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Mike Hammer #1-3
The Mike Hammer Collection
A Triple-Shot Anthology From the Undisputed Master of Detective Fiction. In Mickey Spillane's classic detective novels, the action exploded in a bone-crunching catharsis. Men and women didn't make love, they collided. Tough brutes used their fists to drive home a message. Tougher broads used guile. And no one's morals were loftier than the gutter. No apologies. Little redemption. They rendered critics powerless, shocked intellectuals, inspired a new wave of pulp mayhem, and left the public hungry for more. Given their hot, fever-pitch prose and breathless pacing, Spillane's Mike Hammer novels quickly became one of the most successful series in publishing history?an innovative, no-holds-barred, ultravisceral explosion of sex and violence that made Hammer a literary legend, and Spillane, one of the bestselling authors of all time. After fifty years, neither has lost their power to sucker punch the reader. Find out for yourself in this first-time ever omnibus featuring the first three Mike Hammer novels by the living master of the hard-boiled mystery?
448 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1950
422 people are currently reading
928 people want to read
About the author
Mickey Spillane
314 books445 followersMickey Spillane was one of the world's most popular mystery writers. His specialty was tight-fisted, sadistic revenge stories, often featuring his alcoholic gumshoe Mike Hammer and a cast of evildoers who launder money or spout the Communist Party line.
His writing style was characterized by short words, lightning transitions, gruff sex and violent endings. It was once tallied that he offed 58 people in six novels.
Starting with "I, the Jury," in 1947, Mr. Spillane sold hundreds of millions of books during his lifetime and garnered consistently scathing reviews. Even his father, a Brooklyn bartender, called them "crud."
Mr. Spillane was a struggling comic book publisher when he wrote "I, the Jury." He initially envisioned it as a comic book called "Mike Danger," and when that did not go over, he took a week to reconfigure it as a novel.
Even the editor in chief of E.P. Dutton and Co., Mr. Spillane's publisher, was skeptical of the book's literary merit but conceded it would probably be a smash with postwar readers looking for ready action. He was right. The book, in which Hammer pursues a murderous narcotics ring led by a curvaceous female psychiatrist, went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
Mr. Spillane spun out six novels in the next five years, among them "My Gun Is Quick," "The Big Kill," "One Lonely Night" and "Kiss Me, Deadly." Most concerned Hammer, his faithful sidekick, Velda, and the police homicide captain Pat Chambers, who acknowledges that Hammer's style of vigilante justice is often better suited than the law to dispatching criminals.
Mr. Spillane's success rankled other critics, who sometimes became very personal in their reviews. Malcolm Cowley called Mr. Spillane "a homicidal paranoiac," going on to note what he called his misogyny and vigilante tendencies.
His books were translated into many languages, and he proved so popular as a writer that he was able to transfer his thick-necked, barrel-chested personality across many media. With the charisma of a redwood, he played Hammer in "The Girl Hunters," a 1963 film adaptation of his novel.
Spillane also scripted several television shows and films and played a detective in the 1954 suspense film "Ring of Fear," set at a Clyde Beatty circus. He rewrote much of the film, too, refusing payment. In gratitude, the producer, John Wayne, surprised him one morning with a white Jaguar sportster wrapped in a red ribbon. The card read, "Thanks, Duke."
Done initially on a dare from his publisher, Mr. Spillane wrote a children's book, "The Day the Sea Rolled Back" (1979), about two boys who find a shipwreck loaded with treasure. This won a Junior Literary Guild award.
He also wrote another children's novel, "The Ship That Never Was," and then wrote his first Mike Hammer mystery in 20 years with "The Killing Man" (1989). "Black Alley" followed in 1996. In the last, a rapidly aging Hammer comes out of a gunshot-induced coma, then tracks down a friend's murderer and billions in mob loot. For the first time, he also confesses his love for Velda but, because of doctor's orders, cannot consummate the relationship.
Late in life, he received a career achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America and was named a grand master by the Mystery Writers of America.
In his private life, he neither smoked nor drank and was a house-to-house missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses. He expressed at times great disdain for what he saw as corrosive forces in American life, from antiwar protesters to the United Nations.
His marriages to Mary Ann Pearce and Sherri Malinou ended in divorce. His second wife, a model, posed nude for the dust jacket of his 1972 novel "The Erection Set."
Survivors include his third wife, Jane Rodgers Johnson, a former beauty queen 30 years his junior; and four children from the first marriage.
He also carried on a long epistolary flirtation with Ayn Rand, an admirer of his writing.
His writing style was characterized by short words, lightning transitions, gruff sex and violent endings. It was once tallied that he offed 58 people in six novels.
Starting with "I, the Jury," in 1947, Mr. Spillane sold hundreds of millions of books during his lifetime and garnered consistently scathing reviews. Even his father, a Brooklyn bartender, called them "crud."
Mr. Spillane was a struggling comic book publisher when he wrote "I, the Jury." He initially envisioned it as a comic book called "Mike Danger," and when that did not go over, he took a week to reconfigure it as a novel.
Even the editor in chief of E.P. Dutton and Co., Mr. Spillane's publisher, was skeptical of the book's literary merit but conceded it would probably be a smash with postwar readers looking for ready action. He was right. The book, in which Hammer pursues a murderous narcotics ring led by a curvaceous female psychiatrist, went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
Mr. Spillane spun out six novels in the next five years, among them "My Gun Is Quick," "The Big Kill," "One Lonely Night" and "Kiss Me, Deadly." Most concerned Hammer, his faithful sidekick, Velda, and the police homicide captain Pat Chambers, who acknowledges that Hammer's style of vigilante justice is often better suited than the law to dispatching criminals.
Mr. Spillane's success rankled other critics, who sometimes became very personal in their reviews. Malcolm Cowley called Mr. Spillane "a homicidal paranoiac," going on to note what he called his misogyny and vigilante tendencies.
His books were translated into many languages, and he proved so popular as a writer that he was able to transfer his thick-necked, barrel-chested personality across many media. With the charisma of a redwood, he played Hammer in "The Girl Hunters," a 1963 film adaptation of his novel.
Spillane also scripted several television shows and films and played a detective in the 1954 suspense film "Ring of Fear," set at a Clyde Beatty circus. He rewrote much of the film, too, refusing payment. In gratitude, the producer, John Wayne, surprised him one morning with a white Jaguar sportster wrapped in a red ribbon. The card read, "Thanks, Duke."
Done initially on a dare from his publisher, Mr. Spillane wrote a children's book, "The Day the Sea Rolled Back" (1979), about two boys who find a shipwreck loaded with treasure. This won a Junior Literary Guild award.
