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Mike Hammer #3
Vengeance is Mine
MYSTERY NOVEL -- PUBLICATION YEAR IS THE ORIGINAL COPYRIGHT YEAR -- THIS IS THE 48TH PRINTING -- NO DATE GIVEN --
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
42 people are currently reading
612 people want to read
About the author
Mickey Spillane
316 books446 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 146 reviews
May 6, 2025
“Vengeance Is Mine,” first published in 1950, is the third Mike Hammer book by Mickey Spillane. The title pretty much says it all. Spillane created Hammer as the toughest, most uncompromising private eye that ever existed on the pages of any publication. He is not simply for sale to any client to protect the reputation of the rich client’s two psychotic daughters. Hammer sees injustice and goes out and knocks head to wreak vengeance, particularly where the legal system is too incompetent or corrupt to do what it needs to do on its own.
In this particular novel, Spillane takes on a theme that is found in many fifties hardboiled novels, that of a man wrongfully accused of murder and at odds and often on the run from the legal system while trying to solve the crime on his own. Spillane, however, takes this theme and weaves it a little differently from most authors. Hammer, here, goes on a all-night bender with a friend from out of town and, when he wakes up in a hotel room with his friend on the other bed, the friend has a hole in his chest and isn’t going to be out carousing with anyone ever again. Hammer has his license taken away and has to operate sort of outside the system with Pat being his only friend on the force. The theme of a lone man out to do justice when no one else cares rings true here. Everyone officially says it was a suicide, but Hammer can’t buy it and there is a web of corruption and dirty dealing that is unearthed here. What Hammer finds when he scratches the surface of the city is not pretty. Nor are the bodies that keep piling up. All the people who lost their lives because Hammer poked his nose into this business.
The writing in this book is very typical Spillane from the very first line: “The guy was dead as hell. He lay on the floor in his pajamas with his brains scattered all over the rug and my gun in his hand. I kept rubbing my face to wipe out the fuzz that clouded my mind but the cops wouldn’t let me.” Wow! What an opening. In just a few short lines, Spillane has blood and guts and guns and his protagonist in a jam.
Velda is more prominently featured here than in the first two Hammer books. In fact, when Hammer’s license is taken away, he reminds her that she has a license and a gun, too, and she’s now the boss of the operation. “There wasn’t any kitten-softness about her now. She was big and she was lovely, with the kind of curves that made you want to turn around and have another look. The lush fullness of her lips had tightened into the faintest kind of snarl and her eyes were the carnivorous eyes you could expect to see in the jungle watching you from behind a clump of bushes.”
The action here mostly takes place in the Bowery and Spillane describes it as “a street of people without faces” and “pleading voices from the shadows and the shuffle of feet behind you.” “The bars were lined with the left-overs of humanity keeping warm over a drink or nursing a steaming bowl of soup.”
There are a few scant references to characters from the first two books (Charlotte and Lola), but not much and the references are merely to show the variety of emotions that Hammer feels, particularly towards these women in his past.
All in all, “Vengeance is Mine!” is yet another terrific, top-notch Spillane thriller and, as always, his books are at the top of the whole genre of hardboiled crime fiction even sixty-four years after publication.
In this particular novel, Spillane takes on a theme that is found in many fifties hardboiled novels, that of a man wrongfully accused of murder and at odds and often on the run from the legal system while trying to solve the crime on his own. Spillane, however, takes this theme and weaves it a little differently from most authors. Hammer, here, goes on a all-night bender with a friend from out of town and, when he wakes up in a hotel room with his friend on the other bed, the friend has a hole in his chest and isn’t going to be out carousing with anyone ever again. Hammer has his license taken away and has to operate sort of outside the system with Pat being his only friend on the force. The theme of a lone man out to do justice when no one else cares rings true here. Everyone officially says it was a suicide, but Hammer can’t buy it and there is a web of corruption and dirty dealing that is unearthed here. What Hammer finds when he scratches the surface of the city is not pretty. Nor are the bodies that keep piling up. All the people who lost their lives because Hammer poked his nose into this business.
The writing in this book is very typical Spillane from the very first line: “The guy was dead as hell. He lay on the floor in his pajamas with his brains scattered all over the rug and my gun in his hand. I kept rubbing my face to wipe out the fuzz that clouded my mind but the cops wouldn’t let me.” Wow! What an opening. In just a few short lines, Spillane has blood and guts and guns and his protagonist in a jam.
Velda is more prominently featured here than in the first two Hammer books. In fact, when Hammer’s license is taken away, he reminds her that she has a license and a gun, too, and she’s now the boss of the operation. “There wasn’t any kitten-softness about her now. She was big and she was lovely, with the kind of curves that made you want to turn around and have another look. The lush fullness of her lips had tightened into the faintest kind of snarl and her eyes were the carnivorous eyes you could expect to see in the jungle watching you from behind a clump of bushes.”
The action here mostly takes place in the Bowery and Spillane describes it as “a street of people without faces” and “pleading voices from the shadows and the shuffle of feet behind you.” “The bars were lined with the left-overs of humanity keeping warm over a drink or nursing a steaming bowl of soup.”
There are a few scant references to characters from the first two books (Charlotte and Lola), but not much and the references are merely to show the variety of emotions that Hammer feels, particularly towards these women in his past.
All in all, “Vengeance is Mine!” is yet another terrific, top-notch Spillane thriller and, as always, his books are at the top of the whole genre of hardboiled crime fiction even sixty-four years after publication.
