Deadfolk
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Amazon.co.uk Review
A Q&A with Charlie Williams
Question: Can you sum up Deadfolk in no more than 25 words? Charlie Williams: A small-town bouncer’s courage is questioned, undermining his self-image as a local big-shot. Taking some bad advice, he sets about trying to prove himself. Things don't work out.
Q: Can you sum up your "hero" Royston Blake in a couple of sentences?
CW: A violent, ignorant thug with delusions of grandeur. But can we blame him, considering his environment?
Q: What was your motivation for writing your Royston Blake series?
CW: I had tried writing several novels set in the world I lived in, but none of those really caught fire. Then I started writing something new, and the main character’s voice came out stronger and more clearly than anything I had written. He seemed to be inspired by a few guys I used to know as a teenager, whose whole view of life revolved around a misplaced concept of what it is to be a man. Along with his voice came the setting--a hellish exaggeration of my home town (Worcester, U.K.) which insisted on being called Mangel. When the story started taking shape, I wanted it to be the British equivalent of one of those small town American noir novels by guys like Jim Thompson. Whether or not it turned out like that, who cares? It got the damn thing done.
Q: There is a lot of "bad" language in Deadfolk and the other books in the series. Do you think this limits the readership?
CW: I hope not. Royston Blake swears a lot, as do many people around him. But he is not really aware of it--he uses swear words like punctuation, to fill gaps and give rhythm to his sentences. This is just the way his voice came to me, and I didn't want to tinker with it. We all think these words, Royston Blake just says them aloud. For him, there is very little divide between his thoughts and his speech. And his actions.
Q: You write crime fiction from the criminal perspective. What is it about this that interests you?
CW: I have tried having a policeman or some sort of investigator as the hero, but those characters always turn bad on me and reveal themselves as worse than the guys they are chasing. I'm not sure if I can explain this obsession with "differently moralled" protagonists. Maybe it's because I can always see both sides of an argument, and it tends to be the accused/perpetrator/transgressor who has the more flexible outlook on things. Cops and other seekers of justice are always dogmatic. I guess I like dogmatic characters too, but only so I can show how absurd they are.
Q: What do you think is the key is to getting humour right in crime fiction?
CW: I don't try to make things funny. I never look for a joke and never think "three pages without a laugh--I'm losing it!" But these moments just suggest themselves as I am writing, and I grab them and shine them up. I think a lot of writers shut themselves off from that side. Many crime writers seem to think their work has to be grim and 100% serious--"we are dealing with REAL HUMAN TRAGEDIES here, folks. It's NOT FUNNY." I say it is funny. Remember at school, when the teacher was talking about something of the utmost gravity, and you caught that look from your classmate? You have to laugh, don't you? You know you shouldn't--that it's the most inappropriate thing to do--but that only makes it funnier. It makes it the funniest thing in the world.
Question: Can you sum up Deadfolk in no more than 25 words? Charlie Williams: A small-town bouncer’s courage is questioned, undermining his self-image as a local big-shot. Taking some bad advice, he sets about trying to prove himself. Things don't work out.
Q: Can you sum up your "hero" Royston Blake in a couple of sentences?
CW: A violent, ignorant thug with delusions of grandeur. But can we blame him, considering his environment?
Q: What was your motivation for writing your Royston Blake series?
CW: I had tried writing several novels set in the world I lived in, but none of those really caught fire. Then I started writing something new, and the main character’s voice came out stronger and more clearly than anything I had written. He seemed to be inspired by a few guys I used to know as a teenager, whose whole view of life revolved around a misplaced concept of what it is to be a man. Along with his voice came the setting--a hellish exaggeration of my home town (Worcester, U.K.) which insisted on being called Mangel. When the story started taking shape, I wanted it to be the British equivalent of one of those small town American noir novels by guys like Jim Thompson. Whether or not it turned out like that, who cares? It got the damn thing done.
Q: There is a lot of "bad" language in Deadfolk and the other books in the series. Do you think this limits the readership?