He also wrote another children's novel, "The Ship That Never Was," and then wrote his first Mike Hammer mystery in 20 years with "The Killing Man" (1989). "Black Alley" followed in 1996. In the last, a rapidly aging Hammer comes out of a gunshot-induced coma, then tracks down a friend's murderer and billions in mob loot. For the first time, he also confesses his love for Velda but, because of doctor's orders, cannot consummate the relationship.
Late in life, he received a career achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America and was named a grand master by the Mystery Writers of America.
In his private life, he neither smoked nor drank and was a house-to-house missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses. He expressed at times great disdain for what he saw as corrosive forces in American life, from antiwar protesters to the United Nations.
His marriages to Mary Ann Pearce and Sherri Malinou ended in divorce. His second wife, a model, posed nude for the dust jacket of his 1972 novel "The Erection Set."
Survivors include his third wife, Jane Rodgers Johnson, a former beauty queen 30 years his junior; and four children from the first marriage.
He also carried on a long epistolary flirtation with Ayn Rand, an admirer of his writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
October 28, 2021
I loved this book. Mike Hammer is an old school blood and guts womanizing man who takes the law into his own hands to rub out the scum of the world. Mickey Spillane invented this tough guy genre and he has been copied ever since but a Spillane book is always a great read.
December 15, 2022
MIKE HAMMER is basically one of the "Big Three" along with Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe but he's not generally acknowledged as such. This is because Mike Hammer is a more comic book (Mickey Spillane started in them) protagonist with a more black and white protagonist, more violence, more sex, and more general "fun" versus mystery. They're beer and pretzels fiction and all the more effective for them both. Critics HATED Mike Hammer but Mickey Spillane's books are some of the all-time best sellers ever written.
This collection collects two of Mickey Spillane's best books and, sadly, one of the worst. I, THE JURY and MY GUN IS QUICK are both classics of noir fiction and I recommend anyone who loves the genre check them out. Mike Hammer is a trigger happy crazy person but, guess what, Mickey is aware of that and it leads to some really good introspective moments. He's got a Batman-esque obsession with justice and none of his objection to killing. There's some great characterization and truly memorable characters. I give both novels ***** stars.
Unfortunately, VENGEANCE IS MINE is crap. It's basically a mash-up of the previous two books and the ending is nonsensical, transphobic, and not even relevant to the plot. I would honestly recommend fans of the books skip it since none of it is really necessary for the characterization to
continue. I give it ** stars.
A note about people who think I'm overly sensitive, I should note that Mike Hammer is a guy with some severe values dissonance but surprisingly holds up. Mike is surrounded by capable dangerous career women and while he may make some cringe-worthy statements (assuming his psychiatrist fiance will retire when they marry), he's not threatened by them. Racial depictions may not be great (exaggerated accents for people of color rendered phonetically) but Mike doesn't care. He even happily goes to a queer bar and finds it amusing rather than criminal or abnormal like other detectives of the period. So be warned but not scared away.
The first two books are just fantastic in their prose and storytelling.
This collection collects two of Mickey Spillane's best books and, sadly, one of the worst. I, THE JURY and MY GUN IS QUICK are both classics of noir fiction and I recommend anyone who loves the genre check them out. Mike Hammer is a trigger happy crazy person but, guess what, Mickey is aware of that and it leads to some really good introspective moments. He's got a Batman-esque obsession with justice and none of his objection to killing. There's some great characterization and truly memorable characters. I give both novels ***** stars.
Unfortunately, VENGEANCE IS MINE is crap. It's basically a mash-up of the previous two books and the ending is nonsensical, transphobic, and not even relevant to the plot. I would honestly recommend fans of the books skip it since none of it is really necessary for the characterization to
continue. I give it ** stars.
A note about people who think I'm overly sensitive, I should note that Mike Hammer is a guy with some severe values dissonance but surprisingly holds up. Mike is surrounded by capable dangerous career women and while he may make some cringe-worthy statements (assuming his psychiatrist fiance will retire when they marry), he's not threatened by them. Racial depictions may not be great (exaggerated accents for people of color rendered phonetically) but Mike doesn't care. He even happily goes to a queer bar and finds it amusing rather than criminal or abnormal like other detectives of the period. So be warned but not scared away.
The first two books are just fantastic in their prose and storytelling.
August 17, 2013
If you want to experience one of the great masters of the hard boiled detective novel, a writer who defined the genre and raised it to a fine art then I whole-heartedly and without reservation encourage you to move on to Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. If you want to read the third guy, the one who made a lot of money writing shlock this three novel collection is the way to go. For the price of a single trade paperback you get Spillane's first three novels, allowing you to trace his career from first-novel jitters to hitting his stride, such as his stride was.
Though infamous in their day for bringing a new level of sex and violence to the detective genre, they're actually quite tame by modern standards. What's more likely to offend are scenes many would consider racist, sexist, or homophobic today, though by comparison to other writers of his era Spilane was actually not so bad on those points. REaders with a sense of historical change will not be offended.
The good in Spilane is that he keeps the pace moving, and that his descriptions are very cinematic in their color and clarity. You get a real feel for a darkly romanticized New York in the years just after Word War 2. Sadly, Spilane's faults overwhelm the good.
A striking problem is that Mike Hammer is a sociopath. He brags endlessly about being the guy who can snuff the criminals that the police cannot, and more than once admits that he enjoys doing so. HIs first novel is aptly named except that it leaves out "judge" and "executioner". Villains of sufficient badness he kills outright, while toward characters of secondary goodness or badness he meets out less than terminal justice accoding to his own harsh code without ever questioning he might be wrong. Spilane's character might saitisfy a certain quality of male ego, I rather suspect one frustrated by his inadequacy at meeting the challenges of the world, but quite frankly I've played video game assassins with a more balanced sense of justice.
A more heinous crime for a mystery writer is that Spilane's supposedly surpise endings came as no particular surprise to me. For all three novels I was able to identify the killer well before the end. As a fluke you can expect to work out who the killer is once in a great while even with the best of writers. Being able to do it three out of three times means just plain bad writing.
Hint: Just look for the character (not necessarily a suspect or witness) related to the case who is being painted as the least likely, who will also be the character associated with the Mike Hammer likes the most. That's your killler. Spillane's style gives it all away, the only mystery being how he'll contrive to make the clues add up in the last scene. Then Hammer will kill the perp.
