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Post by killercrab on Jun 3, 2008 0:32:35 GMT
 THE TOUCH OF HELL - Michael.R.Linaker - New English Library , 1981. THE TOUCH OF HELL almost reads like a documentary of the hellish experience of a village. A U.S. aircraft carrying a top secret consignment crashes into the village of Shepthorne , England in one of the worst blizzards in living memory. The crash sets off a series of explosions beginning at a petrol station - destroying buildings and decimating the population. However this is but the backdrop to the devastation that befalls the villagers as a poacher goes foraging in the hulk of the plane and unleashes something far worse than mere hellfire. Told from the perspectives of the various townsfolk - Linaker manages to keep the drama both personal whilst also raising larger ethical issues - outlining the failings of the Establishment to control the results of their warmongering actions. The book clicks along at a fair lick and whilst the narrative style feels observational at times - he still manages to make you give a damn about the characters. Arguably THE TOUCH OF HELL is Linaker's finest early *literary* achievement - sandwiched inbetween his mental SCORPION double act. KC |
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Post by jkdunham on Jun 3, 2008 2:16:17 GMT
Arguably THE TOUCH OF HELL is Linaker's finest early *literary* achievement - sandwiched inbetween his mental SCORPION double act. Hell, yeah! The Touch of Hell is really quite a cleverly crafted book in terms of its construction. Quite experimental in its approach in some ways, but all comfortably within the scope of a NEL hundred and fifty-odd page turner. Not as much fun as the scorpions maybe, but well worth a read. Just having a bit of a Google and found the old 'Last Page' site - interviews with Mike Linaker and, for anyone following the Brit western covers thread, Mike Adams and Terry Harknett.uk.geocities.com/pulp_pages/index.htm |
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Post by killercrab on Jun 3, 2008 11:17:11 GMT
Steve - glad you added the link to the Last Page - I had it bookmarked on my old computer - but that's been decommissioned. Couldn't remember last night what the site was called! I definitely recommend fans check out the interviews.
ade
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Post by dem bones on Jul 15, 2020 16:14:34 GMT
Michael R. Linaker - The Touch of Hell (NEL, 1981) Blurb: Winter wasn‘t gripping the village of Shepthorne so much as strangling it with a blanket of snow and Arctic temperatures. A massive pile up on frozen roads ... A fireball of exploding petrol as a truck collided with a tanker in the garage forecourt. then from the sky, a huge military transport with its cargo of devastation crashed through the village. Hell was just beginning to touch Shepthorne .... Part 1: The Cause Aa a snow blizzard hits England, a mass pile-up on the motorway forty miles outside London. Carnage. Drivers engulfed in an inferno, burn alive where they sit. Multiple casualties. Scorched and torn body parts scatter across the tarmac. Meanwhile in the hillside village overlooking the disaster area, the good people of Shepthorne are quietly going about their Monday morning business. There's Roy Buck manning the petrol pumps on the forecourt - a little bit of snow won't stop him from doing his job, unlike his bone idle staff! Major Vivian Goldby leaves for the gunsmiths just as Elouise and Allison Smythe, 'the genteel spinsters,' set out to open their dress shop for 9.30, just as they have every weekday since 1957. And there's Dawn Stanton, idly playing with herself in bed while her married lover, Sam Mayhew readies himself for another day at that beloved bloody bank of his! And ... ... and a US military aircraft drops from the sky, smashes through the garage forecourt and takes out a row of houses, shops, and the Shepthorne Arms Hotel. Another major disaster for the overstretched rescue services to tackle. But what's this? Acting on orders from the Prime Minister, the army surround the village with instructions to prevent anyone from entering or leaving. By any means necessary. What can that plane have been carrying? 'Smithy' the poacher watched from the woods as the Hurricane Skybird struck Shepthorne. What a heaven sent opportunity for looting! Reaching the smashed plane he investigates the cockpit. Nothing worth stealing here, and that sight of all that mangled flesh ain't doing his stomach any favours. Jesus, why can't dead people keep their stinking intestines to themselves? Wonder whats inside this metal container ... some kind of capsule. Feels moist ... Within five minutes of handling the tube, Smithy's body has erupted and pustuled until he resembles a victim of The Festering. The hideous decomposing thing that was Smithy bursts in on a distraught Eddie frame as he keeps vigil over the corpse of his wife. The condition is contagious. After 60+ pages of scene setting, we are up and running. TBC
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Post by dem bones on Jul 16, 2020 17:11:22 GMT
When local radio air an eyewitness report of the catastrophe, Kevin McDonald, man from the Ministry, pays the station a visit and insists they cease broadcasting with immediate effect. Harry Decker, manager of Radio Beacon, refuses to play ball unless McDonald offers a more persuasive explanation than "in the interests of the Government." The Ministry man confides. Convinced that those treacherous Russian swine have been stockpiling biological weapons for years, the US and Britain have cultivated their own bacteriological deterrent, an unstable, hideously contagious virus, "the physical symptoms are similar to syphilis." The crashed Hurricane was carrying a sample. Is there, by any chance, an antidote? We're working on it.
So there we have it. The army must check those few villagers who survived the explosion for symptoms. Those unfortunate enough to have contracted the disease - they're disgustingly visible - are to be mercy killed and incinerated on sight. Entire sorry episode to be hushed up and eventually blamed on the Evil Soviet Menace.
In the meantime, there are still at least two walking time-bombs unaccounted for. Sam Mayhew, randy bank manager, and Eddie Frame, as recently infected by Smithy the human running sore.
A nail-biting subplot involves US author Harrison Bryant's valiant attempt to rescue a trapped Jenny Morrish from a car slowly sinking in the River Shep. There's also the dilemma of Private Larry Kemp, who realised within days of enlisting that he wasn't army material. The confusion in and around Shepthorne provides opportunity to desert.
Ending is relatively cheerful - for some - and, on this occasion, we don't mind too much. All over and done with in a slick 150 pages. I could quite happily have taken another hundred.
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Post by bluetomb on Jul 17, 2020 12:17:14 GMT
I remember this but only dimly, unfortunately my copy went to charity some time ago. The cover is a beaut, especially as I'm pretty sure that at the time if a film showed someone completely on fire for more than a few seconds it would have been censored in the UK. I can picture the plane sheering through a petrol station with kerblammo consequences, and the slowly sinking car, but not really the plague. Possibly a sort of documentary writing style at times? I think I wasn't that impressed at the time as it wasn't a Hutson or Herbert style outrageous shockfest, but probably it would be a lot more for me nowadays.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 17, 2020 18:31:11 GMT
Possibly a sort of documentary writing style at times? Yeah, whereas an early James Herbert or Mr. Sputum would salivate over every gory, agonizing death, MRL delivers a coldly detached report of the disaster as it unfolds and squeezes the whole into 150 pages. It seems quiet, but isn't. The characters are well drawn considering he's so little room to flesh them out. Wasn't sure what to expect, but I like it a lot. |
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