the tension levels high but Charles Williams accomplishes that here. The last piece was particularly intense. Much enjoyed.
December 30, 2021
The beginning is quite clever as ex-football star Lee Scarborough responds to an ad of someone looking to buy a car and completely by chance meets up with Diana James who sizes him up and recruits him to help her find $120,000 in stolen money. Williams also uses a clever plot device when about a quarter of the way through the novel Scarborough, who started out scheming with one femme-fatale, takes up with another. This switch adds an extra kick to an already fast moving storyline. Plenty of action and suspenseful plot points keep the pages turning to find out who gets the money and who lives or dies. To provide more specifics risks a spoiler, but this novel has most of the archetypal film-noir elements, and it is surprising that, unlike twelve other of Williams’ novels, that this one was never made into a movie.
May 23, 2021
There are two Charles Williams. There is the author who was a member of the Inklings and friend of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. A Touch of Death is by "the other guy" who was American rather than British and also wrote brilliantly but on some very different subjects. I'm not sure how to communicate how much of a noir masterpiece A Touch of Death is. This is truly an amazing novel. In some ways it reminds me the Coen brothers film Blood Simple, because one small action leads inevitably to the next...and the next, etc. etc. Things ramp up, they get sinister...there is a revelation or twist every few pages and believe it or not the structure of the book lends itself perfectly to it. The prose just flows wonderfully and before you know it you have consumed the entire book. Superb.
March 15, 2010
Reminiscent of Edgar Ulmer's "Detour" in that it maintains a claustrophobic tension between a man and woman running from the law and not trusting each other. The leading man is an overbearing bully so he's got what's coming to him by the "femme fatale" of the story. In fact the lead guy is such a creep you'll find yourself rooting for Susie Mumble all through the book.
Noir should have loads of death AND sex, and Williams never disappoints.
Noir should have loads of death AND sex, and Williams never disappoints.
April 1, 2024
amazing noir. great writing. fun reading. the guy write like constracting a leggo. everything fall into place brillianty. 5 stars easy
February 13, 2025
Not his best
October 26, 2025
Bought at a used book store in Montreal… nice hardboiled vacation read!
August 6, 2024
Plenty of suspense, double-crossing, plenty of cigarettes and newspapers to go with your coffee and that vintage hardboiled vocabulary, but not as sexy or murderous as expected.
March 14, 2015
"Μην εμπιστεύεσαι τις γυναίκες", εκδόσεις ΒΙΠΕΡ.
Πραγματικά αισθάνομαι τυχερός που βρήκα αυτό το βιβλίο στα ελληνικά, ενώ ήμουν σίγουρος ότι δεν είχε μεταφραστεί κανένα έργο του συγγραφέα. Τον Τσαρλς Ουίλιαμς τον γνώρισα στο goodreads, πετυχαίνοντας τον σε λίστες με τα καλύτερα νουάρ μυθιστορήματα. Δεν είναι και τόσο γνωστός σαν τον Τσάντλερ ή τον Τόμσον, αλλά το The Hot Spot και αυτό που μόλις διάβασα (κυκλοφορεί από την σειρά Hard Case Crime με τον τίτλο A Touch Of Death ενώ πρωτοκυκλοφόρησε με τον τίτλο Mix Yourself A Redhead) είναι κλασικά στο είδος τους.
Είμαι τυχερός γιατί μόλις διάβασα μια πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία εγκλήματος, με δράση, άγχος, ένταση, εκπλήξεις και ένα δυνατό τέλος που πάω στοίχημα ότι κανείς δεν το προέβλεψε και που μου θύμισε αρκετά Τζιμ Τόμσον.
Πρωταγωνιστής και αφηγητής της ιστορίας είναι ο εικοσιεννιάχρονος Λι Σκάρμπορο, πρώην αθλητής του μπέιζμπολ που πλέον τα βγάζει δύσκολα πέρα, έχοντας λίγα λεφτά στην τσέπη και πολλά χρέη. Στην αρχή της ιστορίας ψάχνει έναν τύπο σε μια πολυκατοικία, για να του πουλήσει το αυτοκίνητό του, όμως δεν τον βρίσκει. Αλλά γνωρίζει μια πανέμορφη νεαρή κοπέλα, την Νταϊάνα Τζέιμς, και κουβέντα στην κουβέντα, η Νταϊάνα του προτείνει μια κομπίνα: Να κλέψουν 300.000 δολάρια από ένα σπίτι. Αυτά τα λεφτά κλάπηκαν από μια τράπεζα, από τον ίδιο της τον υποδιευθυντή, τον Τζέρι Μπάτλερ, με τον οποίο η Νταϊάνα είχε σχέσεις. Ο τύπος όμως αγνοείται για δυο μήνες και είναι πολύ πιθανόν ότι πρόκειται πλέον για μακαρίτη ενώ τα λεφτά είναι σίγουρο ότι βρίσκονται κάπου στο σπίτι. Ο Σκάρμπορο θα πάει στο σπίτι, πιστεύοντας ότι η αλκοολική γυναίκα του Μπάτλερ λείπει από αυτό, για να ψάξει με την άνεσή του. Όμως η Νταϊάνα είπε κάποια ψεματάκια και ο Σκάρμπορο θα γνωρίσει την Μαντλέν Μπάτλερ. Και θα μπλεχτεί σε μια ιστορία με επικίνδυνα θηλυκά, προδοσίες και μυστικά. Όμως τα λεφτά είναι πολλά και ο Σκάρμπορο θα κάνει τα πάντα για να τα αποκτήσει...