Though infamous in their day for bringing a new level of sex and violence to the detective genre, they're actually quite tame by modern standards. What's more likely to offend are scenes many would consider racist, sexist, or homophobic today, though by comparison to other writers of his era Spilane was actually not so bad on those points. REaders with a sense of historical change will not be offended.
The good in Spilane is that he keeps the pace moving, and that his descriptions are very cinematic in their color and clarity. You get a real feel for a darkly romanticized New York in the years just after Word War 2. Sadly, Spilane's faults overwhelm the good.
A striking problem is that Mike Hammer is a sociopath. He brags endlessly about being the guy who can snuff the criminals that the police cannot, and more than once admits that he enjoys doing so. HIs first novel is aptly named except that it leaves out "judge" and "executioner". Villains of sufficient badness he kills outright, while toward characters of secondary goodness or badness he meets out less than terminal justice accoding to his own harsh code without ever questioning he might be wrong. Spilane's character might saitisfy a certain quality of male ego, I rather suspect one frustrated by his inadequacy at meeting the challenges of the world, but quite frankly I've played video game assassins with a more balanced sense of justice.
A more heinous crime for a mystery writer is that Spilane's supposedly surpise endings came as no particular surprise to me. For all three novels I was able to identify the killer well before the end. As a fluke you can expect to work out who the killer is once in a great while even with the best of writers. Being able to do it three out of three times means just plain bad writing.
Hint: Just look for the character (not necessarily a suspect or witness) related to the case who is being painted as the least likely, who will also be the character associated with the Mike Hammer likes the most. That's your killler. Spillane's style gives it all away, the only mystery being how he'll contrive to make the clues add up in the last scene. Then Hammer will kill the perp.
February 22, 2011
All the snide remarks and bad reviews that Mickey Spillane received during his sixty-year career couldn’t mask the passion that comes blasting through in his prose. The dark streets and back alleys spring to life on the page, as Mike Hammer slinks through them like a feral cat on the trail of his prey. The reader will feel Hammer’s hot desires as he strokes the naked skin of a beautiful woman. When he takes a wrong turn and is severely beaten by a few tough guys, the reader will feel the blows.
This was pretty strong stuff in 1950, when readers of “mystery novels” were being spoon-fed Miss Marple.
For my full review, check my website: http://mikedennisnoir.com/review-my-g...
This was pretty strong stuff in 1950, when readers of “mystery novels” were being spoon-fed Miss Marple.
For my full review, check my website: http://mikedennisnoir.com/review-my-g...
January 2, 2019
I, the Jury: Mike Hammer doesn't have many friends but when the one friend who literally gave his right arm to save Mike's life from a Japanese bayonet during WWII is murdered. Gut Shot and made to crawl across the floor using the only arm he has left. Mike vows revenge. And in the end he will dish out to the killer the exact same thing that the killer did to Mike's friend. Gritty eye for an eye, brutally blunt, justice... Hammer style.
My Gun is Quick: After a long day of searching for a lost manuscript. Mike walks into a diner for coffee and meets a down on her luck redhead. Mike tries to help her out. In the morning, while reading a newspaper, he finds out she was the victim of a hit and run drunk driver. Or was she? Hammer sets out to find the truth and ends up embroiled in a double murder case involving girls and the oldest profession.
Vengeance is Mine: a rehashing of I the Jury with a twist at the end nobody sees coming. An old Army buddy of Mike Hammer's comes to New York to buy merchandise for his store in Ohio and ends up dead. Was it suicide or murder?
My Gun is Quick: After a long day of searching for a lost manuscript. Mike walks into a diner for coffee and meets a down on her luck redhead. Mike tries to help her out. In the morning, while reading a newspaper, he finds out she was the victim of a hit and run drunk driver. Or was she? Hammer sets out to find the truth and ends up embroiled in a double murder case involving girls and the oldest profession.
Vengeance is Mine: a rehashing of I the Jury with a twist at the end nobody sees coming. An old Army buddy of Mike Hammer's comes to New York to buy merchandise for his store in Ohio and ends up dead. Was it suicide or murder?
January 16, 2011
This is a collection of Mickey Spillane's first three Mike Hammer novels (I, The Jury, My Gun Is Quick and Vengeance Is Mine) and the action, sex and violence is overwhelming. These novels are pulp classics, replete with tough criminals, tough broads and tough Mike Hammer. Spillane wrote the best New York noir, ever. The abundance of beautiful, willing women makes one feel sorry for Hammer's loyal, torch-carrying secretary, Velda. Spillane's books sometimes seem a bit cartoonish, though, and that is not surprising as he spent some time as a comic book writer.
July 5, 2018
Kurdish and English Review:
Kurdish:
Mickey Spillance yek ji nivîskarên herî navdar yên tuxmê romanên polîsî ye. Çîroka min ya xwandina kitêbên wî balkêş e. Dema ez li bajarê Saweyê li Îranê zaroyê dibistana destpêkî bûm, ez endamê kitêbxaneya Kanûnê Perwerişa Fikrî ya Zaroan û Sinêleyan bûm û gelek kitêb li ber destê min bûn û her heftîyê min 5 heta 10 kitêban dixwandin. Lê piştî Şorşa bi-nav Islamî ya Îranê em çûn Rojhilatê Kurdistanê û li wêderê çi kitêbxane nebûn û bi rastî destê min ji kitêban qut bû. Paşî, di derîyekê ra ko min qet hizir nedikir, komeka kitêbên Mickey Spillanceî gehiştin min. Min dest bi xwandina wan kir, li destpêkê ji ber ko çi kitêbên dî nebûn ko min xwandiban, lê paşî ji ber wê ko êdî min ji romanên wî hez dikir.
Nizanim ka evro jî dikarim dema xwe ji bo xwanidina wan terxan bikim an ne, lê di wê demê da min ji wan hez kir û wan jî dîsa ez li kitêban vegerrandim.
English:
Mickey Spillance is a great novelist, but my story of reading his books is interesting. When I was a schoolboy in Saweh, Iran, I was a member of the library of Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults and I was reading 5-10 books every week. But after the so-called Islamic revolution of Iran, my family moved to Iranian Kurdistan, and there there was no libraries at all. Then all of a sudden, I got a dozen of Mickey Spillance books and I started reading them. At the beginning I read them because I had no other choice of reading, and later on because I loved the books.
I don't know if I am ready to spend my time reading his books or not, but back then I loved the books and they rejoined me to books.
