Book: A Touch of Death (M, S)
Hard Case Crime is a cool line of vintage noir novels recently re-published with pulpy covers. These stories' protagonists are decidedly hard-boiled.
In Charles Williams' A Touch of Death, Lee Scarborough is a down-on-his-luck ex-football player. When a half-naked woman offers him half of $120,000 to break into a home and steal a bag of money, he can't refuse. However, he soon discovers the woman was hiding secrets and that he is not the only one after the money.
Double- and triple-crosses ensue. However, while the plot of the missing money is very engaging, the real story here is Lee himself. He continues to overstep his boundaries and violate his conscience in oh-so-tiny steps, until the lure of the money causes him to lose his moral compass completely. This is a fascinating tale of greed and self-deceit. Grade: A
In Charles Williams' A Touch of Death, Lee Scarborough is a down-on-his-luck ex-football player. When a half-naked woman offers him half of $120,000 to break into a home and steal a bag of money, he can't refuse. However, he soon discovers the woman was hiding secrets and that he is not the only one after the money.
Double- and triple-crosses ensue. However, while the plot of the missing money is very engaging, the real story here is Lee himself. He continues to overstep his boundaries and violate his conscience in oh-so-tiny steps, until the lure of the money causes him to lose his moral compass completely. This is a fascinating tale of greed and self-deceit. Grade: A
posted by JJ at 7:20 PM
