Crimewave 10

Charlie Williams

TTA Press

Made of Stone (Mangel)

There’s bad stuff out there. Folks reckon things like vampires don't exist, but they does—Jock from the burger van told me. Plus I found an actual one of ’em, sleeping at the time in the back of a hearse I nicked that first morning. That's how me and Jock got to setting out freeing the world of ’em, using his bag o’ wooden stakes and special bottles of whisky. Course, I knowed that vampires didn’t exist, not when I stopped and done some thinking. And I knowed Jock had mental wossnames, what with his son falling off that roof and him reckoning them immigrants pushed him. It’s just that I didn't get much time for thinking, not with the coppers on our arse. Jock were off...and me with him.There’s not much in this world Royston Blake can count on, but he always thought he could count on Mangel. Sure, it’s a violent, run-down hellhole of a town, but it’s home. And a homicidal antihero like Blake understands its rules, twisted though they may be. Like how strangers may come for a visit but never for life. And how a man is supposed to stay dead when you kill him. But now those rules are under siege from a macabre scourge of outsiders—vampires, werewolves, zombies, even a golem called Igor—who have moved into town, threatening the seedy underworld that passes for everyday life in Mangel.What these outsiders fail to consider, however, is that there’s no way Blake is letting his hometown go down without one helluva fight.

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

BRILLIANCE AUDIO ^

In the second installment of Charlie Williams’s violent and darkly comedic Mangel series, Royston Blake’s gig as head doorman at Hoppers finds him yet again mired belly-deep in trouble. Blake has noticed a change in the behavior of Hoppers’ already dodgy clientele ― the norm of beery violence and lechery has given way to trance-like stares and nonsensical blatherings. And when Doug the shopkeeper offers him a bounty of four hundred cans of lager and four hundred smokes to bounce his teenage daughter’s undesirable boyfriend ― an enigmatic outsider with a curious pull on the youth of Mangel―Blake’s solace looks to be in the bag for at least a couple of weeks. But nothing in Mangel ever went according to plan.   So begins Blake’s journey from “pillar” of the Mangel community to local pariah. He remembers all too well the last time he lost his reputation; earning it back nearly killed him. And Blake’s not so sure he’ll survive a second go…  “Writing in a pitch-perfect voice, Charlie Williams has created a stunningly original noir world of his own.” ― Jason Starr, author of Tough Luck

Booze and Burn (Mangel)

Literature & Fiction

Literary

The town of Mangel has always been a rough place, but rough turns to nightmarish when headless corpses begin piling up. The police are desperate for a suspect, and Royston Blake, the former pub doorman-turned-recluse is prime for the taking. He’s hauled in for questioning, but to no avail: this is one crime Blake didn’t commit. Yet the interrogation is enough to shake up his paranoid world. He realizes that, instead of hiding from the ills of the world, he should be fighting them. So begins Blake’s quest to score the unlikeliest of jobs for a guy like him: becoming a copper in Mangel. Considering his violent past, everyone—cops, criminals, even his ex-girlfriend—tries to dissuade him. But Blake’s a tenacious bloke, and what better way to convince the naysayers of his crime-fighting skills than to catch the butcher plaguing his town? As per usual, nothing goes according to plan in Blake’s attempt to turn over a new leaf, leaving him to slog through plenty of blood and muck in the deliciously suspenseful fourth installment of Charlie Williams’s darkly comic series.

One Dead Hen (Mangel)

Humor & Satire

Three years have passed since Royston Blake left Mangel for Parpham Mental Hospital, his unstable mind finally entrusted to professionals. He served his stretch, and now he's out, pronounced "cured" by the Doc. But a lot can change in three years, even in Mangel. Blake's gal, Sal, has gone off and had a kid for one. His kid...whom Blake's never even met. Not to mention that most of his old haunts, including Hoppers, are gone, replaced by a gleaming new shopping mall. But like the Doc says, change isn't always for the better. A mysterious opposition group calling itself the "Old Guard" has expressed its displeasure with the development in the local newspaper. Now words are no longer enough, and they want Blake to enforce their message the old-fashioned way. But Blake just wants to do right by his son, a simple dream made all the more complicated once he realizes Mangel won't let him go without a fight. Charlie Williams has upped the stakes with King of the Road, a new twist on his violent, darkly comedic chronicles of Mangel.

