Product Description
SEX AND VIOLENCE. Mickey Spillane, the tough-as-nails, bestselling publishing phenomenon knew what readers wanted. Now he's really letting them have it...times three.

MIKE HAMMER-Spillane's ultimate creation, the original no-holds-barred private eye who became homicide's hottest anti-hero.

THE MIKE HAMMER COLLECTION, VOLUME 1-the first-ever trade anthology of Spillane's masterpieces of literary mayhem. In one exciting collection, here are the first three novels featuring legendary detective Mike Hammer.

I, the Jury
My Gun is Quick
Vengeance is Mine!

Mickey Spillane is a master. (The New York Times)

Mickey Spillane is the living master of the hard-boiled mystery. (Detecting Men) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

A trip to a simpler time
It's been 50 years since I first read these three books.I feel like an anthropologist rereading them today - 25 cents for a "deck of Luckies", change back from a dollar at a saloon, 5 cents for a local call on a pay phone, engaging a car's starter with your foot, a reporter's typewriter referred to as a "mill", elevator operators, and parking on the street in Manhattan.There is not a single word that would offend the FCC, but there is also little regard for the sensitivities of African-Americans or gays.That said, the writing is much better than I remembered, the plots are entertaining, and the trip back in time is worth your while.

The three that started it al.....
I'm a big hard-boiled noir fan, and these are three of the stories that started it all.You can clearly see the heritage of Mickeys Spillane in Vachss Burke character, as another reviewed noted all the way down to the beat up car with the super powerful engine, and both in New Your city.

All three were written between 1947 and 1950, so the dated slang, the homophobia, and the views of sex, and women are all interesting, and but the prose itself is outstanding.

The first couple paragraphs of MY GUN IS QUICK are classic.

Bottom line, this is a must read, on to volume two (after I finish Vachss new novel Haiku)

Just get to the meat of the matter
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer collection is a must have for detective thrillers and nostalgia seekers alike. The lowest common denominator language unembellished with adjectives and adverbs is raw, urgent, harsh and cuts to the bone. Hammeris a hard drinking neanderthal with a nonstop libido. Maybe if people read more by writers like Spillane, they wouldn't believe the flowery garbage they see in print these days was so good. The first story dove straight into the fray. It is hard to put the volume down.

The only thing a punk understands is a crack on the jaw with the barrel of a forty-five
This set (and it's companion volume) really represent Spillane and Hammer at their hard-bitten best.It took literally decades for Spillane to get the respect he always deserved (but couldn't have cared less about) for his creation.Frankly, Hammer deserves a place on the same plateau as Marlowe and Spade.From the cold blooded "It was easy" to the shocking "Juno was a..."Take a walk on the wild side and rain swept NY back alleys with the Hammer.It's dark and dangerous, but you will never regret it.

Down memory lane
I loved these books when I was in High School.They were a big reason I became a private detective.But, they are a little dated for today.I enjoyed the trip down memory lane when everyone smoked, cars and starter buttons, and girls were dames.They are a wonderful look back into the 1950's. ... Read more

Product Description
A trio of classic novels in the third omnibus from "the king of hard boiled crime fiction" (USA Today).

"There's a kind of power about Mickey Spillane that no other writer can imitate" (New York Times), and it's in full force in this collection of three of his greatest Mike Hammer novels:

The Girl Hunters: Hammer's voluptuous, long-lost love is targeted by the mastermind assassin known as the Dragon.

The Snake: Protecting a runaway blonde, Hammer trades barbs and lead with crooked politicos, snarling hoods, and sex-hungry females.

The Twisted Thing: A kidnapping case links Hammer to a fourteen year-old mystery and the most venomous killer the private eye has ever faced. ... Read more

Product Description
"There's a kind of power about Mickey Spillane that no other writer can imitate." (The New York Times)

Apparently. With his trend-setting Mike Hammer detective novels, Mickey Spillane shot to superstardom as one of the most notorious bestselling sensations in publishing history. This powerhouse collection includes three of the master's long-out-of-print greatest novels-together for the first time in one explosive volume:
The Big Kill
One Lonely Night
Kiss Me, Deadly

Includes a special introduction by Shamus and Edgar Award-winner Lawrence Block. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Just great
This book is just great.I'm a fan of crime movies, Cagney, Bogart and the pulps.I found Spillane a few years ago and fell in love.The first collection of this series was very good and had me hooked in 30 pages.This collection's better.Plot twists, the toughest protagonist I've ever read and a clean fast paced narrative that's addictive.I'm ecstatic they're printing a third book, and can't wait to get it.

old timer does the trick
When I was young, I loved Mike Hammer. It was nostalgia to re-read the yarns. It might give the new generation laughs as there were no computers, cell-phones or caller id's. The forensic department was a joke. The detective actually had to use the brain. Womanizing and boozing, eating bloody steaks and blowing low-lives away without going to jail was the thing to do. I still get a kick out of it.

Memory lane part 2
This book, like volume one is a wonderful trip down memory lane of the 1950's.Even if you were born much later, it is a great look back at a time when everyone smoked, cars had start buttons, and women were dames. Also missing is all the cuss words in all the books and movies of today.

Mickey's The Man
Tough, sexy, with a heart of gold underneath, Mike Hammer is the ultimate private eye and Spillane is the perfect writer to capture every bit of him and his stinkin' world.

