Touchfeather
By: Jimmy Sangster / Narrated By: Helen Taylor
Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
Once I gritted my teeth and thought of Katy as a female James Bond? Things got verrrry interesting!
I got Touchfeather by Jimmy Sangster because Helen Taylor said it was her favorite, and now that I’ve listened to it, I might add: Quite a challenge that she was game for.
You see, for this li’l audiobook, Ms. Taylor had to do the air hostess and SPY Katy Touchfeather (Yessss, she’s a spy! and yessss, Katy haaaates her last name, in ANY language!), plus gangsters, and AMERICAN gangsters, and Texan thugs, and cabbies from Chicago, and American dudes trying to sound like they’re from Ireland, and a PLEthora of characters. You name it, and this little action-packed thriller has it.
From the get-go, Katy is using her Feminine Wiles to suss people out, namely on her first encounter with her boss, known as Mr. Blaser, a sorta curmudgeon of a man who just happens to wield a LOT of power and who can ask those in his employ to do just about anything, and they’ll do it.
On this particular mission, Katy will be tasked to be an Indian air hostess (She does so love the Saris as hostess uniforms!). She’s undercover and will be monitoring, getting to know one William Partman. Soon she’s drawing scowls from other attendants for chatting soooo much with him during the flight, but when she drops everything to sit next to him and moon around a bit, they know better than to say anything. Katy is NOT shy, and she does what she must.
One problem? She really likes Bill. No, like, reeeeally likes him. And that’s a problem cuz, see, she’s wearing a wig, and beneath her Sari is a totally white bikini line—soooo NOT Indian! This wouldn’t be a problem except that Katy just can’t help herself. She plays it cool, gets her jollies in unattached ways, but with Bill? She wants it all!
Secret’s out after a roll in the hay, that Katy is NOT what she seems, but after a search through Bill’s hotel room and belongings, it might be that Bill IS what HE seems: Just an Inventor, who's got his hands in various projects and research. But selling secrets? No Way! Love is in the air for Katy.
But as would happen in action-packed spy novels, it doesn’t end there. There’s a hijacking, Katy watches Bill beaten bloody and on his way to getting murdered, and then she’s on her own and kicking ass. Uhm, until the kidnapping and torture.
But then Katy is back on her own and kicking ass!
Now just to warn ya, I’ll give you a bit of the opening comments that preface the audiobook whereby it’s stated that, dude, this was written in the 1960s and is indicative of the turbulent era with all its objectification of women, of the sexual revolution, of the language, of the Cold War politics. So do NOT get all worked up about it and only (EsPECiablly if you’re a woman) sigh with relief that you are NOT an air hostess who has to put up with men who make lewd comments as a norm, or that you do NOT have to push out your boobs and adjust the garters of your stockings to get noticed.
Still, there’s just something adorable about Katy, even tho’ it’s quiiiite obvious that this is a man’s dream of what a super spy woman would be and how she would act. But Katy totally had me by the ending, with her, yes let’s all chant it: Kicking ass! and doing stuff like capping one thug in the head and leaving his body behind. Or like throttling another to within an inch of his life… by twining her sexy legs around his neck and squeeeeezing for all she’s worth.
This wasn’t my favorite of the week’s Listens as far as story goes, but it’s right up there as far as narrations go. As stated before, there’s pretty much every accent that you could imagine thrown in here (After all, Katy is an air hostess for international airlines, and is thus tasked with all SORTS of international shenanigans and such-all), but Taylor (May I call you Helen? I do believe I shall! Happy Birthday to meeee!) handles them all. When I spoke with her, she said that we Americans use a rhotic R. But that’s what I usually haaaate about non-Americans doing our accents: It’s always Turrrrrn arrrrrround the corrrrrnerrrrr. And if it’s a Texan, just add Y’ALL after that. Helen doesn’t do such a hard rrrrr, is rather understated. So it was a vast relief to not wanna jam an icepick in my ears, especially since most of this takes place on American soil. Plus, Helen just seems to be having such fun as she lets Katy simper a bit, and do a bit of the: Who Little Ol’ Me?
I saw one reviewer who rated this quite low, indeed, cuz he said there were egreeeegious mistakes as concerning American vs. Foreign Affairs, but as I know NOTHING of all of that, certainly not during 1968, and since I was just into this for a fun and sexy little Listen (Minus the graphic sex!)? Who cares?!
Just as Katy is up for anything, just as Helen is up for practically any accent, so I’d be up for the second in the series. Alas, Sangster wrote only two before he died in 2011 (Okay, between 1968 and his death is a looooong time so p’raps he didn’t mean to do any other Katy Touchfeathers?). And since this is the only of the two in the series that’s been produced as an audiobook, I s’pose I shan’t be holding my breath. Still, Touchfeather was released in 2018, sooo…?
Maaaaybe, I’ll hold my breath just a little… at least for Touchfeather, Too.
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