March 23, 2025
second read: lmao yeah this hammer book is definitely not for the PC crowd. no sir. the ending alone for this spillane pulp masterpiece is just so goddamned deliciously absurd and offensive and genius and problematic and brilliant and so so so wrong and so so so entertaining. you’re gonna cringe and laugh then cringe again and then cheer on the very last page despite yourself.
just hella entertaining pulp 💀😭
btw, my feeling is, you should just skip spillane altogether if you’re very triggery by nature, and can’t handle your sensibilities being ruffled — save yourself the agony.
the rest of you have a blast. this is peak spillane absurdity in the best way!
just hella entertaining pulp 💀😭
btw, my feeling is, you should just skip spillane altogether if you’re very triggery by nature, and can’t handle your sensibilities being ruffled — save yourself the agony.
the rest of you have a blast. this is peak spillane absurdity in the best way!
January 25, 2021
This installment #3 of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, and it is increasingly hard not to feel sorry for any of the women Hammer falls in love with, as his track record continues here.
This is a pretty excellent opening couple of sentences - “The guy was dead as hell. He lay on the floor in his pajamas with his brains scattered all over the rug and my gun in his hand. I kept rubbing my face to wipe out the fuzz that clouded my mind but the cops wouldn’t let me.”
So this time around Mike isn't working a case, he is a part of the case. As the quote alludes to, Hammer has been out on a bender with a friend, and they stayed in his hotel room, and when Mike woke up, his friend had apparently committed suicide, with Hammer's gun. The DA takes pleasure in suspending his PI license and his gun license. Except of course, it wasn't suicide at all, it was a murder.
So for a large part of this book, Hammer is on the wrong side of the law, with only his friend Pat on the force to help him out (and Mike pushes the boundary on this relationship, as usual), and without his favourite gun. Back at the office he reminds Velda that she not only has a gun license, but also her PI license; he tells her she runs the show now, and he does the legwork. So Velda steps up her involvement in this book more than she has done previously.
The plot unwinds fairly slowly, and while I can't say I was completely satisfied with the ending (in terms of being believable), the pathway there was fun. Unusually, Hammer wasn't the source of the bodies piling up, but was a factor in who became a liability to the murderer. I can't really expand on the issues without massively spoiling the book, but the twist in this tale just didn't hold up to the level of scrutiny applied beforehand...(this would hopefully make sense to someone who has read it!).
So another hardboiled detective fiction guilty pleasure book done.
3 stars.
This is a pretty excellent opening couple of sentences - “The guy was dead as hell. He lay on the floor in his pajamas with his brains scattered all over the rug and my gun in his hand. I kept rubbing my face to wipe out the fuzz that clouded my mind but the cops wouldn’t let me.”
So this time around Mike isn't working a case, he is a part of the case. As the quote alludes to, Hammer has been out on a bender with a friend, and they stayed in his hotel room, and when Mike woke up, his friend had apparently committed suicide, with Hammer's gun. The DA takes pleasure in suspending his PI license and his gun license. Except of course, it wasn't suicide at all, it was a murder.
So for a large part of this book, Hammer is on the wrong side of the law, with only his friend Pat on the force to help him out (and Mike pushes the boundary on this relationship, as usual), and without his favourite gun. Back at the office he reminds Velda that she not only has a gun license, but also her PI license; he tells her she runs the show now, and he does the legwork. So Velda steps up her involvement in this book more than she has done previously.
The plot unwinds fairly slowly, and while I can't say I was completely satisfied with the ending (in terms of being believable), the pathway there was fun. Unusually, Hammer wasn't the source of the bodies piling up, but was a factor in who became a liability to the murderer. I can't really expand on the issues without massively spoiling the book, but the twist in this tale just didn't hold up to the level of scrutiny applied beforehand...(this would hopefully make sense to someone who has read it!).
So another hardboiled detective fiction guilty pleasure book done.
3 stars.
April 8, 2018
Great fun as usual but that ending spoiled it - as if Mike Hammer wouldn’t have worked that one out earlier....
January 17, 2021
A small step up from I, the Jury both in writing and plot, but no change at all in the one dimensional, uber macho womanizer, Mike Hammer. I wanted to give this series a second chance, but this will be the end of the road for me.
December 1, 2018
Σίγουρα, το πιο άνισο αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα του περσινού καλοκαιριού και αυτό αποδεικνύεται από το εξής γεγονός:
Bαθμολογία 1ου μισού: 3/5 - Bαθμολογία 2ου μισού: 4,6/5.
Γενικά, είναι γνωστό ότι ο Spillane θεωρείται από τους πιο αμφιλεγόμενους συγγραφείς αστυνομικών μυθιστορημάτων, ενώ έχει κατηγορηθεί από πολλούς κριτικούς για ρατσιστικές απόψεις και περιγραφές έντονης βίας στα βιβλία του. Το συγκεκριμένο περιέχει όλα αυτά τα αμφιλεγόμενα στοιχεία, και, συν όλοις τοις άλλοις, θα μπορούσε να έχει τον τίτλο 'Η τρίτη πλευρά' (όποιος το διαβάσει, θα καταλάβει) 🤗.