THERE SPILANE AND THEN THE REST.
IF YOU WANT THE BEST IN PI. MYSTERIES ITS SPILLANE AND NOONE ELSE. GET VOL. ONE AND VOLUME TWO.EVEN HIS LESSER HAMMER BOOKS SURPASSES THE OTHER WRITERS CHARACTERS LIKE ROSS MCDONALD , JOHN D. MACDONALD AND THE LESSER WRITERS. AND LETS NOT MENTION THE SO CALLED NEW BREED OF WRITER. ONLY PARKER IS HALF WAY SKILLED. MOST PI. MYSTERIES ARE NOT TRUE TO LIFE BUT SPILLANE WAS NEW YORK CITY AND THE TIMES OF THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES.FOR SOME REASON HE TOOK A SABBATICAL AND CAME BACK TO HAMMER AND WHILE IT WASNT AS GOOD AS HIS PREVIOUS WORKS IT STILL SURPASSED THE OTHER WRITERS.

SO IF YOU WANT REAL AND GRIT AND THE REAL STREETS THAT ARE THE SAME ON THE STREETS TODAY GET MICKEY SPILLANE AND THESE TWO VOLS. I KNOW BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN A PI. FOR THIRTY YEARS.MICKEY WE MISS YA.!!! ... Read more

Product Description
On the streets of midtown Manhattan, Mike Hammer saves a kid from mugging, only to find himself targeted by the kingpins of the narcotics trade. In a New York of flashy discotheques, swanky bachelor pads, and the darkest alleys, Hammer deals with idealistic docs and desperate dopers, sexy hippie chicks and heartless hit men, meeting the changing times with his timeless brand of violent vengeance. Originally begun and outlined by Spillane in the mid-sixties and expertly completed by his longtime collaborator Max Allan Collins, The Big Bang is vintage Mike Hammer on acid . . . literally.

Customer Reviews (31)

A fun lightweight crime novel
I'm going to preface this review by disclaiming that I've never read a Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer noevl. While I know the character and the style, it was a little before my time. So, I'm not comparing this to "vintage" Spillane because I have no basis for comparison.

As a standalone noir crime novel, this is a good read. It's fast, lots of action. It came across darker, sexier, and grittier than I expected and for me that's a good thing. Is it grea, a classic? No. I found it quickly forgettable. In fact, I forgot it right after I read it and just remembered to review it.

I don't know if the publisher is looking for new Spillane fans with this or just throwing a bone to existing fans, but based on this, I'd happily add some old Spillane to my list and check out anything new from the new co-author Collins too.

The Big Bang
Max Allan Collins had done a pretty good job of completing the `lost' Mike Hammer novel that Mickey Spillane started. Set in the 60s, this is Mike Hammer almost at his best. This is a great story for fans of Mike Hammer; an ordinary mystery for fans of the genre.

Book Reading
We had a chance to see Max Allan Collins book reading. It is a great book and a was an excellent reading. Here is the link to the book reading video if anyone is interested: [...]

The Big Bang
It has been a long time since I read any Mickey Spillane...probably close to 20 years.Even with a 20 year lag, it's pretty obvious that Spillane didn't write much of this book.He may have supplied Mr. Collins with an outline and a VERY rough draft, but this isn't Mickey's.Mickey Spillane was a product of the 40s and the 50s.The overt sexuality in this book were NOT a product of his generation.

For all of that, it is an entertaining read, with Mike Hammer at his toughest, and his secretary/fiance Velda at her sexiest.I just wish Mr. Collins hadn't felt the need to update this Mike Hammer novel to today's sensibilities....it would have been more effective with the values and feel of the 40s.Collins' update cheapens itsomehow.

Big Bang caused a huge Mickey Spillane explosion for me.
I wasn't a fan of Mickey Spillane or Mike Hammer before picking up Big Bang.I didn't dislike them, just didn't care enough to give them a chance.But I love the graphic novels by Max Allen Collins and am a big noir fan, so why wouldn't I try this book?Sadly, I almost didn't.

Mike Hammer might seem a familiar character, being a Phillip Marlowe fan I found some superficial similarities.But after you get past the outer layer, the character goes his own way.Phillip Marlowe kills only when he has no other choice, Mike Hammer is much more likely to get rid of any dirt bag with no questions asked.Many a man will envy the ease which Hammer picks up beautiful women.


If Big Bang is your first introduction then you're going to be blown away.It's been my gateway drug to a life of Mickey Spillane addiction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Spillane on Dead Street
Last year, I read my first Dashiel Hammett novel ("The Thin Man").Now I've read my first Mickey Spillane.I suppose I'll have to read some Raymond Chandler soon ....

Dead Street is one of the four manuscripts Mickey Spillane was working on when he passed away in 2006.He left copious notes on all four manuscripts apparently, and left instructions for his wife to turn it all over to Max Allan Collins to work on / finish / get published.Collins, a Spillane protege and excellent mystery author in his own right, opted to finish this one up and bring it out under the Hard Case Crime banner.

The story, without giving away anything other than what's on the cover copy, is straightforward.Retired NYPD detective Jack Stang finds out that the fiancee he thought had died 20 years ago in an abduction he wasn't around to stop is alive, amnesiac, living in Florida and of course in danger.