Kurdish:
Mickey Spillance yek ji nivîskarên herî navdar yên tuxmê romanên polîsî ye. Çîroka min ya xwandina kitêbên wî balkêş e. Dema ez li bajarê Saweyê li Îranê zaroyê dibistana destpêkî bûm, ez endamê kitêbxaneya Kanûnê Perwerişa Fikrî ya Zaroan û Sinêleyan bûm û gelek kitêb li ber destê min bûn û her heftîyê min 5 heta 10 kitêban dixwandin. Lê piştî Şorşa bi-nav Islamî ya Îranê em çûn Rojhilatê Kurdistanê û li wêderê çi kitêbxane nebûn û bi rastî destê min ji kitêban qut bû. Paşî, di derîyekê ra ko min qet hizir nedikir, komeka kitêbên Mickey Spillanceî gehiştin min. Min dest bi xwandina wan kir, li destpêkê ji ber ko çi kitêbên dî nebûn ko min xwandiban, lê paşî ji ber wê ko êdî min ji romanên wî hez dikir.
Nizanim ka evro jî dikarim dema xwe ji bo xwanidina wan terxan bikim an ne, lê di wê demê da min ji wan hez kir û wan jî dîsa ez li kitêban vegerrandim.
English:
Mickey Spillance is a great novelist, but my story of reading his books is interesting. When I was a schoolboy in Saweh, Iran, I was a member of the library of Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults and I was reading 5-10 books every week. But after the so-called Islamic revolution of Iran, my family moved to Iranian Kurdistan, and there there was no libraries at all. Then all of a sudden, I got a dozen of Mickey Spillance books and I started reading them. At the beginning I read them because I had no other choice of reading, and later on because I loved the books.
I don't know if I am ready to spend my time reading his books or not, but back then I loved the books and they rejoined me to books.
October 19, 2008
Ahhh, the entertaining genius of crap. Our protagonist is so offensively unlikable he's lovable, because you sense the guy writing him that way does it for the fun hyperbole of it. He's a drunk and a homophobe, dumber than a box of rocks at times, and loves to hate/hit big, beautiful women. Like statues, they are. Big, BEAUTIFUL statues!
Pure pleasure reading. I especially enjoy the time Mike spends in diners and women's apartments eating bacon and eggs, sandwiches, etc. Good eats, lots of drinking, and a preoccupation with love and marriage. It's sappy!
Pure pleasure reading. I especially enjoy the time Mike spends in diners and women's apartments eating bacon and eggs, sandwiches, etc. Good eats, lots of drinking, and a preoccupation with love and marriage. It's sappy!
November 2, 2011
As I mentioned in another review,I thing Mickey Spillane is by far the best writer in the his particular genre.
His books deal with the seedy side of life in post WW2 New York, his protagonist Mike Hammer is brutal by nature and caustic in his language.
He disdains Police procedures an d prefers his form of justice, which usually means a bullet between the eyes. He would be the most Politically incorrect person you could meet, I find his rogue behaviour a large part of his popularity.
His books deal with the seedy side of life in post WW2 New York, his protagonist Mike Hammer is brutal by nature and caustic in his language.
He disdains Police procedures an d prefers his form of justice, which usually means a bullet between the eyes. He would be the most Politically incorrect person you could meet, I find his rogue behaviour a large part of his popularity.
November 24, 2007
Mickey Spillane is the artless Dashell Hammett. And it's hard for me to believe that his work goes out of print time-to-time. Is he essential? No. Is he entertaining? Yes. And therefore there lies the charm of his work. It's detective noir writing without the poetry. For those who want to cut the chase short.
Also his titles are great. Worth the price alone.
Also his titles are great. Worth the price alone.
January 13, 2014
A lot of fun. Dated, but that adds to the charm. High body counts. Hammer is the Conan of the gumshoe set.
March 8, 2019
I wish I had not wasted my time on this anthology.
I have no idea where the love for Mike Hammer comes from. Spillane created a not-so-bright blowhard who talks too much, doesn't think enough, and is all brute with little brain.
Worst still, thanks to Spillane, too much luck falls into his lap - and it's usually a beautiful woman who falls for him. (In one of the books, Hammer walks into the right bar at the right time to meet the right "dame" who has all the answers.)
Spillane's work is filled with far too much street talk that makes the book a parody of the era in which it was written. The stories full of too many contrived moments that are just too convenient.
Yet, once in a while, Spillane does come through with some decent prose, but it's rare at best.
I just do not understand the love for a nearly laughable buffoon and lazy storytelling.
Spillane looks more like a cheap glass of beer compared to a robust scotch from Chandler.
I have no idea where the love for Mike Hammer comes from. Spillane created a not-so-bright blowhard who talks too much, doesn't think enough, and is all brute with little brain.
Worst still, thanks to Spillane, too much luck falls into his lap - and it's usually a beautiful woman who falls for him. (In one of the books, Hammer walks into the right bar at the right time to meet the right "dame" who has all the answers.)
Spillane's work is filled with far too much street talk that makes the book a parody of the era in which it was written. The stories full of too many contrived moments that are just too convenient.
Yet, once in a while, Spillane does come through with some decent prose, but it's rare at best.
I just do not understand the love for a nearly laughable buffoon and lazy storytelling.
Spillane looks more like a cheap glass of beer compared to a robust scotch from Chandler.
January 3, 2022
Everything you would expect from the Master of Hard-Boiled Detective Mike Hammer stories. Hoodlums, beatdowns, friends in low-places, gunfights, near misses, Babes ready to jump into bed at the drop of a hat and a twisty-turny plot with a surprise ending. Loved it. Four Stars ****
April 5, 2019
I started reading Spillane with "The Girl Hunters" (Hammer #7) and next I read "The Snake" (#8). I liked them very much, but decided to start at the beginning. And I recommend that other readers do so as there is a fantastic arc of story and characters.
"I, The Jury" - 3.6 stars
"My Gun Is Quick" - 3.8 stars
"Vengence is Mine" - 2.4 stars
In each of these, Spillane ups the violence, the trials and tribulations of Hammer. But the third one, "Vengence is Mine" was, for me, overwrought and the end seemed kind of ridiculous. "You've got to be kidding, Spillane, you really didn't notice?" came to mind when I read the last page. I've now read 8 Hammer books (reviewed separately) and so far "Vengence" is the weak one. The great one? Time will tell.
"I, The Jury" - 3.6 stars
"My Gun Is Quick" - 3.8 stars
"Vengence is Mine" - 2.4 stars
In each of these, Spillane ups the violence, the trials and tribulations of Hammer. But the third one, "Vengence is Mine" was, for me, overwrought and the end seemed kind of ridiculous. "You've got to be kidding, Spillane, you really didn't notice?" came to mind when I read the last page. I've now read 8 Hammer books (reviewed separately) and so far "Vengence" is the weak one. The great one? Time will tell.