Η ιστορία από την αρχή μέχρι το ανατρεπτικό και μαύρο τέλος σε πιάνει από τον γιακά και δεν σ'αφήνει σε ησυχία. Η γραφή δεν είναι τρομερή, απλή είναι και χωρίς πολλές προτάσεις για υπογράμμιση, όμως είναι ζωντανή, με πειστικούς διαλόγους και καλές περιγραφές. Οι χαρακτήρες δεν έχουν ιδιαίτερο βάθος, κάτι συνηθισμένο στα μικρού μεγέθους αστυνομικά παλπ, όμως σίγουρα έχουν ενδιαφέρον. Η ατμόσφαιρα είναι φυσικά νουάρ και πολύ καλή.
Με λίγα λόγια έμεινα πολύ ευχαριστημένος και σίγουρα θα διαβάσω και άλλα βιβλία του κυρίου Ουίλιαμς. Η ελληνική μετάφραση, πλήρης, μου φάνηκε μια χαρά, ενώ ο τίτλος που επιλέχτηκε, αν και άσχετος με αυτόν στ'αγγλικά, σίγουρα πολύ ταιριαστός με την ιστορία...
Πραγματικά αισθάνομαι τυχερός που βρήκα αυτό το βιβλίο στα ελληνικά, ενώ ήμουν σίγουρος ότι δεν είχε μεταφραστεί κανένα έργο του συγγραφέα. Τον Τσαρλς Ουίλιαμς τον γνώρισα στο goodreads, πετυχαίνοντας τον σε λίστες με τα καλύτερα νουάρ μυθιστορήματα. Δεν είναι και τόσο γνωστός σαν τον Τσάντλερ ή τον Τόμσον, αλλά το The Hot Spot και αυτό που μόλις διάβασα (κυκλοφορεί από την σειρά Hard Case Crime με τον τίτλο A Touch Of Death ενώ πρωτοκυκλοφόρησε με τον τίτλο Mix Yourself A Redhead) είναι κλασικά στο είδος τους.
Είμαι τυχερός γιατί μόλις διάβασα μια πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα ιστορία εγκλήματος, με δράση, άγχος, ένταση, εκπλήξεις και ένα δυνατό τέλος που πάω στοίχημα ότι κανείς δεν το προέβλεψε και που μου θύμισε αρκετά Τζιμ Τόμσον.
Πρωταγωνιστής και αφηγητής της ιστορίας είναι ο εικοσιεννιάχρονος Λι Σκάρμπορο, πρώην αθλητής του μπέιζμπολ που πλέον τα βγάζει δύσκολα πέρα, έχοντας λίγα λεφτά στην τσέπη και πολλά χρέη. Στην αρχή της ιστορίας ψάχνει έναν τύπο σε μια πολυκατοικία, για να του πουλήσει το αυτοκίνητό του, όμως δεν τον βρίσκει. Αλλά γνωρίζει μια πανέμορφη νεαρή κοπέλα, την Νταϊάνα Τζέιμς, και κουβέντα στην κουβέντα, η Νταϊάνα του προτείνει μια κομπίνα: Να κλέψουν 300.000 δολάρια από ένα σπίτι. Αυτά τα λεφτά κλάπηκαν από μια τράπεζα, από τον ίδιο της τον υποδιευθυντή, τον Τζέρι Μπάτλερ, με τον οποίο η Νταϊάνα είχε σχέσεις. Ο τύπος όμως αγνοείται για δυο μήνες και είναι πολύ πιθανόν ότι πρόκειται πλέον για μακαρίτη ενώ τα λεφτά είναι σίγουρο ότι βρίσκονται κάπου στο σπίτι. Ο Σκάρμπορο θα πάει στο σπίτι, πιστεύοντας ότι η αλκοολική γυναίκα του Μπάτλερ λείπει από αυτό, για να ψάξει με την άνεσή του. Όμως η Νταϊάνα είπε κάποια ψεματάκια και ο Σκάρμπορο θα γνωρίσει την Μαντλέν Μπάτλερ. Και θα μπλεχτεί σε μια ιστορία με επικίνδυνα θηλυκά, προδοσίες και μυστικά. Όμως τα λεφτά είναι πολλά και ο Σκάρμπορο θα κάνει τα πάντα για να τα αποκτήσει...