The story takes place now, not in Spillane's noir heydey.I was almost thrown off by Spillane's cadences, which seem more suited to a 1940s or 50s back-alley than to a modern cookie-cutter retirement development.Cell phones in character's hands seemed a little out of place to me.A friend asked me if the book seemed at all politically incorrect.It doesn't really.The female lead, although blind and amnesiac, is smart, capable, intuitive and can defend herself.Stang tosses around some archaic terms of endearment ("doll," "baby," "kid") and has the attitude that women need to be protected -- but he's also not such a he-man that he disdains the help of several women in solving the mystery.

This one is definitely worth seeking out.As the tension builds, all the clues are there to figure out what's going on.The action also builds and the action scenes are written very well.It's hard to tell where Spillane ends and Collins begins.

Imagery neatly resonates
The storyline has been covered in earlier reviews.
This is still Spillane, thanks to the seamless work of Max Allan Collins. The story begins with the imminent demolition of a New York street. But before it is wiped off the face of the earth, it has a secret or two to reveal. The imagery of this dead street is interwoven skillfully into the story's theme and neatly resonates at the end. Intimate first person narrative, fast-paced and involving, the pages turn quickly. The relationship between Jack and Bettie is well developed and indeed we fear for her life and that of her faithful dog.

Something doesn't seem right.
I wonder just how good a friend Collins was to Spillane. The reason I say this is because there seems to be a large plot hole in the story and it takes place in Collin's last three chapters. In the beginning of Dead Street, Jack Stang is antsy and suspicious about the veterinarian's son. Hell, he wants to shoot him. So one would expect Spillane intended to involve the veterinarian in the original kidnapping and that involvement would reveal itself in the final chapter's. I'm guessing Spillane didn't mention this to his good friend Collins or his wife Jane. But, I've been wrong, before.

Posthumously-released Spillane
The dean of tough-guy mysteries is Mickey Spillane.Yes, other hard-boiled writers came first--most notably Hammett and Chandler, but Spillane ramped up the violence with his series of post-WWII mysteries, particularly featuring private eye Mike Hammer.Over the next five or so decades, Spillane's literary output would be sporadic, but he kept writing till his 2006 death.Dead Street is a posthumous novel, mostly written when Spillane died and completed by Max Allan Collins.

The narrator of Dead Street is Jack Stang, a fiftyish retired NYPD cop known as the Shooter for his reputation for getting into and surviving a number of gunfights.Stang has no real retirement plans when he is approached by a man who reveals a mind-blowing secret:Stang's fiancee Bettie, thought dead for twenty years, is actually alive and living in Florida.

Bettie had been kidnapped by mobsters who believed that she had incriminating evidence, but the kidnap was botched and Bettie was trapped in a car that went off a bridge and into the Hudson River.She survived, however, but was blind and a complete amnesiac.She was taken in by a kindly veterinarian who - knowing that she was still in danger - kept her identity concealed.

The revelation to Stang, who still deeply loves Bettie, sends him shuttling back and forth between Florida and New York.He wants to help Bettie regain her lost memory, but also has to take care of the criminals who still want her dead.Though twenty years have gone by, the crimes that took place then could still put people in jail.

Spillane - with an assist from Collins - was still an able writer at the end of his life.At just 200 pages, it bears the hallmarks of a typical Spillane novel:short and fast-paced, with prose that can be described as lean-and-mean.For Spillane fans, and for old-style pulpish mysteries, Dead Street will be a fine book.

"The street wasn't dead yet.Not all the way."

When I finished reading "Something's Down There",I felt that I had just read the last novel I would ever read by Spillane. I have read most of his novels since I first read his "I the Jury" back in the 50's while still in High School;and I still have most of them in my library.When I came across this paperback ,sitting on the bookshelf in the store;my attention wasimmediately taken by the cover. My first reaction was that it looked out of place and looked like something from the 50's.Then I noticed the name "Mickey Spillane".What a surprise ,a new novel,when I thought the great run of his novels was over.And now we find we may be in for a few more with the help of his friend Max Allan Collins and Hard Case Crime books.
A special mention is deserved to Arthur Suydamwhose painting for the cover faithfully captures the style we came to love in the covers of Spillane's novels over the years.
It is also important to mention the efforts of Spillane's friend Max Allan Collins who actulally helped complete this novel,writing its last 3 chapters.Fans of that other great crime fighter,Dick Tracy,will also be familiar with his efforts in keeping that fantastic comic strip going.
So,once again,we get another engrossing crime story,fully in the style and action packed adventure that we have have come to love over the years.
We all miss Spillane's great stories;but if he were still with us;I am sure he would be taken by Collin's line on page 186;"I feel for you,Bucky. But like the man says,I just can't reach you." ;and be asking "I wonder if he was really talking to me here?"
Can't wait for another one;--thanks for keeping it all going.
... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (23)

A great exit!!
The last Mike Hammer book has it all! A plot with twists & turns
and some real evil villains!! Mike cleans up all the loose ends and finally
marries Velda!!

great
I like these Spillane books but they are not the caliber they used to be. I think the world is influencing America into this touchy feely mode.