Εδώ ο Spillane εφαρμόζει άλλη δομή στη ροή της πλοκής και δεν θυμίζει, τουλάχιστον, στο 1ο μισό, σχεδόν καθόλου, το 'Εγώ οι ένορκοι: στο 1ο μισό, λοιπόν, δίνεται το βάρος στην σκληρή περιγραφή του νυχτερινού 'προσώπου' της Νέας Υόρκης όπου οι ταξικές διαφορές και η οικονομική εξαθλίωση σε κάποιες 'ύποπτες' περιοχές της μεγαλούπολης βρίσκονται σε πρώτο πλάνο. Σοκάρουν οι σκηνές όπου για να περάσουν την ώρα τους και να σκοτώσουν τη πλήξη τους, πολλές διάσημες (υποτίθεται) προσωπικότητες από το χώρο της μόδας και του μόντελινγκ κοροϊδεύουν και διασκεδάζουν με τους άστεγους και τους οικονομικά εξαθλιωμένους που βλέπουν στο δρόμο. Ωστόσο, όλο αυτό το σκηνικό αποτελεί ένα 'προπέτασμα' καπνού για να καλύψει την κραιπάλη και τις ύποπτες συνευρέσεις νεαρών μοντέλων με έγκριτους οικονομικούς παράγοντες της πόλης. Ο συγγραφέας, εύστοχα, αναφέρει την αύξηση των δολοφονιών στη Νέα Υόρκη, και το στριπτίζ σαν μια δημοφιλής μορφή διασκέδασης στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του '50.
Το 2ο μισό δεν αφήνει τον αναγνώστη να πάρει ανάσα με έντονους ρυθμούς, πιπεράτους διαλόγους, αρκετές δολοφονίες, ενώ, στο τέλος, υπάρχει μια ανατροπή-έκπληξη που ούτε ο ίδιος ο 'σκληρός' Μάικ Χάμερ δεν περίμενε. Οι περιγραφές κάποιων μυστικών περασμάτων και χώρων σε διαμερίσματα των ηρώων, όπως και ο ρόλος που διαδραματίζουν κάποιοι ειδικά τοποθετημένοι καθρέπτες δίνουν μια έντονα μυστηριώδη πνοή στην εξέλιξη της υπόθεσης.
Μη ξεχάσω να πω ότι είναι και το πρώτο μυθιστόρημα με ήρωα τον Μάικ Χάμερ όπου η βοηθός του, η Βέλντα, χρησιμοποιεί ένα αυτόματο όπλο και σκοτώνει.
Μέσος όρος βαθμολογίας: 3,8/5 ή 7,6/10.
Y.Γ.: Σε αρκετά σημεία, η μετάφραση δημιουργεί νοηματική σύγχυση και κενά στα γεγονότα.
Bαθμολογία 1ου μισού: 3/5 - Bαθμολογία 2ου μισού: 4,6/5.
Γενικά, είναι γνωστό ότι ο Spillane θεωρείται από τους πιο αμφιλεγόμενους συγγραφείς αστυνομικών μυθιστορημάτων, ενώ έχει κατηγορηθεί από πολλούς κριτικούς για ρατσιστικές απόψεις και περιγραφές έντονης βίας στα βιβλία του. Το συγκεκριμένο περιέχει όλα αυτά τα αμφιλεγόμενα στοιχεία, και, συν όλοις τοις άλλοις, θα μπορούσε να έχει τον τίτλο 'Η τρίτη πλευρά' (όποιος το διαβάσει, θα καταλάβει) 🤗.
Εδώ ο Spillane εφαρμόζει άλλη δομή στη ροή της πλοκής και δεν θυμίζει, τουλάχιστον, στο 1ο μισό, σχεδόν καθόλου, το 'Εγώ οι ένορκοι: στο 1ο μισό, λοιπόν, δίνεται το βάρος στην σκληρή περιγραφή του νυχτερινού 'προσώπου' της Νέας Υόρκης όπου οι ταξικές διαφορές και η οικονομική εξαθλίωση σε κάποιες 'ύποπτες' περιοχές της μεγαλούπολης βρίσκονται σε πρώτο πλάνο. Σοκάρουν οι σκηνές όπου για να περάσουν την ώρα τους και να σκοτώσουν τη πλήξη τους, πολλές διάσημες (υποτίθεται) προσωπικότητες από το χώρο της μόδας και του μόντελινγκ κοροϊδεύουν και διασκεδάζουν με τους άστεγους και τους οικονομικά εξαθλιωμένους που βλέπουν στο δρόμο. Ωστόσο, όλο αυτό το σκηνικό αποτελεί ένα 'προπέτασμα' καπνού για να καλύψει την κραιπάλη και τις ύποπτες συνευρέσεις νεαρών μοντέλων με έγκριτους οικονομικούς παράγοντες της πόλης. Ο συγγραφέας, εύστοχα, αναφέρει την αύξηση των δολοφονιών στη Νέα Υόρκη, και το στριπτίζ σαν μια δημοφιλής μορφή διασκέδασης στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του '50.
Το 2ο μισό δεν αφήνει τον αναγνώστη να πάρει ανάσα με έντονους ρυθμούς, πιπεράτους διαλόγους, αρκετές δολοφονίες, ενώ, στο τέλος, υπάρχει μια ανατροπή-έκπληξη που ούτε ο ίδιος ο 'σκληρός' Μάικ Χάμερ δεν περίμενε. Οι περιγραφές κάποιων μυστικών περασμάτων και χώρων σε διαμερίσματα των ηρώων, όπως και ο ρόλος που διαδραματίζουν κάποιοι ειδικά τοποθετημένοι καθρέπτες δίνουν μια έντονα μυστηριώδη πνοή στην εξέλιξη της υπόθεσης.
Μη ξεχάσω να πω ότι είναι και το πρώτο μυθιστόρημα με ήρωα τον Μάικ Χάμερ όπου η βοηθός του, η Βέλντα, χρησιμοποιεί ένα αυτόματο όπλο και σκοτώνει.
Μέσος όρος βαθμολογίας: 3,8/5 ή 7,6/10.
Y.Γ.: Σε αρκετά σημεία, η μετάφραση δημιουργεί νοηματική σύγχυση και κενά στα γεγονότα.