CW: I hope not. Royston Blake swears a lot, as do many people around him. But he is not really aware of it--he uses swear words like punctuation, to fill gaps and give rhythm to his sentences. This is just the way his voice came to me, and I didn't want to tinker with it. We all think these words, Royston Blake just says them aloud. For him, there is very little divide between his thoughts and his speech. And his actions.
Q: You write crime fiction from the criminal perspective. What is it about this that interests you?
CW: I have tried having a policeman or some sort of investigator as the hero, but those characters always turn bad on me and reveal themselves as worse than the guys they are chasing. I'm not sure if I can explain this obsession with "differently moralled" protagonists. Maybe it's because I can always see both sides of an argument, and it tends to be the accused/perpetrator/transgressor who has the more flexible outlook on things. Cops and other seekers of justice are always dogmatic. I guess I like dogmatic characters too, but only so I can show how absurd they are.
Q: What do you think is the key is to getting humour right in crime fiction?
CW: I don't try to make things funny. I never look for a joke and never think "three pages without a laugh--I'm losing it!" But these moments just suggest themselves as I am writing, and I grab them and shine them up. I think a lot of writers shut themselves off from that side. Many crime writers seem to think their work has to be grim and 100% serious--"we are dealing with REAL HUMAN TRAGEDIES here, folks. It's NOT FUNNY." I say it is funny. Remember at school, when the teacher was talking about something of the utmost gravity, and you caught that look from your classmate? You have to laugh, don't you? You know you shouldn't--that it's the most inappropriate thing to do--but that only makes it funnier. It makes it the funniest thing in the world.
Jason Starr, author of Tough Luck
‘Demented, hilarious, and near impossible to put down’
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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I were standing on the grass out by the East Bloater Road when the Meat Wagon came past. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I were standing on the grass out by the East Bloater Road when the Meat Wagon came past. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reading DEADFOLK, by Charlie Williams, gives you the same euphoric thrill you got the first time you saw a Coen Brothers or Quentin Tarantino movie. You devour it with the same gaping astonishment which accompanied your first Jim Thompson or Chuck Palahniuk book, your first (early) Scorsese movie. DEADFOLK doesn't depict smooth-talking LA gangsters, or New York City lowlifes, but tells the story of Royston Blake, head doorman of Hopper's nightclub in the town of Mangel, England. An anti-hero unlike any you've experienced before, it is Blake's astoundingly unique voice as he guides us through this tough world which makes us want to stay with him; his flaws and mistakes make us laugh and cringe, often simultaneously.
This journey into the black heart of small-town England shows a chaotic, seething underbelly of life most of us would cross the street to avoid. By turns hilarious and disturbing, Blake's business with the notorious, terrifying Munton brothers is interspersed with robbery, murder, and explosive violence, with a climax which leaves us feeling thrilled for the discovery of this novel, and relieved we didn't get hurt along the way.
P. Robinson.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
The good news is that Williams writes a well-constructed noir novel in a most convincing voice. Royston Blake's back-story is revealed slowly enough that most readers will have anticipated most - but not all - developments; which is consistent with the deluded and intellectually limited nature of the narrator. The bad news is that the lack of both plausability or any likeable or even sympathetic characters means that one admires the craft without any emotional engagement.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Welcome to the inimitable world of 'Royston Blake'. Head doorman of Hoppers Wine Bar & Bistro, Blake sees himself as a well respected and feared resident in the town of Mangel, until that is rumours spread that Blake has lost his 'bottle'. So begins a journey into mindless violent oblivion, with Blake and his trusty (ish) Ford Capri driving the plot forward at a relentless pace.
'Deadfolk' works on many levels. At times immensely comedic, at others breathlessly violent and often both simultaneously, it is a brutal take on modern British crime fiction. A black comedy at heart, what makes Deadfolk stand out from other similar efforts, is the innovative writing style Charlie Williams incorporates into the prose.