Collins is to be praised for superbly completing Spillane's unfinished novel
The Goliath Bone, by Mickey Spillane with Max Allan Collins (280 pgs., 2008).Spillane died in August 2006.This is the second novel of his which has been published posthumously with the assistance of his long time friend & now collaborator, Max Allan Collins.It's superb!
This novel was left unfinished at the time of Spillane's death.Collins wrote the ending & some additional chapters, based on Spillane's notes & the rest of the story.This reader can't tell where Spillane's writing ends & Collins's writing begins.The transition is seamless.
This novel also marks the return of Mike Hammer.Mike finally has made plans to marry his long time lover & assistant, Velda.Those plans get thwarted when Hammer inadvertently protects two young university students from getting gunned down.Eventually, he is hired on as their bodyguard.
Spillane has taken Hammer & Velda into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with this tale.Apparently, the two students are stepbrother & stepsister who have accompanied their parents on a dig in Israel & discovered what is reputed to be the fossilized human remains of the arm-bone of the giant Goliath.This leads to all sorts of international intrigue with various governments getting involved along with various spies & big money & large multinational corporations.
Mike Hammer stands against them all.Alone, except for Velda & his old pal, NYPD Captain Pat Chambers.Of course, Hammer wins, the kids are saved, there is a twist ending one can barely guess at & Mike & Velda finally get married.
Collins is to be praised for his work on this novel.

Mickey SpillaneThe Goliath Bone
I've been a big fan of Mickey Spillane and his Mike Hammer series since I was in high school, but I never understood just how talented he was. Until I started to read his stories all over again, and I never knew he was involved with these last two books before he passed away. Then it turns out he had several he was working on, and even though his wife and partner finished off these books. They are still in a class of there own, and I still think he was one of the finest writers I've ever read.

Ho Hum
The plot was a little incredible.So is the premise that an aging detective and his equally elderly secretary/fiancee are the agile, physically robust and sexy folks portrayed.But it was still kind of a fun read. ... Read more

Product Description
Hoping to put his past as a government operative behind him, fishing-boat captain Mako Hooker finds his retirement preempted by several mysterious mauling deaths among his fellow fishermen and enlists the help of fishing partner Billy Bright and an attractive movie heiress to investigate.Amazon.com Review
From Mickey Spillane, the hardest-boiled of detective writers, comes ... a sea story? Surprising but true, and a fun yarn it is. Mako Hooker is enjoying retirement from a life of lethal undercover work, fishing the days away on the remote Caribbean island of Peolle. But his idyll is shattered by the "eater"--an unknown presence in the deep water that bites the bottoms out of boats. As the attacks intensify, the outside world converges on Peolle: the media, a Hollywood film company, and some of Hooker's old colleagues from the Company, one of whom once put a bullet in him. As the intrigue thickens and the action gets nasty, Hooker reluctantly reactivates his old "kill or be killed" skills while trying to solve the riddle of the eater and kindling a romance with a beautiful heiress from a neighboring island.

Spillane published his first Mike Hammer novel in 1947, and though his pace has slowed, he has continued to publish into his 80s. Here, his touch here falters at times, with phrasing or pacing that seem off kilter. But the prose is often vigorous, the characters are well-drawn, the settings are vividly evoked, and the plot contains more angles than a geometry test--capped by an ingenious solution to the central mystery. Something's Down There is a pleasing concoction from a storied writer. --Nicholas H. Allison ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Is this his last book ??
He died in 2006 at 88; this was published in 2004 - maybe this is his last book?

My first exposure to Spillane -- a let down
I've never picked up a Mickey Spillane novel before, but long wanted to, and this seemed like a good time to give him a try. After reading "Something's Down There," I have to assume that his earlier works are a lot better, because this book couldn't have built his reputation.

Mako Hooker is a sailor (or is he?) who seems to want a quiet retirement in the islands. When a mysterious creature begins attacking boats in the area, he's forced to contend not only with the beast, but a film crew that wants to capture it and some shadows of his own past. The biggest problem with this book is that Spillane doesn't seem to know what he wants this story to be. Sometimes it's a detective story, sometimes a crime drama, sometimes it's a Hollywood farce and sometimes its a godawful monster movie. Hooker is cut right out of the tough guy handbook, as is his love interest, and his sidekick (who, in nearly 300 pages, never stops calling Hooker "sar" despite repeated protests both from the character and the readers to knock of the bad accent) is just plain annoying.

I want to give Spillane another try. Maybe a Mike Hammer book or something. I can't imagine that his normal style is like this -- overwritten, boring and completely without excitement.

Spillane has to be better than this...
Although I've never picked up a Mickey Spillane novel before, I wanted to give him a try. After reading Something's Down There, I have to assume that his earlier works are a lot better, because this book couldn't have built his reputation.

Mako Hooker is a sailor (or is he) who seems to want a quiet retirement in the islands. When a mysterious creature begins attacking boats in the area, he's forced to contend not only with the beast, but a film crew that wants to capture it and some shadows of his own past. The biggest problem with this book is that Spillane doesn't seem to know what he wants this story to be. Sometimes it's a detective story, sometimes a crime drama, sometimes it's a Hollywood farce and sometimes its a godawful monster movie. Hooker is cut right out of the tough guy handbook, as is his love interest, and his sidekick (who, in nearly 300 pages, never stops calling Hooker "sar" despite repeated protests both from the character and the readers to knock of the bad accent) is just plain annoying.

I want to give Spillane another try. Maybe a Mike Hammer book or something. I can't imagine that his normal style is like this -- overwritten, boring and completely without excitement.