February 24, 2015
Mike Hammer is the most tough guy of tough guy detectives, just as Micky Spillane is the most hard-boiled of hard-boiled writers. A Mike Hammer book does not start with someone bringing him a case, instead a person he knows will die and he'll swear revenge and set about taking it. Noses are broken, teeth are shattered, shots are fired, dames are ogled over and kissed. The entire thing is turned up at 11 and is a rollercoaster ride of lurid sex and violence.
I wrote a few days back about the James Bond of the book actually inhabiting the real world, this really is something that Mike Hammer doesn't do. Everyone in these books has a gun and an angle and a reason to kill. They are all big and scary charicatures, especially the dames who should never be trusted (except for his loyal secretary Velda). Mike himself is a big brutal battering ram at the centre, with his attempts at emotion - jealousy and remorse in the main - just making him more over-wrought.
The book all takes place at an absurdly high pitch. The ending, while being predictable, is in its final twist quite bonkers.
But having said all that (and I realise that I've spent this write-up enumerating the book's faults) it is a thoroughly enjoyable read that you just cling onto throughout.
I wrote a few days back about the James Bond of the book actually inhabiting the real world, this really is something that Mike Hammer doesn't do. Everyone in these books has a gun and an angle and a reason to kill. They are all big and scary charicatures, especially the dames who should never be trusted (except for his loyal secretary Velda). Mike himself is a big brutal battering ram at the centre, with his attempts at emotion - jealousy and remorse in the main - just making him more over-wrought.
The book all takes place at an absurdly high pitch. The ending, while being predictable, is in its final twist quite bonkers.
But having said all that (and I realise that I've spent this write-up enumerating the book's faults) it is a thoroughly enjoyable read that you just cling onto throughout.
September 7, 2021
The third book in the Mike Hammer series finds Hammer on the case of what the cops have deemed a suicide. The twist, right at the beginning, is that Hammer himself was passed out in the same room as the dead body, an old friend from the war. Hammer is suspicious though based on the gun recovered from the scene, Hammer’s gun, that only has 4 bullets in it. Hammer always has it loaded with six so…why are two bullets missing with only one in the body of his friend?
Another excellent entry in this hard-boiled series. The plot takes Hammer down a dark path, even for him, losing his PI license and license to carry a gun along the way. Modeling agencies, gaming joints, and the DA himself are all fair game for Hammer’s fact-finding excursions and he doesn’t hold back on any of them.
…you’ve forgotten something. You’ve forgotten that I’m not a guy that takes any crap. Not from anybody. You’ve forgotten that I’ve been in business because I stayed alive longer than some guys who didn’t want me that way. You’ve forgotten that I’ve had some punks tougher than you’ll ever be on the end of a gun and I pulled the trigger just to watch their expressions change.
Even his lovely secretary, Velda takes on a major role (and dangerous one) to help solve the case.
There is a huge twist right at the end of the book, one that I felt I should have seen coming…but didn’t. Readers are cautioned not to accidentally view the final page for the very real risk of major spoilage.
Originally published in 1950, this is Mickey Spillane in top form.
Another excellent entry in this hard-boiled series. The plot takes Hammer down a dark path, even for him, losing his PI license and license to carry a gun along the way. Modeling agencies, gaming joints, and the DA himself are all fair game for Hammer’s fact-finding excursions and he doesn’t hold back on any of them.
…you’ve forgotten something. You’ve forgotten that I’m not a guy that takes any crap. Not from anybody. You’ve forgotten that I’ve been in business because I stayed alive longer than some guys who didn’t want me that way. You’ve forgotten that I’ve had some punks tougher than you’ll ever be on the end of a gun and I pulled the trigger just to watch their expressions change.
Even his lovely secretary, Velda takes on a major role (and dangerous one) to help solve the case.
There is a huge twist right at the end of the book, one that I felt I should have seen coming…but didn’t. Readers are cautioned not to accidentally view the final page for the very real risk of major spoilage.
Originally published in 1950, this is Mickey Spillane in top form.
January 17, 2023
Another good Mike Hammer story with an obligatory insane ending that Spillane is so damn good at. In fact, I would go far to say that the last sentence of this book is one of the best that I have read in this kind of novel.
Keep in mind, however, that Spillane (or maybe the '50s in general?) had some odd views on homosexuality (or at least he gives Hammer those views). He seems to think that gay people physically become the opposite sex. Gay men in this novel curtsey and fight by pulling hair. Gay women grow mustaches. It is so dated that it's kind of hilarious.
Keep in mind, however, that Spillane (or maybe the '50s in general?) had some odd views on homosexuality (or at least he gives Hammer those views). He seems to think that gay people physically become the opposite sex. Gay men in this novel curtsey and fight by pulling hair. Gay women grow mustaches. It is so dated that it's kind of hilarious.
September 9, 2023
Solid entry in the Mike Hammer series, with a good description of the setting and a unique twist. As a previous review stated, this is not one for 21st-Century criticisms, especially with that ending! Looking forward to another Mike Hammer mystery soon...
September 15, 2019
The sense of place in New York in 1950, with tough guy PI Mike Hammer working a case. Doesn't get much better than that.
January 11, 2024
Struggling to read so when I saw this in the local library I borrowed it and now had the moment to dip into it again. A guilty pleasure perhaps, but a throw back to teenage years when I found Spillane, McBain, Fleming, Christie and Greene.
It is perhaps a novel that would seem outdated and to some sexist and degrading to women.
This is not fair in my opinion. This particular book was released for publication some 5 years after the end of World War II. It is a product of its time and that premise is a superficial view of the author’s work. For me Spillane has a balanced outlook and this book in particular carries a few surprises and raises topics that may make you more aware of liberal traditions in America at this time.