June 22, 2020
Leftist feminist/transgender zealots will ban these toxic masculinity novels. Get them quick!
Since leftist zealots in academic circles censor, cancel, or ban anything which counters their freakish views of human life, these three Mickey Spillane novels will be the first to go. Ordinary readers, of course will delight in them, as I did.
Spillane is one of those authors who go through the usual sequence of reading history: loved by millions, accepted by leftist academics because they want the money that students bring to their leftist colleges and universities, and then censored and eventually banned by leftist academics because he speaks truth about human nature—something that leftist academics can’t stand because they think they know everything and want people to give them attention for claiming to know everything.
Of course, leftist college faculty don’t know everything, even the most basic of human ideas, such as:
1. Revenge. The lex talionis is in the Hebrew Scriptures for a reason. Some people hate it when criminals use the law to escape justice. This was true at the time of Spillane’s novels and is true now, seventy years later when Antifa domestic terrorists and looters destroy property, harm people, and kill police officers. This is a constant theme in the novels; cf. 6ff.
2. Men desire women sexually. Granted, the hero of these novels, Mike Hammer, engages in the sin of fornication with various women. However, there is one redeeming quality of these sinful episodes, depicted rather graciously: he engages in that sin with a woman, usually one who wants to engage in the purely human act of sexual behavior which they deem is an expression of “love” for each other.
In fact, the many sex scenes between Hammer and his ever-so-willing woman may be titillating for teens, but laughable for more mature persons who know that sex is for married persons to enjoy their bodies and to be open to procreation; see, for example, the scenes on pages 41, 100, 198, 214-215, 243-244, 269, 312-313, and 453-454. No wonder leftist academics despise these novels, which run counter to the contemporary sexual confusion and transgender idiocy rampant in colleges and universities.
Furthermore, Hammer’s disgust over gay and lesbian sexuality would infuriate those who distort heterosexual normativity (see, for example, pages 34, 123, 262, 410, and 512). They would also despise the anguish that a woman expresses over an abortion forced on her by a former lover (70); leftists cannot tolerate it when mothers express their post-abortion syndrome since it runs counter to leftist ideology that abortion is always a good thing.
An important sidebar is that the novels may use profanity and vulgarity, but never the scatological language which is common in today’s rap music; see, for example, pages 18, 165, 205, 350, 394, 424, and [484].
3. People like good stories, ones where the four steps of plot development neatly unfold. Each of these three Spillane novels has a clear exposition (the opening paragraph of My Gun Is Quick is mellifluous and memorable writing), several crises, a pivotal climax, and clever and surprising denouements. Leftist transgender zealots would despise the ending of Vengeance Is Mine! and will demand that the book be banned from libraries and online stores like Amazon for obvious reasons. Thus, everyone should read these novels.
4. Toxic masculinity can be enjoyable. Warning: this final notation is for men only. These novels do not fit the contemporary narrative of emasculated men. Leftist academic freaks would say they are loaded with toxic masculinity. Several scenes and one-liners are memorable as evidence of sheer testosterone, for example:
a. “Listen, pimple face. Just for the fun of it I ought to slap your fuzzy chin all around this room, but I got things to do. Don’t go playing man when you’re only a boy” (19).
b. “…when you constantly see men with their masculinity gone, and find the same sort among those whom you call your friends, you get so you actually search for a real man” (52; said by a woman, too!).
c. “…sometimes when I looked at her I wanted to reach across the table and smack her right in the teeth” (414).
Finally, genuine romance abounds! Like other great male-female detective pairs, a contemporary reader might exclaim in frustration, “Mike Hammer, just propose marriage to Velda, your secretary (who loves you as much as you love her), get married, then have sex, make little Mike and Velda babies [she wants six; see page 83], and become stalwart members of your local Catholic church already!” But that would be too saccharine for leftist feminist and transgender zealots in 2020 who would want to ban these toxic masculinity novels.
Which is all the more reason for us to read them, annotate them, and pass them on to others.
Since leftist zealots in academic circles censor, cancel, or ban anything which counters their freakish views of human life, these three Mickey Spillane novels will be the first to go. Ordinary readers, of course will delight in them, as I did.
Spillane is one of those authors who go through the usual sequence of reading history: loved by millions, accepted by leftist academics because they want the money that students bring to their leftist colleges and universities, and then censored and eventually banned by leftist academics because he speaks truth about human nature—something that leftist academics can’t stand because they think they know everything and want people to give them attention for claiming to know everything.
Of course, leftist college faculty don’t know everything, even the most basic of human ideas, such as:
1. Revenge. The lex talionis is in the Hebrew Scriptures for a reason. Some people hate it when criminals use the law to escape justice. This was true at the time of Spillane’s novels and is true now, seventy years later when Antifa domestic terrorists and looters destroy property, harm people, and kill police officers. This is a constant theme in the novels; cf. 6ff.
2. Men desire women sexually. Granted, the hero of these novels, Mike Hammer, engages in the sin of fornication with various women. However, there is one redeeming quality of these sinful episodes, depicted rather graciously: he engages in that sin with a woman, usually one who wants to engage in the purely human act of sexual behavior which they deem is an expression of “love” for each other.
In fact, the many sex scenes between Hammer and his ever-so-willing woman may be titillating for teens, but laughable for more mature persons who know that sex is for married persons to enjoy their bodies and to be open to procreation; see, for example, the scenes on pages 41, 100, 198, 214-215, 243-244, 269, 312-313, and 453-454. No wonder leftist academics despise these novels, which run counter to the contemporary sexual confusion and transgender idiocy rampant in colleges and universities.
Furthermore, Hammer’s disgust over gay and lesbian sexuality would infuriate those who distort heterosexual normativity (see, for example, pages 34, 123, 262, 410, and 512). They would also despise the anguish that a woman expresses over an abortion forced on her by a former lover (70); leftists cannot tolerate it when mothers express their post-abortion syndrome since it runs counter to leftist ideology that abortion is always a good thing.
An important sidebar is that the novels may use profanity and vulgarity, but never the scatological language which is common in today’s rap music; see, for example, pages 18, 165, 205, 350, 394, 424, and [484].
3. People like good stories, ones where the four steps of plot development neatly unfold. Each of these three Spillane novels has a clear exposition (the opening paragraph of My Gun Is Quick is mellifluous and memorable writing), several crises, a pivotal climax, and clever and surprising denouements. Leftist transgender zealots would despise the ending of Vengeance Is Mine! and will demand that the book be banned from libraries and online stores like Amazon for obvious reasons. Thus, everyone should read these novels.