Don't waste your money
It would have been a better short story, but even then it wouldn't have been very good. The ending is totally ridiculous. I'm willing to suspend my disbelief up to a point, but really....

great book!
I had a wonderful time reading this novel! It kept me hooked from start to finish. I really need to find more books by this author. He knows how to tell one helluva of an entertaining story. I liked this one a lot! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Hammer Strikes Again
I was unhappy to find the book contains 5 of Mickey's Novels.No where in the text of the ad did I find that fact mentioned.I would not have purchased had I known it was a reprint of books I already own.I really think a better description of the contents should be given.It only makes me more cautious about buying books that don't have a proper description.The fact that there was "no image available"is a flag for me and I will buy no more books without an image to review. This is Amazon's fault.None of the book sellers show an image or gives a detailed description.I will keep the book because it isn't worth sending it back. ... Read more

Product Description
Private eye Mike Hammer is no stranger to murder, but this time he has two to untangle: the killing of the Captain, a legless, homeless panhandler, dismissed by the police as minor, and the slaying of gambling kingpin Marty Wellman. Marty's lady friend, Helen Venn, turns to the P.I. for help when the Mob fingers her for the next kill. Seems the new kingpin, Carmen Rich, with whom Hammer has a violent history, thinks Helen made off with ten mil in skim money, courtesy of her late lover. But Mike Hammer knows a damsel in distress when he sees one and takes up Helen's cause, igniting a series of hit attempts on his life by a small army of out-of-town shooters. Such minor distractions can't prevent the toughest detective of them all from solving two murders and avenging a 'little death' in a big way.

This fully-dramatized, full cast, theater-of-the-mind audio adventure enhanced with sound effects and music is a follow-up to The New Adventures of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Vol. 1, which was a finalist for the prestigious Audie® Award in 2009.

Stacy Keach, who first discovered Mickey Spillane's novels as a teenager, said, 'Being cast to play one of my childhood heroes was like entering a dream.' The Mike Hammer Theme, Harlem Nocturne, was written by Earle Hagen. Music composed and performed by Stacy Keach. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Terrific addition to the Mike Hammer canon
Stacy Keach reprises his most famous role as Mike Hammer, Mickey Spillane's most famous creation, in this second volume of The New Adventures of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. At the beginning of The Little Death -- a "novel for radio" written by Max Allan Collins from the short story "The Night I Died" by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins -- Hammer is nearing the end of his search for a reporter friend's killer. Hammer's getting older, but he's still more than capable of chasing a suspect across the rooftops of New York.

After that case is closed in Hammer's signature style, six months go by. Waiting for a client in Carmen Rich's casino, Hammer is interrupted by Helen Venn, mistress and silent partner of the late Marty Wellmann. Venn was there to meet Rich, who didn't show. Hammer escorts her out of the bar, between flying bullets, and she tells him her story: she's thought by Rich to have $10 million that Wellmann supposedly skimmed from Rich, and so she has a price on her head.

Later, Hammer gets a message from "the Captain," a legless, homeless war vet who's seen something important, but when Hammer arrives at the meeting place, the Captain has gone down with his ship. Now Mike's got two murders to solve (including Wellmann's), a gorgeous blonde to protect from syndicate scum, and a couple more murders to commit before he gets to the bottom of things.

The cast of The Little Death (whose title -- la petite mort in French -- refers to the belief that orgasm causes a loss of vital "life energy") includes Collins regular Michael Cornelison (Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life), and Collins himself is credited with two roles. Cornelison as Pat Chambers more than holds his own with Keach's Hammer, matching his verbal thrusts with equally skilled parries. Also strong is Vernette Lebo's three-dimensional turn as Velda. Collins uses his skill with tough-guy patter to pepper the story with a selection of fun wisecracks and puns.

There are enough familiar tough-guy private-eye tropes floating around in The Little Death to fill a P.I.-fiction instruction manual, but since a lot of what may now be seen as cliches originated with Mike Hammer, they become part of the appeal. The ending will hardly be a surprise to anyone familiar with the genre (though Spillane and Collins jump us through a number of plausible hoops in the meantime), but that doesn't take away from the wonderful use of the audio format.

In addition to the high-quality writing and acting, the events are underscored by noirish jazz compositions written and performed by Stacy Keach himself. The realistic sound effects -- you can even hear Hammer swallow his beer (and his bouncing bedsprings!), including a gunshot that fills the room with its explosion -- round out this "movie for the mind" and put Mike Hammer in a fully realized world that will be revisited over and over again. The Little Death is a terrific addition to the Mike Hammer canon.

Classic Keach Hammer!!
The New Adventures of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Vol. 2:The Little Death

This audio book brings back Stacy Keach in the role of Mike Hammer he made famous back in the 80's and 90's. As any real Keach/Hammer fan would hope, Spillane protégé author Max Allan Collins sticks to the true Spillane-Hammer formula that works, and is a bit grittier to boot without the constraints of broadcast television: a crime is committed... it gets personal for Hammer... Mike hits the streets to deliver justice-- Hammer style!

Familiar characters are present: Velda, Captain Pat Chambers, Maya, Betsy (he, he), etc. and the voice work by the actors playing each is excellent (Velda sounds just like Lindsay Bloom from the 80's TV series, but the voice of Captain Pat Chambers reminds me more of Captain Skip Gleason from the 90's series). Mind you, like Volume 1, this is a complete audio production with skilled voice actors, music, sound effects, etc. and it is extremely immersive (especially if you close your eyes or listen to it in bed in the dark!), not a "read by" type audio book.

It would have been great to get some more of the original actors in on this production (like Lindsay Bloom, Don Stroud, Kent Williams, Ben Powers as Moochie, Danny Goldman as Ozzy the Answer, etc). Happily, Malgosia Tomassi reprises her role as the charming yoga instructor Maya from the 90's series (she also happens to be married to Stacy Keach in real life). Of course Stacy Keach himself delivers Hammer with utter perfection, narrating and voice acting in the same style as the beloved TV series.