Η ιστορία από την αρχή μέχρι το ανατρεπτικό και μαύρο τέλος σε πιάνει από τον γιακά και δεν σ'αφήνει σε ησυχία. Η γραφή δεν είναι τρομερή, απλή είναι και χωρίς πολλές προτάσεις για υπογράμμιση, όμως είναι ζωντανή, με πειστικούς διαλόγους και καλές περιγραφές. Οι χαρακτήρες δεν έχουν ιδιαίτερο βάθος, κάτι συνηθισμένο στα μικρού μεγέθους αστυνομικά παλπ, όμως σίγουρα έχουν ενδιαφέρον. Η ατμόσφαιρα είναι φυσικά νουάρ και πολύ καλή.
Με λίγα λόγια έμεινα πολύ ευχαριστημένος και σίγουρα θα διαβάσω και άλλα βιβλία του κυρίου Ουίλιαμς. Η ελληνική μετάφραση, πλήρης, μου φάνηκε μια χαρά, ενώ ο τίτλος που επιλέχτηκε, αν και άσχετος με αυτόν στ'αγγλικά, σίγουρα πολύ ταιριαστός με την ιστορία...
November 3, 2015
Noir. I can always trust it when I feel like reading something where it's guaranteed that things go horribly wrong or someone goes apeshit. Williams has been an unknown to me until now, but if this really isn't his strongest novels, I'm going to be in paradise later.
A Touch of Death smells like fear, sweat, powder, lipstick, and sex, and it's the colour of sharp scissors in the evening light. Williams's prose is to the point, yet a sizzling atmosphere of passion and suppressed rage are looming somewhere beneath. The plot is unarguably drawn out and as a mere framework not that interesting. However, it sticks with you regardless like a piece of chewing gum. Scarborough seems like a sleepwalker at times, and although he understands the woman in the bikini is trouble, he's unable to turn away. Just like in a nightmare. The final scene in the car is the hottest thing I've read in a while, and the ending is like a slap in the face, although you always knew what would happen. How can anything be ice cold and burning hot at the same time?
A Touch of Death smells like fear, sweat, powder, lipstick, and sex, and it's the colour of sharp scissors in the evening light. Williams's prose is to the point, yet a sizzling atmosphere of passion and suppressed rage are looming somewhere beneath. The plot is unarguably drawn out and as a mere framework not that interesting. However, it sticks with you regardless like a piece of chewing gum. Scarborough seems like a sleepwalker at times, and although he understands the woman in the bikini is trouble, he's unable to turn away. Just like in a nightmare. The final scene in the car is the hottest thing I've read in a while, and the ending is like a slap in the face, although you always knew what would happen. How can anything be ice cold and burning hot at the same time?
May 22, 2021
What an absolute cracker of noir, hard-boiled crime fiction.
Really loved this authors style and this is another MUST READ
5/5 Fantastic
Really loved this authors style and this is another MUST READ
5/5 Fantastic
September 21, 2020
A Touch of Death is okay. I'll rate it 3- bill-stars, worth reading.
This book is pulpy. The characters are 2D. The plot is pretty silly. The writing style is, um, basic. It's pretty standard stuff with pulp fiction. We trade these niceties (ha) for some action...some sex and violence. It should be fun to read. It's like the action movie of books.
This book almost didn't clear the 3 star hurdle though. Our protagonist, Lee Scarborough, really hurts the book. He's not smart or funny. In nearly every scene, he's the dumbest guy in the room. An ex-football player, his usual conflict resolution strategy is to beat the other guy to a pulp. Scarborough is literally the least interesting part of what's going on. I would much rather have had the lead girl, Mrs. Butler, as the first person narrator. Oh well.
QOTD
She lit another cigarette, chain fashion, and crushed the stub of the first out in the tray. The music went on. The whole thing was crazy. She was perfectly relaxed and at ease and wrapped up in the spell of the music, and the thing she was telling me about was murder.
- Scarborough, A Touch of Death
The author, Charles Williams, also wrote Dead Calm, which is basis for the 80's movie starring 20-something Nicole Kidman. I might try that one out soon. We'll see.
A good read. thanks...yow, bill
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