4. Toxic masculinity can be enjoyable. Warning: this final notation is for men only. These novels do not fit the contemporary narrative of emasculated men. Leftist academic freaks would say they are loaded with toxic masculinity. Several scenes and one-liners are memorable as evidence of sheer testosterone, for example:
a. “Listen, pimple face. Just for the fun of it I ought to slap your fuzzy chin all around this room, but I got things to do. Don’t go playing man when you’re only a boy” (19).
b. “…when you constantly see men with their masculinity gone, and find the same sort among those whom you call your friends, you get so you actually search for a real man” (52; said by a woman, too!).
c. “…sometimes when I looked at her I wanted to reach across the table and smack her right in the teeth” (414).
Finally, genuine romance abounds! Like other great male-female detective pairs, a contemporary reader might exclaim in frustration, “Mike Hammer, just propose marriage to Velda, your secretary (who loves you as much as you love her), get married, then have sex, make little Mike and Velda babies [she wants six; see page 83], and become stalwart members of your local Catholic church already!” But that would be too saccharine for leftist feminist and transgender zealots in 2020 who would want to ban these toxic masculinity novels.
Which is all the more reason for us to read them, annotate them, and pass them on to others.
May 4, 2011
I love the snappy dialog and the tight prose. I love how Spillane's action scenes speed up because his prose gains a staccato frenzy. There is so much I can learn from Spillane's mastery of craft. Unfortunately, I just can't read anymore.
Servile women, Hammer casting more seed than a farmer's collective, the sappy love scenes… I just didn't enjoy reading about a philandering goon who demanded monogamy from each one of his dames. Never mind the fact that with each love scene I felt like my iPad should be wrapped in a brown paper bag. Yeah, I've read worse, but it just wasn't my scene.
Fantastic action sequences, though. Spillane was ground breaking.
Servile women, Hammer casting more seed than a farmer's collective, the sappy love scenes… I just didn't enjoy reading about a philandering goon who demanded monogamy from each one of his dames. Never mind the fact that with each love scene I felt like my iPad should be wrapped in a brown paper bag. Yeah, I've read worse, but it just wasn't my scene.
Fantastic action sequences, though. Spillane was ground breaking.
May 20, 2025
The Mike Hammer Collection, Volume 1 contains the first three of Mickey Spillane's classic noir NY detective series: I, the Jury; My Gun is Quick; and Vengeance is Mine!
I, the Jury:
"I, the Jury" is the first entry in the Mike Hammer detective mystery series, written in 1947, and finds the large, ugly PI called to the apartment of his friend Jack, who has been murdered. Hammer quickly and loudly promises vengeance on whoever did it, not interested in proving it or having the culprit go through a trial and perhaps be acquitted, but is taking his raw form of street justice into his own hands.
The setting's characters have a mashup of back alley righteous no-gooders shown as noble in a world of wickedness brought about by the upper class with a hard-nosed avenger in Hammer who plays both sides as if he belongs to both.
Verdict: There are some plot holes in the mystery itself but "I, the Jury" is a hard-boiled caper with loose women, brass knuckles, flying fists, smart dialogue, violent gunplay, and a blood-chilling ending. I see Hammer as an R-rated cross between Marlowe and Parker; in other words, he's pretty great.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
My Gun is Quick:
Private Eye Mike Hammer is stopping at a late-night diner for some coffee after a long job and makes eyes with a redhead hanging out there. She is accosted by a greasy hoodlum whom Hammer then beats up, disarms, and has arrested on a carrying beef. Hammer gives the girl some cash, tells her to get straight, and heads home only to discover two days later that the girl is dead.
Spillane is setting a pattern now with this second book in the series, of having this Mike Hammer character's adventure not actually having to do with an investigation or contracted PI work. He's feeling an internal obligation to find out who this girl is and exact vengeance on her killer, much as he did his friend in the opener "I, the Jury" (my review #578).
Also becoming a pattern is the dark-comic nobility of street hookers and it is way more than doubled-down in this sequel lol. This book is just drowning in hookers.
The second half, then, really kicks into gear when Hammer closes in on the motive for the murder and his cop friend Pat Chambers sets the city abuzz with a flurry of vice squad raids and arrests that send the upper class into hysterical fits.
Verdict: A lot of ridiculously lurid encounters between a big ugly PI and a half-dozen half-clad women that make the book's title a bit smirk-inducing before the case jumps into fourth-gear with a surprising double-trap, a missed opportunity, two explosive final confrontations and a cold-blooded resolution.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating: R
Vengeance is Mine!:
Hardcase PI Mike Hammer wakes up on the back-end of a drunken wintertime bender, now being smacked around by some cops trying to get a story from him. There's a dead body holding Mike's recently-fired gun in his New York City hotel room; in fact, lying on the floor right next to him. Even after it is quickly ruled a suicide, Mike's gun and PI licence are revoked by the grudge-holding District Attorney and Mike is sent on his way with an order to leave town.
Hammer and his secretary Velda decide to just use her PI licence for now and find a way to prove it was murder, not suicide, embarrass the DA, and get Mike's PI licence back.
Hammer's investigation takes us through the ugly, back-parlor gambling, underground boxing, modeling, nightclub, and dancing joints of post-WWII NYC, run by rich heavyweights, taking advantage of middle-class rubes and poor leeches alike, with a wide array of femme fatales who Mike mostly has his way with.
Verdict: A just great guilty-pleasure noir crime classic, I couldn't put "Vengeance is Mine" (1950) down; tense, humorous, angering, with an eardrum-pounding plot, surprise twists and turns, murky back-alley hangouts intertwined with scumbag mob hoodlums, classy vixens, an ex-con named Dinky Williams (lol), and a third-act non-stop thrill-ride rollercoaster finish with a cold-blooded ending and never-see-it-coming spoiler-removed ridiculous spoiler-removed.
Jeff's Rating: 5 / 5 (Awesome)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
Averaging out the ratings, this collection gets a 4 / 5 and is just awesome.
I, the Jury:
"I, the Jury" is the first entry in the Mike Hammer detective mystery series, written in 1947, and finds the large, ugly PI called to the apartment of his friend Jack, who has been murdered. Hammer quickly and loudly promises vengeance on whoever did it, not interested in proving it or having the culprit go through a trial and perhaps be acquitted, but is taking his raw form of street justice into his own hands.
The setting's characters have a mashup of back alley righteous no-gooders shown as noble in a world of wickedness brought about by the upper class with a hard-nosed avenger in Hammer who plays both sides as if he belongs to both.