King of the Road (Mangel)

Released after a long stretch at Parpham Mental Hospital, Royston Blake finds that the world has moved on. Even in Mangel. Gone are most of his old haunts, including Hoppers. In its place: a huge shopping mall, servicing the town's every consumer need. But not everyone is happy seeing the old ways swept aside, and the "Old Guard" - a mysterious opposition group well known on the letters page of the local paper - sets about recruiting Blake as its agent of retribution. Meanwhile Blake just wants to settle down with Sal, get to know the son he has never met, and do the right thing. King of the Road is the final volume in Charlie Williams' acclaimed Mangel trilogy. With his inimitable blend of satirical humour, slapstick action and rural noir, Williams has carved a unique niche in modern British crime fiction.

King of the Road

Serpent's Tail

Brothel bouncer Leon shouldn't be here. A week ago he stepped over the line, maiming a slap-happy VIP punter. But he can't stay away. Not with his daughter Kelly so young and vulnerable. If he can sort it out with Graven, take the kicking he knows he'll get, maybe they can call it a debt paid. But when Kelly goes missing Leon realises what kind of debt is due. And when things go wrong, really wrong it becomes a very bumpy ride.

Graven Image

Five Leaves Publications

Royston Blake is head doorman at Hoppers Wine Bar &amp; Bistro in the backwater English town of Mangel. He drives a Ford Capri 2.8i and can walk the streets of his town knowing he's respected by one and all—until a rumor begins to circulate that Blake's “lost his bottle.” Even his sharp-tongued girl, Sal, has overheard the talk that the formerly fearsome bloke has gone soft, lost his edge, and become a pushover in a town where he can ill afford it. To make matters worse, the violent Munton brothers are after him, and the thought of ending up in the back of their bloody Meat Wagon is almost too much to bear. Something's gotta give, but it sure as hell won’t be Blake. Following advice from his best mate, Legsy, Blake embarks on a plan to re-establish his reputation as a hard man, ensure his appeal to the women of Mangel, and seal his future with the new owner of Hoppers. The logic of the plan is sound: knock around Baz Munton a bit and regain the respect of Mangel's populace. But sound logic never really took off in Mangel, and Blake finds he’s got his work cut out for him. This brutal black comedy introduces a wholly original voice to the ranks of contemporary literature’s most memorable protagonists.

Deadfolk (Mangel)

AmazonEncore

In this darkly comedic follow-up to Charlie Williams’ breakthrough novel Deadfolk, Hoppers head doorman Royston Blake is once again up to his eyeballs in trouble of the worst kind. Since his face-off with the Munton brothers, Blake has been enjoying life as a “pillar” of the Mangel community. Sure, it’s a bleak and rather dodgy town, but it’s his town all the same. At least, until enigmatic outsider Nick Nopoly waltzes in and starts collecting friends faster than can possibly be legal. Blake doesn’t think much of him until he notices a change in the behavior of Hoppers’ younger clientele: less beery violence, more nonsensical blathering. But when Doug the shopkeeper comes to Blake for help “sorting out” the newcomer (who just happens to be dating Doug’s teenage daughter), the bruiser figures helping out Doug will be good for business…never mind the 400 cigarettes and 400 cans of lager the shopkeeper has offered as payment. Of course, Mangel is Mangel, and it wouldn’t be a normal day if Blake didn’t soon find himself in an unholy mess. Raunchy, violent, and hysterical, Booze and Burn is an addictive trip into the dark underbelly of small-town England.

Contemporary

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Books by Charlie Williams

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Charlie Williams. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Crimewave 10

Made of Stone (Mangel)

Booze and Burn (Mangel)

One Dead Hen (Mangel)

King of the Road (Mangel)

King of the Road

Graven Image

Deadfolk (Mangel)

Booze and Burn (Mangel)

King of the Road (Mangel)