The writing is good. “By the time I reached the street there were grey feathers of snow in the air slanting down through the sheer walls of the buildings to the street.” But it does have its moments. “She leaned towards me and my head filled with the fragrance of a perfume that made me dizzy. She had grey eyes. Deep grey eyes. Deep and compassionate. Eyes that could talk by themselves.”
I was amazed by the tenacity of Mike Hammer who pursues the truth when an old ‘buddy’ he hasn’t seen in years meets up with him, one night for a drinking session only to wake up dead in Hammer’s room.
Everyone wants suicide but once the PI sniffs murder he will not let it rest. He is hampered by the fact that his wartime friend, Chester Wheeler, died with a bullet from Hammer’s gun. As a consequence he has his licence withdrawn and has to surrender his gun.
He calls upon his secretary’s help more than ever and quickly learns he isn’t in control of everything and sometimes cannot protect those he cares about.
It is perhaps a novel that would seem outdated and to some sexist and degrading to women.
This is not fair in my opinion. This particular book was released for publication some 5 years after the end of World War II. It is a product of its time and that premise is a superficial view of the author’s work. For me Spillane has a balanced outlook and this book in particular carries a few surprises and raises topics that may make you more aware of liberal traditions in America at this time.
The writing is good. “By the time I reached the street there were grey feathers of snow in the air slanting down through the sheer walls of the buildings to the street.” But it does have its moments. “She leaned towards me and my head filled with the fragrance of a perfume that made me dizzy. She had grey eyes. Deep grey eyes. Deep and compassionate. Eyes that could talk by themselves.”
I was amazed by the tenacity of Mike Hammer who pursues the truth when an old ‘buddy’ he hasn’t seen in years meets up with him, one night for a drinking session only to wake up dead in Hammer’s room.
Everyone wants suicide but once the PI sniffs murder he will not let it rest. He is hampered by the fact that his wartime friend, Chester Wheeler, died with a bullet from Hammer’s gun. As a consequence he has his licence withdrawn and has to surrender his gun.
He calls upon his secretary’s help more than ever and quickly learns he isn’t in control of everything and sometimes cannot protect those he cares about.
June 7, 2024
Too many bodies. Hammer bounces back far too fast from far too many wounds, beatings and accidents in just a few days. Maybe because of all those bouts of "possession." Food? Sleep? Are you kidding? Trope piled on trope until the whole mishmash just fell over and littered the floor.
Oh and btw the "surprise" ending was pretty predictable from where I sat. I predicted most of it the first time that character made an appearance.
Even for Spillane--not his best work.
Oh and btw the "surprise" ending was pretty predictable from where I sat. I predicted most of it the first time that character made an appearance.
Even for Spillane--not his best work.
Read
October 26, 2015compelling evidence that the male psyche was broken beyond repair way before women's lib
October 20, 2022
Published in 1950, classic Black Mask pulp fiction. Don't bother if you are going to bring 21st century judgement.
September 16, 2020
Mike Hammer's he-manly instincts save him from disgrace and debasement: .
Mike needs to clear his name with the DA. Mike's method is simple: Put some punks on the end of his gun and the crime starts solving itself. This works if you have the right attitude:
Mike needs to clear his name with the DA. Mike's method is simple: Put some punks on the end of his gun and the crime starts solving itself. This works if you have the right attitude:
"I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do than shoot a killer and watch his blood trace a slimy path across the floor."This transgressive thriller has an unforgettable final sentence -- the final reveal. It shocked me. I felt like a sap when I went back and saw all the not-so-subtle foreshadowing.
September 21, 2012
I did say this was better than the others, but the ending made me feel slightly ill, so it doesn't get an extra star. Transphobia, yay! But Velda is really awesome, even if the formula and the -isms don't really vary from the other books.
Quick-moving, with lots of gore and so on, and you'd better not trust anybody. You probably know the drill.
Quick-moving, with lots of gore and so on, and you'd better not trust anybody. You probably know the drill.
April 26, 2020
Mike hammer looks for his friend's killer despite losing his licence and gun. Velda helps him. Juno is not what he thinks despite reminding him of a woman he killed before. Blackmail involved.
June 19, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 183 (of 250)
In the introduction, Max Allan Collins promises us "...perhaps the best 'socko' finish of any Spillane novel." Does Spillane deliver? Oh, please, the end is absurd. Still, this is...umm...odd.
HOOK - 2 stars: >>> "The guy was dead as hell. He lay on the floor in his pajamas with his brains scattered all over the rug and my gun was in his hand."<<<
These are the opening 2 sentences. We learn shortly that Hammer had invited a man to spend the night with him in his (Hammer's) hotel room and that Hammer drank so much he remembers little and wakes up to find his buddy dead after 2 shots were fired that Hammer doesn't hear! Nope, not buying it. You'd have to be dead drunk not to wake up to shots being fired in your own hotel room. That said, the dead person isn't a woman, so I'll give this unbelievable opener a second star for that twist. Interesting to note that 3 years after this book's 1950 publication, Chandler opens "The Long Goodbye" with Marlowe taking a drunk man, a stranger, home with him. There is an odd undercurrent in both books of what we'd call 'bromance' today mixed with homophobia. Strange bedfellows indeed.
PACE - 3: At 164 pages, this is longer than "I, The Jury" (143 pages) and "My Gun is Quick" (157 pages) all in the same volume with the same font/layout style. "Vengence is Mine" is a fast read.