Verdict: There are some plot holes in the mystery itself but "I, the Jury" is a hard-boiled caper with loose women, brass knuckles, flying fists, smart dialogue, violent gunplay, and a blood-chilling ending. I see Hammer as an R-rated cross between Marlowe and Parker; in other words, he's pretty great.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
My Gun is Quick:
Private Eye Mike Hammer is stopping at a late-night diner for some coffee after a long job and makes eyes with a redhead hanging out there. She is accosted by a greasy hoodlum whom Hammer then beats up, disarms, and has arrested on a carrying beef. Hammer gives the girl some cash, tells her to get straight, and heads home only to discover two days later that the girl is dead.
Spillane is setting a pattern now with this second book in the series, of having this Mike Hammer character's adventure not actually having to do with an investigation or contracted PI work. He's feeling an internal obligation to find out who this girl is and exact vengeance on her killer, much as he did his friend in the opener "I, the Jury" (my review #578).
Also becoming a pattern is the dark-comic nobility of street hookers and it is way more than doubled-down in this sequel lol. This book is just drowning in hookers.
The second half, then, really kicks into gear when Hammer closes in on the motive for the murder and his cop friend Pat Chambers sets the city abuzz with a flurry of vice squad raids and arrests that send the upper class into hysterical fits.
Verdict: A lot of ridiculously lurid encounters between a big ugly PI and a half-dozen half-clad women that make the book's title a bit smirk-inducing before the case jumps into fourth-gear with a surprising double-trap, a missed opportunity, two explosive final confrontations and a cold-blooded resolution.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating: R
Vengeance is Mine!:
Hardcase PI Mike Hammer wakes up on the back-end of a drunken wintertime bender, now being smacked around by some cops trying to get a story from him. There's a dead body holding Mike's recently-fired gun in his New York City hotel room; in fact, lying on the floor right next to him. Even after it is quickly ruled a suicide, Mike's gun and PI licence are revoked by the grudge-holding District Attorney and Mike is sent on his way with an order to leave town.
Hammer and his secretary Velda decide to just use her PI licence for now and find a way to prove it was murder, not suicide, embarrass the DA, and get Mike's PI licence back.
Hammer's investigation takes us through the ugly, back-parlor gambling, underground boxing, modeling, nightclub, and dancing joints of post-WWII NYC, run by rich heavyweights, taking advantage of middle-class rubes and poor leeches alike, with a wide array of femme fatales who Mike mostly has his way with.
Verdict: A just great guilty-pleasure noir crime classic, I couldn't put "Vengeance is Mine" (1950) down; tense, humorous, angering, with an eardrum-pounding plot, surprise twists and turns, murky back-alley hangouts intertwined with scumbag mob hoodlums, classy vixens, an ex-con named Dinky Williams (lol), and a third-act non-stop thrill-ride rollercoaster finish with a cold-blooded ending and never-see-it-coming spoiler-removed ridiculous spoiler-removed.
Jeff's Rating: 5 / 5 (Awesome)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
Averaging out the ratings, this collection gets a 4 / 5 and is just awesome.
February 12, 2024
::PICK YOUR OWN RATING—I CHOSE THREE STARS BECAUSE I CAN'T MAKE UP MY MIND!::
Oy, gevult! What can I say about Mickey Spillane's work that will sum up the incredibly mixed emotions I felt reading this? Spillane's Mike Hammer is everything you feared it would be—brutal, gleefully sadistic, foam-at-the-mouth crazy with anticommunist propaganda, starring a casually misogynistic hero that every woman is madly in love with. Next to Spillane, Tom Clancy and W.E.B. Griffin come off as compassionate liberals! By rights, I should create a virtual bonfire to burn this e-tome in....
And yet—the books are compulsively readable mystery-thrillers, Hammer's secretary Velma is a lot more than just eye candy/Damsel-in-Distress, and Mike Hammer is as good a detective as he is a brutal thug. I hate myself a little for having enjoyed this, but I can't deny Spillane was onto something—and I can see why, at the height of the Cold War, his novels were so immensely popular.
I can't honestly recommend this or anything Spillane wrote—but if you're in the mood for lantern-jawed three-fisted macho action, and politics so far to the Right they make Republicans look like wimps? You will almost certainly enjoy these....
Oy, gevult! What can I say about Mickey Spillane's work that will sum up the incredibly mixed emotions I felt reading this? Spillane's Mike Hammer is everything you feared it would be—brutal, gleefully sadistic, foam-at-the-mouth crazy with anticommunist propaganda, starring a casually misogynistic hero that every woman is madly in love with. Next to Spillane, Tom Clancy and W.E.B. Griffin come off as compassionate liberals! By rights, I should create a virtual bonfire to burn this e-tome in....
And yet—the books are compulsively readable mystery-thrillers, Hammer's secretary Velma is a lot more than just eye candy/Damsel-in-Distress, and Mike Hammer is as good a detective as he is a brutal thug. I hate myself a little for having enjoyed this, but I can't deny Spillane was onto something—and I can see why, at the height of the Cold War, his novels were so immensely popular.
I can't honestly recommend this or anything Spillane wrote—but if you're in the mood for lantern-jawed three-fisted macho action, and politics so far to the Right they make Republicans look like wimps? You will almost certainly enjoy these....
October 4, 2022
Overall, a really good read. I liked "I, The Jury" and I believe it was Mickey's first big hit. That said, I thought that "My Gun Is Quick" was better and "Vengeance is Mine!" the best of the three. I can tell you I read the last one in a single sitting and was shocked when I saw how quickly the reading time had passed.
The writing is a combination of pure pulp and noir. The setting is obviously set is post WWII and although the situations remain very relatable, it feels like another world instead of recent history. That said, I found it ironic that the Mike Hammer books, which were widely criticized for their excessive violence seem like a visit to Shanri La compared to the crime shown to us on the nightly news.
Maybe we just need a lot more people like Mikey's Spillane's hero and his cop friend Pat pursuing "Justice" and a lot less "social justice."
My recommendation: read the book, and you too may be looking forward to kicking back with a cold brew in anticipation of "Hammer Time."
The writing is a combination of pure pulp and noir. The setting is obviously set is post WWII and although the situations remain very relatable, it feels like another world instead of recent history. That said, I found it ironic that the Mike Hammer books, which were widely criticized for their excessive violence seem like a visit to Shanri La compared to the crime shown to us on the nightly news.
Maybe we just need a lot more people like Mikey's Spillane's hero and his cop friend Pat pursuing "Justice" and a lot less "social justice."
