Reviews

A Touch of Death by Charles Williams

dantastic's review

3.0

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.

willwork4airfare's review

3.0

Even if it's genre fiction, Williams doesn't know anything about women and Lee Scarborough is an embarrassing Mary Sue. I'm glad things ended the way they did, but I couldn't even root for Madelon as an actual person, because she's not written as one. I just wanted Lee with his condescending attitude and calling grown women "girls" to get what was coming to him, and the extent of her deceit is delicious. I was flying through the chapters at the end because the threat of detection was making me anxious too, and I wanted to get it over with.

nixnixnixnixnix's review

4.0

What a fun, campy read. Good characters, good pacing - just a classic noir tale.

jbleyle63's review

3.0

Another great reprint of a lost pulp title from the mid-20th century from Hard Case Crimes. William's story features a great femme fatale and a James Cain-like plot. Enjoyable quick read which had only one flaw for me: Williams' first person narrating protagonist left me wanting a stronger overall character with less naivete to match wits with his craftily created dangerous dame!

baklavopita's review

5.0

Fabulous! Heart-pounding!

comedywriter's review

5.0

Gorgeous!

boesgesicht's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

jakewritesbooks's review

4.0

I had read zero words written by Charles Williams before this one, but I'd already digested two or three articles lauding him as a great, underrated crime novelist. Finally decided to check him out for the monthly Hard Case Crime. This one starts out as a readable if unoriginal crime thriller and then morphs into a psychological suspense thriller that's noir as hell. A lot of male-written post-WWII crime fiction was written with male impotency undergirding the tale. This one has it too but in a more claustrophobic way. It messes with the lead's head in the same way it messes with the readers. A little too much exposition but a good read, nonetheless. I can see why people like Williams. 

marhill31's review

3.0

Here's my review:

http://kammbia1.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/book-review-38-a-touch-of-death-by-charles-williams/

paperbackstash's review

4.0

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.