Soft Touch, by John D MacDonald

In this book, a guy who's stuck in a marriage with a woman he no longer likes is approached by an old army mate who proposes a very dodgy caper which could make them both a lot of money. They go for it, but things don't work out...

The main character starts off in the book as fairly sympathetic, rather drawn into the crime against his will, but as the story progresses he becomes less moral, until he finds himself killing his friend and his wife (albeit after they double-cross him). The endgame, when he gets picked up by people working for some intelligence agency ends with an interesting "twist" which I thought was clever and well executed.

I've read quite a few books by MacDonald, and I don't think I've come across a duff one yet - they're all good reads with no pretensions to being worthy literature. Enjoyable.

Completed : 14-Dec-2003

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