PLOT - 2: Juno runs a 'modeling' agency that's more of a high-priced escort service, even though a photographer is involved taking legitimate cheesecake photos as part of the overall operation. Hammer's dead buddy from the opening chapter, Chester, had taken a 'model' out the night before but is killed. Early we learn that Chester had recognized one of the models as a girlfriend of his daughter, and that sets in motion a series of 7 murders. It's senseless, so what if he recognized one of the girls? The girls know each other, the businessmen/patrons know what's going on, Hammer knows, readers know. Hammer gets all self-righteous because a friend of his (a friend he hasn't seen for about 5 years, or since WW2 ended) has been killed and thinks "Then I got mad again because it was my friend that died. My friend." And here is where this novel veers into the "authors who try to hard"category: Spillane ups the friendship, has Hammer say to Velda "I bet it's a big murder, too. A great bit beautiful murder with all the trimmings." But it isn't at all. BIG murders occur in "I, the Jury" and "My Gun is Quick" (a too-quick gun may just be Hammers big problem, but that's for a separate discussion) and other works by Spillane. By the time the 7th murder rolls around, I kept thinking, "But why? So what?" Yes, Spillane is leading up to his 'socko' ending. It's not 'socko' at all. And the endings of "I, the Jury" ("It was easy", I said.) and "My Gun is Quick" ("He was still screaming when I pulled the trigger") are better and far more believable.
CAST - 2: Velda remains under the radar here until the final scene in which she is sensational. Hammer? He says things like:
-"It used to be a fag joint [about a restaurant]."
-"Let's see how the 3rd side lives."
-"There was a pansy down at the end of the bar..." I'm thinking, "Stop, Hammer, stop it, you've made your point, you're a hardcore straight man, I get it!" (If only there was time travel and he could listen to Lady Gaga's "Shallow" in which she writes/sings something like, "Aren't you tired of being so hardcore.") But Hammer can't stop. Get this:
-"Nobody was at the tables, but over half the booths were filled if you can call 2 people of the same sex sitting alone along the same side filled." Really, Hammer? Gay folks aren't even human? Things get even worse when Hammer says:
- "There was a Lesbian (yes, with a capital "L") who followed you into the ladies room. I bet she could have kicked herself when she found out you were no better than she was." Yes, I know it's 1950, but once a character is portrayed as such, one doesn't need to continue with the homophobia: another example here of Spillane trying hard to "up" his game. And, since I'm on the subject of 'upping" let's talk about Juno:
- "Juno guided me to a stool on Olympus."
- "Olympus smiled another dawn."
- "The gods on Olympus could well be proud of their Queen" (Take note!)
-Hammer offers a toast "To beauty. To Olympus. To a goddess that walks with the mortals." This goes on and on and then 40 pages later Juno is
- "...a smiling beautiful goddess...
- "It was only the radio playing, but it might have been a chorus of angels..."
Okay, to be fair, Spillane does have something in mind: there is a specific goal and the author makes that VERY clear. The author succeeds on setting the tone for his final line. It might have shocked some in 1950, true. It may have been the subject of many a cocktail party talk, true. And when Hammer laughs, one has to wonder if he is laughing at himself. Again, I gotta return to the opening with Hammer taking a friend to his hotel room then not remembering. WHAT is Spillane telling us? So that's my issue here, I'm not at all sure what Spillane wants us to see in Hammer in this book. But even given all the above, it's the number of hookers (with a stereotypical heart of gold) who are murdered for a senseless reason that leads me to a 1-star rating for the cast, with a second star for Velda's sensational appearance in the climax.
ATMOSPHERE - 4: A wintry New York is nicely done. We're just in the beginning of the 1950s boom, and there is money to be spent on gambling and booze and the most beautiful ladies of the world. The rich want even more. Hammer, I think, has no idea what he really wants.
SUMMARY: 2.6. In the same year as "Vengence is Mine," Patricia Highsmith takes the spectrum of sexuality just a shade deeper in "Strangers on a Train." Here, Spillane seems to be holding back on something. Here's the thing: this is the third in the series and the author ends this trilogy, this part of Hammer's life, on a very odd note. "I, the Jury" and "My Gun is Quick" are very good books. Here, the plot fails compared to those 2 novels. One last note: one of the hookers is named Marion Lester. Yes, Chester dates Lester. Spillane winks at us: take none of this seriously, it's all fun and games.
BOOK 183 (of 250)
In the introduction, Max Allan Collins promises us "...perhaps the best 'socko' finish of any Spillane novel." Does Spillane deliver? Oh, please, the end is absurd. Still, this is...umm...odd.
HOOK - 2 stars: >>> "The guy was dead as hell. He lay on the floor in his pajamas with his brains scattered all over the rug and my gun was in his hand."<<<
These are the opening 2 sentences. We learn shortly that Hammer had invited a man to spend the night with him in his (Hammer's) hotel room and that Hammer drank so much he remembers little and wakes up to find his buddy dead after 2 shots were fired that Hammer doesn't hear! Nope, not buying it. You'd have to be dead drunk not to wake up to shots being fired in your own hotel room. That said, the dead person isn't a woman, so I'll give this unbelievable opener a second star for that twist. Interesting to note that 3 years after this book's 1950 publication, Chandler opens "The Long Goodbye" with Marlowe taking a drunk man, a stranger, home with him. There is an odd undercurrent in both books of what we'd call 'bromance' today mixed with homophobia. Strange bedfellows indeed.
PACE - 3: At 164 pages, this is longer than "I, The Jury" (143 pages) and "My Gun is Quick" (157 pages) all in the same volume with the same font/layout style. "Vengence is Mine" is a fast read.