My recommendation: read the book, and you too may be looking forward to kicking back with a cold brew in anticipation of "Hammer Time."
August 27, 2020
Higher faculties, be damned! This book is nothing of the sort. It's lobotomized in most every dimension. Character development - no thank you! Exploration of important issues - not a one! Varied and erudite writing style - nope; page 1 is page 100 is page 500.
It's a crude (in a good way) distillation of the hard-boiled detective genre and there's nothing like it. As the best review on this book says, it's a pale shadow of Dashiell Hammett and the like.
That being said, it occupied my mind when my mind needed occupying (2020 - the first COVID-xx year, for those reading this in the far-future).
It's a crude (in a good way) distillation of the hard-boiled detective genre and there's nothing like it. As the best review on this book says, it's a pale shadow of Dashiell Hammett and the like.
That being said, it occupied my mind when my mind needed occupying (2020 - the first COVID-xx year, for those reading this in the far-future).
May 2, 2024
I'm not the biggest fan of Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett (although I love some of the movies based on Chandler's work), but Mickey Spillane is absolutely my speed. The first three books featuring his most famous character, Mike Hammer, are full of grit, violence, sex, and humor, with a hero who insists on being his own man at all times, even to his detriment, because the alternative is unacceptable. And I love his sense of justice, his determination to deal out death to those who deserve it. The atmosphere is perfect, with lots of smoking and drinking, beautiful women and hard men, and reading it today, the absence of political correctness is refreshing. These are fun detective stories with a great hero you wish were real, especially today.
August 10, 2017
Not my cup of tea. The similarities between the three novels in the collection show a lack of originality. I think Spillane read some Chandler short stories and thought he could do the same thing. Well . . . he couldn't and didn't. I read all three novels to give Spillane a fair chance but was left empty and not wanting more. Jim Thompson beats the pants off Spillane. It's just one man's opinion but then I think Fitzgerald's books sucked. If you want to read a good crime novel, read Red Harvest.
October 28, 2019
I fear the time for Mike Hammer is long past. While there are nice flourishes of the artist in some of the phrasing throughout the second and third book in this collection, there is an ugliness and hatred to the narrative voice that jars in the 21st century. Mike Hammer as a protagonist is not one that I could find myself rooting for, even as he was hunting down murderers, "pimps" and rapists. I don't have the same reservations with contemporaries of Mickey Spillane like Rex Stout or Dashiell Hammett.
June 30, 2023
Hammer Time
Spillane's character, Mike Hammer, smokes, drinks & is a ladies man. Despite being an alcoholic, he always finds the killer in the end. Mickey Spillane creates settings and action that allows the reader to picture the scene with a minimum of words. He gets pretty wordy when he's relaying Hammer's thoughts, though. It's interesting that we have much of the same dirty politics now as we did about 75 years ago. Only difference is we don't have to hunt down a pay phone to make a call. ;)
Spillane's character, Mike Hammer, smokes, drinks & is a ladies man. Despite being an alcoholic, he always finds the killer in the end. Mickey Spillane creates settings and action that allows the reader to picture the scene with a minimum of words. He gets pretty wordy when he's relaying Hammer's thoughts, though. It's interesting that we have much of the same dirty politics now as we did about 75 years ago. Only difference is we don't have to hunt down a pay phone to make a call. ;)
July 21, 2017
Rednecks have their 3 B's: beer, bikes and barbeque. Mike Hammer has his 3 B's: booze, broads and brawls. It's messy, but he does bring the bad guys to justice, usually with him as the judge, jury and executioner.
The first two novels are shallow and plot-driven; the third is a more reflective and cerebral, bringing the whole series to 3 stars. You might want to read the last one first; if you like it, then tackle the first two, if only to see Spillane's evolution as a writer.
The first two novels are shallow and plot-driven; the third is a more reflective and cerebral, bringing the whole series to 3 stars. You might want to read the last one first; if you like it, then tackle the first two, if only to see Spillane's evolution as a writer.
January 6, 2018
Third time around and just as good as the first time
This is at least the third time I've read these books and I enjoyed them just as much even though I already knew Spillane's trademark shock endings. I don't know what it is about them ...his style is awkward, the situations unlikely at best. But Mickey Spillane has more pure narrative force than a hundred stylists. His books are impossible to put down.
This is at least the third time I've read these books and I enjoyed them just as much even though I already knew Spillane's trademark shock endings. I don't know what it is about them ...his style is awkward, the situations unlikely at best. But Mickey Spillane has more pure narrative force than a hundred stylists. His books are impossible to put down.
September 9, 2020
Great hard boiled detective stories
I'm wondering why Mickey Spillage doesn't get more credit in his contributions to the crime thriller genre. His writing is solid, even if he is a little more gun happy and more engaged with his observations of his female characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this threesome of his novels. If this is your genre, Mickey Spillage should be included in your library.
I'm wondering why Mickey Spillage doesn't get more credit in his contributions to the crime thriller genre. His writing is solid, even if he is a little more gun happy and more engaged with his observations of his female characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this threesome of his novels. If this is your genre, Mickey Spillage should be included in your library.
July 22, 2017
Read the last story first, it's more reflective and less plot-heavy than the comic-bookish first two.
Rednecks have their 3 B's: beer, bikes and barbecue. Mike Hammer has his 3 B's: booze, broads and brawls. It may be messy, but it gets results: not only are the bad guys caught, but often executed, by Hammer's own hand.
Rednecks have their 3 B's: beer, bikes and barbecue. Mike Hammer has his 3 B's: booze, broads and brawls. It may be messy, but it gets results: not only are the bad guys caught, but often executed, by Hammer's own hand.
March 11, 2020
I read a little of "I, the Jury", but gave up after a few pages. Spillane wrote comic books, and this read like a comic book: gratuitous sex and violence, with one dimensional characters. I like mysteries with a bit more literary style. I can certainly see why the Mike Hammer series is so popular, but these books are not my cup of tea.
March 4, 2023
It doesn’t get any “noirer” than this
Thank you Mickey Spillane for creating Mike Hammer. I thought Raymond Chandler was the king of noir until I read these 3 books and this noir is dirty, nitty and gritty, getting under your skin like a tough old B&W movie. I felt like I was right there with Mike feeling everything. Amazing
Thank you Mickey Spillane for creating Mike Hammer. I thought Raymond Chandler was the king of noir until I read these 3 books and this noir is dirty, nitty and gritty, getting under your skin like a tough old B&W movie. I felt like I was right there with Mike feeling everything. Amazing
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