This Volume 2 CD delivers a feature film length noir style murder mystery audio book, unlike Volume 1 which provides two mutually exclusive TV episode length audio book mysteries. I appreciated the extra time, and while I totally enjoyed Volume 1, I'd prefer future productions to be full-length like Volume 2. I purchased the mp3 version, which thankfully is DRM free (distributed on a CD-ROM as 28 individual mp3 files and a playlist).

Stacy Keach, if you happen to read this, thanks for being dedicated to your Hammer fans. These high quality audio book productions are awesome. I hope you keep them coming! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

gonzo detective work
It is not easy to reconcile Mike Hammer into todays arch types of law and order, masculinity and conservatism.He carries around his private detective license and gun permit, flaunts traffic laws, and orders ordinary police patrolmen around.The debut novel unfolds like something Hunter S. Thompson would write, only with fewer words.It is hard to rationalize his progress through the case.Eventually he reaches the end of it.

Good pulp
A rainy night, a murder, a sobbing babe ready to be comforted, cops at the ready, puzzled & in need of something. This is the milieu anyone who has a vague inkling of MS's MH automatically conjures. & it's the setting where the world 1st meets private cop MH. There's the babe: Myrna, & MH's old army pal Jack Williams. The cops see a routine case. MH senses sadism & describes it to Pat Chambers, his cop buddy, & captain of the local precinct. It is only at the evidence of sadism that MH makes his famous vow: `He won't sit on the chair. He won't hang. He will die exactly as you died, with a .45 slug in the gut, just a little below the belly button. No matter who it is, Jack, I'll get the one. Remember, no matter who it is, I promise.' Or this: `You're a cop, Pat. You're tied down by rules and regulations. There's someone over you. I'm alone. I can slap someone in the puss and they can't do a damn thing. No one can kick me out of my job. Maybe there's nobody to put up a huge fuss if I get gunned down, but then I still have a private cop's license with the privilege to pack a rod, and they're afraid of me. I hate hard, Pat. When I latch on to the one behind this they're going to wish they hadn't started it. Some day, before long, I'm going to have my rod in my mitt and the killer in front of me. I'm going to watch the killer's face. I'm going to plunk one right in his gut, and when he's dying on the floor I may kick his teeth out.' This is where we get the 1st rift between the genre's formalities & MS's new take on things. As with many prior crime books this 1 has its own `society party'. This is where MH scopes out a typical lineup of possible murderers: the sexpot Bellemy twins- Mary (who lacks the birthmark, but later gets nailed by MH) & Esther (the non-nympho)- rich playgirls with nothing to lose; the sobbing Myrna- a recovering smack addict; Charlotte Manning- the wealthy psychiatrist-cum-goddess-cum-fiancée-cum-drug dealer-cum-killer; Hal Kines- a playboy college boy who turns out to be a plastic surgically altered pimp & drug dealer; & George Kalecki- a shady rich man with a dark past MH knows all too well.
But, the inevitable get-together of all the chief suspects at another party does not result in the revelation of the suspect- although Mike hammers Mary Bellemy. Yes, there are classic elements in the book- the death of innocents (Jack Williams, Myrna, Bobo Hopper), gratuitous but entertaining brawling, MH seeing his fair share of gorgeous pussy, plot turns galore- the prime suspects (Kines & Kalecki) turn out to be red herrings, & MH's monomania for justice/vengeance. The clues slowly sort themselves out for MH. The book's denouement, now classic- & almost trite, after later imitations, had to have been a scorcher back in the day.
This book lays the template: 1) nasty quotables, 2) MH's cat-n-mouse love for Velda, 3) his `partnership' with Pat, 4) his overall character, 5) the sex & gore, & 6) the crescendos at novel's end- which reached its climax 2 books later. On a scale of 1-100 I will give MS's books 2 ratings- the 1st is for its excellence in the genre, & the 2nd is for its literary value- regardless of its genre.
In genre I rate I, The Jury a 97 out of 100- it's just so classic & archetypal. Yes, some elements saw MH improve upon in the later books, but this was the great `break' from those who came before. As pure literature I'd give it a good solid 88 out of 100. There are too many nods that tie it to the genre to rate it as highly as I do in-genre, but there are too many positives to not admit this is an excellent book- better than anything Dickens or Tolstoy ever penned.
Now that I've limned the book's tale let me criticize it in a wider context. In many ways, much of what critics said about MS, MH, & this book was absolutely true. They just mistook those qualities- acts of violence, titillation, machismo, narrative rapidity, archetypes- for their negative counterparts: wanton violence, pornography, sexism, shallowness, & stereotypes. Part of the reason, I believe, that this error in judgment occurred was for the very reason that MS WAS SO GOOD at what he did. Were he not critics would not have bothered with it- but they kept coming back to pummel this book as if they really knew that it hit a primal nerve with an America that understood such entertainment (yes, art) at a fundamentally visceral level at odds with the gentlemanly art of dialectical criticism. It reminds 1 of the silly- & now obviously ridiculous- pummelings that Impressionist paintings 1st got- that is, the critics knew that the art they were weaned on was soon going to be obviated by this newer type of art that was at once `more realistic' & more mythic.