PLOT - 2: Juno runs a 'modeling' agency that's more of a high-priced escort service, even though a photographer is involved taking legitimate cheesecake photos as part of the overall operation. Hammer's dead buddy from the opening chapter, Chester, had taken a 'model' out the night before but is killed. Early we learn that Chester had recognized one of the models as a girlfriend of his daughter, and that sets in motion a series of 7 murders. It's senseless, so what if he recognized one of the girls? The girls know each other, the businessmen/patrons know what's going on, Hammer knows, readers know. Hammer gets all self-righteous because a friend of his (a friend he hasn't seen for about 5 years, or since WW2 ended) has been killed and thinks "Then I got mad again because it was my friend that died. My friend." And here is where this novel veers into the "authors who try to hard"category: Spillane ups the friendship, has Hammer say to Velda "I bet it's a big murder, too. A great bit beautiful murder with all the trimmings." But it isn't at all. BIG murders occur in "I, the Jury" and "My Gun is Quick" (a too-quick gun may just be Hammers big problem, but that's for a separate discussion) and other works by Spillane. By the time the 7th murder rolls around, I kept thinking, "But why? So what?" Yes, Spillane is leading up to his 'socko' ending. It's not 'socko' at all. And the endings of "I, the Jury" ("It was easy", I said.) and "My Gun is Quick" ("He was still screaming when I pulled the trigger") are better and far more believable.
CAST - 2: Velda remains under the radar here until the final scene in which she is sensational. Hammer? He says things like:
-"It used to be a fag joint [about a restaurant]."
-"Let's see how the 3rd side lives."
-"There was a pansy down at the end of the bar..." I'm thinking, "Stop, Hammer, stop it, you've made your point, you're a hardcore straight man, I get it!" (If only there was time travel and he could listen to Lady Gaga's "Shallow" in which she writes/sings something like, "Aren't you tired of being so hardcore.") But Hammer can't stop. Get this:
-"Nobody was at the tables, but over half the booths were filled if you can call 2 people of the same sex sitting alone along the same side filled." Really, Hammer? Gay folks aren't even human? Things get even worse when Hammer says:
- "There was a Lesbian (yes, with a capital "L") who followed you into the ladies room. I bet she could have kicked herself when she found out you were no better than she was." Yes, I know it's 1950, but once a character is portrayed as such, one doesn't need to continue with the homophobia: another example here of Spillane trying hard to "up" his game. And, since I'm on the subject of 'upping" let's talk about Juno:
- "Juno guided me to a stool on Olympus."
- "Olympus smiled another dawn."
- "The gods on Olympus could well be proud of their Queen" (Take note!)
-Hammer offers a toast "To beauty. To Olympus. To a goddess that walks with the mortals." This goes on and on and then 40 pages later Juno is
- "...a smiling beautiful goddess...
- "It was only the radio playing, but it might have been a chorus of angels..."
Okay, to be fair, Spillane does have something in mind: there is a specific goal and the author makes that VERY clear. The author succeeds on setting the tone for his final line. It might have shocked some in 1950, true. It may have been the subject of many a cocktail party talk, true. And when Hammer laughs, one has to wonder if he is laughing at himself. Again, I gotta return to the opening with Hammer taking a friend to his hotel room then not remembering. WHAT is Spillane telling us? So that's my issue here, I'm not at all sure what Spillane wants us to see in Hammer in this book. But even given all the above, it's the number of hookers (with a stereotypical heart of gold) who are murdered for a senseless reason that leads me to a 1-star rating for the cast, with a second star for Velda's sensational appearance in the climax.
ATMOSPHERE - 4: A wintry New York is nicely done. We're just in the beginning of the 1950s boom, and there is money to be spent on gambling and booze and the most beautiful ladies of the world. The rich want even more. Hammer, I think, has no idea what he really wants.
SUMMARY: 2.6. In the same year as "Vengence is Mine," Patricia Highsmith takes the spectrum of sexuality just a shade deeper in "Strangers on a Train." Here, Spillane seems to be holding back on something. Here's the thing: this is the third in the series and the author ends this trilogy, this part of Hammer's life, on a very odd note. "I, the Jury" and "My Gun is Quick" are very good books. Here, the plot fails compared to those 2 novels. One last note: one of the hookers is named Marion Lester. Yes, Chester dates Lester. Spillane winks at us: take none of this seriously, it's all fun and games.
March 17, 2017
I had thought I'd read all the original Mike Hammer novels by Mickey Spillane. Discovering that was untrue was like an early Christmas gift. Vengeance Is Mine is a rough and tumble read. Spillane was (justifiably) famous for the big twist ending. I accidentally caught a glimpse of the last page and it totally spoiled the book for me-don't make the same mistake I did. An old Army buddy of Mike's gets killed and he paints the town (blood) red hunting down the killer. Not the greatest Spillane (that title belongs to The Twisted Thing) but very enjoyable nonetheless, as long as one remembers Hammer is essentially a child of his era. His actions and attitudes would be considered misogynistic at best by today's standards. This book was written in 1950-we've come a long way baby.
December 14, 2022
VENGEANCE IS MINE is a decent Mike Hammer book, if a bit derivative of MY GUN IS QUICK with its prostitution ring, its blackmail scheme, and Mike Hammer falling in love with yet another disposable young woman who wants to leave her current life behind. Unfortunately, it's ruined by literally the last line of the book that is a transphobic "revelation" that has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the story and just makes Mike look like a disgusting bigot. Mickey Spillane adding it also didn't enhance the story at all and just showed that he wanted to add yet another shocking twist that is derivative of I, THE JURY. Basically, the book feels like a patchwork of the previous two and is not better for it. Sorry, Mike, but the book gets a thumbs down from me.