Second only to the main character, the town of Mangel is of great importance in this book. Whilst it may have been based in the West Country by the author, Mangel is translatable to so many places. Most of us will know a town similar to Mangel, a sink estate no one could aspire to live in. However, the heart of a town such as this is still apparent. If you've lived or worked in a town like Mangel you will recognise the character of the place, (on a personal level, it reminded me of an estate on Merseyside where I lived for a while in my childhood called Leasowe), which you will end up picturing whilst reading about Royston's adventures within.
In other hands, the protagonist Royston Blake would be wholly unappealing and unreadable. A horrific character who embodies sexism, political incorrectness and the use of violence as par for the course. However, Williams manages to create a well-rounded and original anti-hero. He may do and say things detestable to the general population, but as a reader you cannot help but feel pity for the character.
Part comedy, part crime, part mental health brochure, 'Deadfolk' deserves to be ranked as one of the best debuts to a series in British fiction.
Use your swede, fire up the Ford Capri 2.8i and go purchase this book.
'Deadfolk' works on many levels. At times immensely comedic, at others breathlessly violent and often both simultaneously, it is a brutal take on modern British crime fiction. A black comedy at heart, what makes Deadfolk stand out from other similar efforts, is the innovative writing style Charlie Williams incorporates into the prose.
Second only to the main character, the town of Mangel is of great importance in this book. Whilst it may have been based in the West Country by the author, Mangel is translatable to so many places. Most of us will know a town similar to Mangel, a sink estate no one could aspire to live in. However, the heart of a town such as this is still apparent. If you've lived or worked in a town like Mangel you will recognise the character of the place, (on a personal level, it reminded me of an estate on Merseyside where I lived for a while in my childhood called Leasowe), which you will end up picturing whilst reading about Royston's adventures within.
In other hands, the protagonist Royston Blake would be wholly unappealing and unreadable. A horrific character who embodies sexism, political incorrectness and the use of violence as par for the course. However, Williams manages to create a well-rounded and original anti-hero. He may do and say things detestable to the general population, but as a reader you cannot help but feel pity for the character.
Part comedy, part crime, part mental health brochure, 'Deadfolk' deserves to be ranked as one of the best debuts to a series in British fiction.
Use your swede, fire up the Ford Capri 2.8i and go purchase this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great in parts, not so great overall
This book annoyed me so much in the first couple of chapters that I put it down and didn't return to it until I was hard up for a read a few weeks later. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Mark WIlson
Don't bother
This is one novel that I wish I had not purchased. I did not even bother to finish it! I did not like the plot or the wording
Published 1 month ago by Dennis Chappelle-Molloy
Not sure about this one....
This was my 2nd Kindle read and at £1.99 it can't be bad can it? Well the jury is still out for me. At first I hated it but there's something about the central character which... Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. J. Martin
laughter in the worst possible taste
This is the first in the series and a real romp of violence, stupidity and humour. I have read all of Charlie Williams' Mangle books and adored them. Read more
Published 5 months ago by smutters
Trendsetter does not light my fire
Not at all my cup of tea. Clearly it does have appeal for some but this gutter type of narrative is not for me. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. K. Wareham
Modern Crime Classic
'Deadfolk' is a modern crime classic and accolades to Amazon's publishing arm for making it available again. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Dubin
Royston's king
I came across "Deadfolk" in a book sale. Maybe it was an inner knowledge that the book was going to be a hard to put down item or I was instantly drawn to the front cover, who... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Spindrift
Smashing!
Royston Blake is god. Well, in his own mind he is. The head bouncer at Hooper's Wine Bar is the king of Mangel, a dead end town somewhere in the north of England. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Paul D Brazill
Witty, Gritty, Cringeworthy, Shocking and very very compelling
I stumbled on deadfolk while browsing a local bookshop. I won't give a synopsis, you can find that online, but the story of Royston Blake is a caricature that draws upon the dark... Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2009 by A. Priestman
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