"Brilliant first-person portrayal of Rik Suntan... his egotistical, self-regarding quest for fame, driven by Bowie's soul but hampered by a cleft lip and little talent, is at once pathetic, tragic and wonderfully entertaining."
- Eric Brown, The Guardian
"A rare read, which is both disturbing and hilarious. Definitely worth having on your bookshelf."
- Indie Purcell, Morning Star
"This is a measured quirkiness, which does not have to try too hard to go down the road of the odd. Too much bizarreness can be a turn-off, for me, but here I found a lovely balance of controlled insanity, and a strong level of inventiveness. I did guess a few things way before the ending, but had a great ride getting there. Certainly if you remember 70s rock, and the characters mentioned in this book - it's a joyous path to take finding out who everyone is - this is highly recommended."
- John Lloyd, TheBookBag.co.uk
"This deserves attention for its sheer originality and author Williams's complete disregard for a conventional plot."
- Sunday Business Post
"Charlie Williams brings to life a strange tale that shows how a local misfit, with a narcissistic personality disorder to make up for his inferiority complex, is sucked up in either a conspiracy of immense implications, or the collective mental break down of a group of social oddballs. Either way, that’s for you to find out. Progressing through the book Williams cleverly builds the story and interconnects the story lines, successfully and repeatedly spinning the story so that things are just not quite what they seem. Stairway to Hell is an exciting and very funny read. I kept picking up the book whenever I’d have a few minutes to spare to find out what strange twist might be up ahead."
- Marcel Scholten, Bookmunch
"Full of entertaining nonsense... Williams weaves a tight plot of over-the-top comic mayhem, his pacing and ear for dialogue pitch perfect."
- Big Issue
"Stairway To Hell plunges us into a mad, alternative rock ‘n’ roll universe, where ordinary people are possessed by the souls of past rock stars, and bizarre rituals involving urine become commonplace. The rock’n’roll in-jokes come faster than Zep riffs, and the cringe factor is cranked up all the way to the final showdown at the X-Factor auditions."
- Kevin Courtney, The Irish Times
"The book draws you in completely, Rik’s narrative is warm and funny, you can’t help laughing with him as well as at him. A difficult trick for Williams to pull off... Williams should sit beside Tony Parsons and Nick Hornby, he’s not really as insightful as either of them, but he’s funnier than both. In Rik Suntan he has created a legend in his own lunchtime, a character so realistic, so pathetic, so empathetic, and in the end so heroic, that you can’t help but laugh at him and see a bit of yourself in him at the same time, as sad as it is to admit that. Stairway To Hell is the perfect book for the man in your life who has everything, and everyone has one of those. Unique, funny, and in its own small way, brilliant."
- Stanley Riks, Morpheus Tales
"Williams’ prose is punchy, filthy and funny, littered with musical references and sideswipes at the state of the music industry today. The plot takes on a variety of twists and turns with some truly laugh out loud moments. While, the premise may sound bizarre, and it is, Williams creates a world and it’s character where by the end of the novel, bodyswapping and exploding record shops seem to be the norm. For those looking for a witty, entertaining and original read, this is a must."
- Robert Chilver, Adventures with Words
"Difficult to dislike. A vivid turn of phrase ("chewing air" after puking up), witty touches (the pretense of teen idol Zak Bremner summed up in album titles Zakology and Bremnology) and fag machine philosophy (if you have an All Day Breakfast at breakfast time does it just become Breakfast?) sugar the pill of the ludicrous, scatological plot. Told in gently deluded, Tequila Sunrise-sipping first person by Rik suntan, at its best it reminded me of Ian Hunter's Diary of a Rock'n'Roll Star, except grounded in a fictionalised Worcestershire."
- Andrew Collins, The Word
