Hot Spot

The Hot Spot is narrated by Harry Madox a rootless drifter who arrives in town one steamy summer day. He takes a job as a used car salesman. But why go to the trouble of working for a living when the town's bank is so poorly guarded? You see, Harry is not above stealing and he's not above having an affair with his boss' tramp of a wife. But when he falls in love with an innocent young girl he makes himself vulnerable and sets himself up for a precipitous descent into a world of inescapable torment. The Hot Spot is a well plotted, engaging tale that has a very smooth narrative flow. Charles Williams has written this novel using a style of prose that is richly detailed and remarkably descriptive. And he unashamedly structures the story around a main character who is largely unsympathetic. Harry Madox is a thief and what one would generally refer to as a lowlife. Ironically, it is the one decent aspect of his persona, his genuine love for another human being that does him in. This is a powerful and moving book that is hard to put down. Do yourself a favor and read it.

Much underappreciated Gold Medal writer Charles Williams'1953 The Hot Spot (originally published as Hell Hath No Fury) is a tightly-wound, taut and entertaining example of 50's noir at its best. One sees why master John D. MacDonald mentioned only Williams when asked to name writers of his generation who had been undeservedly neglected. If the glum melancholy of noir suits your taste, this 50's work is well worth finding and reading. Other recommended works by Williams:The Big Bite, Aground, Dead Calm and Scorpion Reef.

Harry Madox isn't a bad man, but he has an unfortunate habit of submitting to temptation. And whether that means carrying on with the boss's wife, robbing a bank or killing a man, well, sometimes you've just got no choice but to do it. As a result of his impulsiveness, Madox leaves himself open to blackmail threats from more than one person.Madox has recently arrived in a small town and has just started working as a car salesman. Life is quiet, but quiet just isn't interesting enough for Harry. By chance, opportunities to get him into trouble seem to keep falling straight into his lap. Before he knows it, he is planning a bank robbery, is fooling around with a married woman, and is falling in love with a beautiful, sweet girl who may be hiding a dark secret.From early on in the book, the mood of the story is on a knife-edge with plenty of fast thinking and decisive action required on Madox's part. It's an entertaining hardboiled pot boiler with tension piling in on itself until you just know that something's got to give. I found it to be a great fast read packed with plenty of action, softened occasionally with just a little romance.

I finally got hold of a dog-eared copy of this in half-readable condition, and it's a real gripper. The Dennis Hopper film adaptation is almost totally faithful to the novel ( and the women are perfectly cast), but somehow he doesn"t quite hit it the William's does. the police interrogation is a heart-stopper, and the ending, well, forget about it, I though Jimmy Thompson had the copyright on those!

I finally got hold of a dog-eared copy of this in half-readable condition, and it's a real gripper. The Dennis Hopper film adaptation is almost totally faithful to the novel ( and the women are perfectly cast), but somehow he doesn"t quite hit it the way William's does. The police interrogation is a heart-stopper, and the ending, well, forget about it, I thought Jimmy Thompson held the copyright!