A man's book
I'm not trying to be sexist, just realistic.I, the Jury, is outstanding reading.Spillane is in top form with this one, and the story is strong and riveting.But there is a good deal of sex and violence, and things were certainly a lot different when Mr. Spillane wrote this.Don't look for any politically correct jargon or attitudes, and don't hope for a happy ending, because you'll be disappointed on both counts.But if you want a good read, and you want something that is WAY different than any stories being published today, buy this book.

Not Free SF Reader
This is your stereotypical hardboiled private eye type, or part of the mould from which many of the latter day variety have poured forth.

Mike Hammer solves his problems with a gun, a fist or two, and many bizarre turns of phrase and thought.He likes his women to look like women, and cheap booze will do.

Entertaining if taken in a parody sense.

40's Detective Thriller - exciting nonsense

This Mike Hammer detective thriller was a best-seller hit in the 1950's, selling over a million and a half copies in the USA alone in that decade.

It begins when Private Eye and ex G.I. Mike Hammer discovers that Jack Williams, a former WWII comrade who had literally given his right arm to save Mike's life, has been murdered. Williams had died with a dum-dum bullet through the lower body, apparently at the hands of a particularly sadistic killer.

Mike is in a race with police detective Captain Pat Chambers to catch the killer: Pat wants to arrest and try the culprit, Hammer has promised that he will kill the murderer, whoever it is, in exactly the same way that Jack Williams was killed.

(Now, I was under the impression that in law, shooting someone dead other than in self-defence is still murder even if the victim is also a murderer, but different rules seem to appliy in novels.)

As Mike and Pat think they are closing in on the killer, they start to get shot at themselves - then more people are murdered.

The story is quite exciting, and the shock ending when Mike Hammer finally confronts the killer is absolutely chilling.

Quite nonsensical in places, but if you are into 40's & 50's style thrillers you will probably find this entertaining. Be warned however that the book packs a major sting in the tail. ... Read more

Product Description
In this book Hammer's secretary, Velda, has been missing for seven years, but she's still alive if Hammer can reach in time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Shorter Mickey
Published in 1984, this volume collects 10 shorter works by the Mickster, introduced by Max Allan Collins.Do you need it? Definitely, if you are a Spillane fan and appreciator.Here's what you get:"Tomorrow I Die" is an exploration of the "unfolding identity" theme to be found in almost allSpillane's fiction.Robbers think the main character is the town's mayor, and take him hostage in making their escape.Townspeople recognize him as a washed-up actor who had just gotten off the Greyhound bus. Both groups are wrong, wrong, wrong!"The Girl Behind the Hedge" has one businessman get terrible revenge on his evil business rival... and the weapon is love of an unattainable object.

"Stand Up and Die!" has a cargo pilot dropping into a nest of inbred, xenophobic hillbillies, with all roads and routes of escape blocked.There are no identity switches here, just a nasty revelation about the motivations of the two leaders among the hillbillies."The Pickpocket" is a two-pager in which a reformed pickpocket overcomes a major obstacle."The Screen Test of Mike Hammer" is just what it appears to be, a short, original script which was filmed (starring Jack Stang as Hammer and Jonathan Winters(!) as a hobo) by Spillane in hopes of helping Stang to win the role of Hammer in the first proposed film, KISS ME DEADLY.It was Ralph Meeker who ultimately got the part. "Sex is my Vengeance" is a fictionalized version of what might have been a real interview with a high-priced call girl conducted by Spillane; it seems fairly realistic apart from the intrusion of some standard cliches about prostitution and prostitutes. "Trouble... Come and Get It!" is a real rarity, a comic book "text" by Spillane from 1941.This needs to be explained to anyone not familiar with Golden Age comics.In order to qualify for the low "magazine" mailing rates, comics of the 1940s and early 1950s had to have at least two pages that were pure "text," basically a short-short story.It was the thankless task of the regular comics scripters to write these texts, which none of the comic-reading youngsters would ever bother to read.This example from Spillane, while written for kids, shows clear traces of his later style.

"The Gold Fever Tapes" seems to be a later adventure of an earlier Spillane hero, Cat Fallon.There's enough material for a novel, and the lack of detailed development makes it appear as if Spillane is just trying to get the key concept (a really weird method of smuggling gold) off his chest. The most stereotypical Spillane work in the collection is the final novelet, "Everybody's Watching Me."Here a "punk kid" finds himself caught between three rival gang leaders and their gangs, and some corrupt cops.Everyone is afraid of a mystery man named Vetter, and I was hoping against hope from the first page that you-know-who would not implausibly turn out to be Vetter, but alas, Spillane didn't seem to want to spend much time twisting and re-twisting the ending of this one.

It's anyone's guess why Spillane stopped writing novels in 1953, turned to shorter fiction for magazines, and then jumped back to novels in the 1960s.The introduction by Collins speculates; you can make up your own mind after taking in these shorter works that date mainly from 1953 to 1958. ... Read more

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Hammer finds his secretary severely beaten and a mutilated corpse in his desk chair--the victim of a vicious killer who is clearly after Hammer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A great break from the "heavies"
Spillane novels are a great diversion from the heavy history and political philosophy books that form the greater part of my reading list. His style is easy to read and the storys are fun to get into and get lost in after a rough day at work. Spillanes detractors should realize this as a valuable purpose for this kind of genre of which Spillane is the best.

Mike Hammer is Back
THE KILLING MAN by Mickey Spillane marks the return of Mike Hammer, one of the most viral of the detective genre.
Mike walks into his office to discover his beloved secretary, Velda, unconscious, the brutal murder of ex-mobster Anthony DiCica at Mike's desk, and a note from the killer signed Penta.
Mike is in the middle and taking hits from the DA's office, the FBI, the CIA, and the mob, while being assumed to have been the intended victim when DiCica was murdered.
For none stop action with a satisfying conclusion from an author that delivers a good yarn nothing can be better than a Mickey Spillane.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS and QUALIFYING LAPS.

The Killing man
Got the book in great time.IT was in great shape. I would recommend anyone to buy from these people.I know I will again.

I Love the Pulp Fiction Detective
The Killing Man is a typical Mike Hammer murder mystery, only in this story, the tables are turned and bad things are happening to Hammer himself.The tale begins as Hammer walks into his office and finds his darling secretary, Velda, knocked unconscious and a strange man, brutally murdered, occupying the office chair. From there, things only get worse for the detective, and the reader finds himself in a fast-paced, sexy and interestingly plotted adventure. Reader beware, however, this is Mike Hammer, a guy who doesn't know the meaning of, `a feminine side.'
Here's a quick example of what I mean: (The story is written in the fist person. Hammer is speaking.)
"I cocked the .45, took real deliberate aim and touched the trigger. The gun blasted into a roaring yellowish light and for that one second I saw the leg jerk and twitch with a grotesque motion, and even before he could scream, I did it again to the other leg...
The pain really hit him...He glanced down and was ripping at his clothes again and screamed, `You killed me!'
`Not yet,' I told him... Then he found the small-caliber pistol his hands had really been groping for and brought it up in a sweeping, deadly arc, one finger tightening around the trigger.
There was one smashing roar of the .45. His blood went all over the place. Fresh specks of crimson were on the back of my hand. I stood up slowly and gave him a hard grin he couldn't see any more.
I said, `Now I killed you.'
If you like Pulp Fiction, you'll like this one.
Gerard Bianco, author of the mystery novel, Dying For Deception (www.dyingfordeception.com)

Average
The first and only (so far) that I've read from this author.To be honest I found it a little boring and predictable.It was ok to pass time by the pool his summer. ... Read more

Product Description
When Joe Boyle delivered the message to Renzo, one of the toughest crime lords in the city, he didn't expect to be beaten to within an inch of his life. But the message was from Vetter, one the most dangerous underworld figures. No one had ever seen Vetter, but all the crime lords knew his reputation―whatever city he came to, he took over to his advantage leaving a pile of corpses in his wake. Joe is going to be lucky to stay alive when they realize that he maybe the only chance the city's underground has of striking Vetter first. Joe's only chance may lie in the arms of the beautiful lounge singer Helen Troy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

ANOTHER DEPARTURE FOR SPILLANE
While many may dub "The Erection Set" Spillane's "most ambitious work, " I can only comment that to my knowledge it's the longest.For this reader it simply didn't have the impact - the pow- of some of his earlier novels.

"I, The Jury" (1947) was the beginning,the beginning of a round of thrillers bythen unknown Mickey Spillane.Mike Hammer, one of thrillerdom's ace protagonists was introduced, and the world couldn't read enough of his adventures.

Today Mickey Spillane is 85-years-old, and acclaimed around the globe for inventing the hard-hitting, hard-boiled protagonist who is a compelling mix of sex and sharp shooting.It's hard to believe this many years have gone by for the Brooklyn born Spillane.He's outlasted and out sold many of his contemporaries, and when last heard from was still hard at work.

Perhaps those of us who love to read don't take time to thank the writers who have given us so many hours of pleasure.I certainly fall into that category, so a big hats off to Mickey Spillane and gratitude for the wealth of reading pleasure he's given so many.

This book was just what I expected from the Great Mickey
The plot was rich with intrige and the players didnot know that they were playing with The big Dog. Kelly is a average Spillane characture. He knows what women want and what men fear. He is ready to give them both every thing he's got with both barrels. ... Read more

Product Description
Nobody writes mysteries like Mickey Spillane and nobody solves them like MIKE HAMMER! The no-holds barred Private Eye returns! This time in fully dramatized theatre-of-the-mind audio adventures starring acclaimed actor Stacy Keach, complete with a full supporting cast, sound effects and music. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
This program is a mystery with Stacy Keech who I enjoyed on Television and who stars in this CD.It is excellent

Replete with music and sound effects
Next to Sherlock Holmes, perhaps the most popular fictional detective is the late Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, a two-fisted guy who never goes anywhere without his faith Betsy (a snub nosed revolver). Of all the actors who have portrayed the Mike Hammer character in film or television, none were more definitive in the role than Stacy Keach. In this superbly recorded audio theater production, Stacy reprises his role along with a stellar cast in two Mike Hammer adventures, 'Oil and Water' and 'Dangerous Days'. Replete with music and sound effects, both stories are classic private eye adventures with plot twists and turns that keep the listener glued to these two stories as they unfold. Offering fully and expertly dramatized stories that will thrill and entertain dedicated mystery buffs, "Mike Hammer", with a total running time of 3 hours on 3 compact discs, is very highly recommended for personal and community library audio book collections. ... Read more

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A tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans! ... Read more

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A reformed ex-con is the victim of a vicious killer. Mike Hammer goes gunningfor justice, but a beautiful woman keeps getting in his way. ... Read more

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