July 28, 2017
I liked this much, much better than "One Lonely Night," and it does make me likely to read another Spillane. In some ways, the story is over the top even for today, and the ending--while being highly unbelievable--did create a surprise and brought a good belly laugh. It definitely seems like a work that doesn't take itself too seriously and I can appreciate that for this type of story.
Want to read
November 12, 2020Vengeance 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?
February 24, 2013
Mickey Spillane's novels represent pretty much everything I despise in a person's worldview yet despite his misogynistic, homophobic, far-right, gun-loving heroes his writing by and large has me hooked that I can't help coming back for more.
His Mike Hammer is probably the most masochistic of all hard-boiled heroes. He would of course deny it but he undoubtedly seems to get a lot of pleasure about the beatings he keeps getting in the course of all the novels. And much could be said about his sexuality given that the dames he sleeps with all end up dead, killed by either his enemies or by himself for betraying him. And poor Velda, his assistant needs to stay virginally pure regardless of how much she throws herself at him and how much it physically pains him to refuse her advances.
So when Mike Hammer wakes up in a hotel apartment, drunk as a skunk, with the feeling of sick in his mouth and a dead friend next to him, it will come as no surprise for the Spillane aficionado to discover who the true culprit behind the murder is.
What *will* come as a surprise is the ultimate revelation that will easily redefine the topic of "dodgy subtext in Mike Hammer thrillers" and bring it up to a new level.
It was only when I read that final reveal that I noticed that I had previously read the novel before... but so long ago that I am forgiven for not remembering this.
Favourite quote: "Tempus fugits fast as hell."
His Mike Hammer is probably the most masochistic of all hard-boiled heroes. He would of course deny it but he undoubtedly seems to get a lot of pleasure about the beatings he keeps getting in the course of all the novels. And much could be said about his sexuality given that the dames he sleeps with all end up dead, killed by either his enemies or by himself for betraying him. And poor Velda, his assistant needs to stay virginally pure regardless of how much she throws herself at him and how much it physically pains him to refuse her advances.
So when Mike Hammer wakes up in a hotel apartment, drunk as a skunk, with the feeling of sick in his mouth and a dead friend next to him, it will come as no surprise for the Spillane aficionado to discover who the true culprit behind the murder is.
What *will* come as a surprise is the ultimate revelation that will easily redefine the topic of "dodgy subtext in Mike Hammer thrillers" and bring it up to a new level.
It was only when I read that final reveal that I noticed that I had previously read the novel before... but so long ago that I am forgiven for not remembering this.
Favourite quote: "Tempus fugits fast as hell."
October 22, 2021
This wasn't as good as Spillane's first two Hammer novels, though I breezed through it, and mostly enjoyed the ride. There were a few things that got on my nerves, but was able to laugh them off and keep reading. Spillane goes way overboard with all the pretty "dames" that fall for Hammer. Juno was a completely unbelievable character, and the constant comparing her to a goddess drove me nuts. The main villain was too predicable. And, the most unbelievable part was the ending. No way the character of Hammer would have been deceived in that way. What I like about Spillane is that I don't have to read any PC crap. If you're one of the "woke", you won't like this novel.
July 16, 2009
i admit it- i am a big Mickey Spillane fan eventhough he is kind of a fear-mongering brute with a bad homophobe streak. BUT in some of these stories Spillane writes top-notch noir = means you basically can't guess the ending or the trajectory of the story. Which is a cheap thrill, granted, that for a cheap-thrill afternoon in a hammock, i find just about right.
August 1, 2025
"Tits Up, Toots"
Not much transpires in this transitional translation of transparent tough-guy transactions with transgressors.
Not much transpires in this transitional translation of transparent tough-guy transactions with transgressors.
January 7, 2022
Wow! I didn't see that train coming. I'm not sure how other readers felt when they read the last sentence in Vengeance is Mine, Mickey Spillane's third Mike Hammer novel, but for me, I haven't been that surprised since I realized Dr. Malcolm Crowe had been dead through the whole movie! Well, this novel proves that Spillane was probably one of the great noir writers of his age. Descriptions are not only vivid, but they are imaginative. Some of Spillane's metaphors and similes are not to be forgotten:
My hands were ready to grab and my feet were ready to kick and my gun was ready to shoot. But nobody was there. The fires began in my feet and licked up my body until they were eating into my brain. Every pain that had been ignored up to this moment gave birth to greater pains that were like teeth gripping my flesh apart....
As in his two previous novels, Vengeance is Mine contains some characters that have been created with a chisel, and the city of New York, buried in a white blanket, seethes with an underlying darkness that only Spillane can portray, and the only person out there that can set it right is Mike Hammer, a man compromised by the times, the Gotham type environment, and his brutal profession. But of course, it isn't only Hammer that strives to save, it's those friends of his, Velda and Pat, who never fail him regardless of his brazen and unpredictable personality. Hammer was like the post World War II superhero; tough and honest, but always able to dazzle a beautiful woman or put the fear of God into a sinister villain. A normal person could never withstand the physical punishment, smoke the number of cigarettes, drink the number of shots, or tantalize the number of women Mike Hammer did. He was the type of guy into which men transfigured themselves as an escape from the America they returned to after the war, or that women dreamed about as they tried to cope with an unhappy and mundane existence. He was an escape. He was a dream. He was a wish.
In any case, for me, I feel awed at Spillane's stories, dark descriptions, and characters, and they just keep surprising me. In a way, I'm so glad I had not read them earlier, so that I can be amazed with them now.
My hands were ready to grab and my feet were ready to kick and my gun was ready to shoot. But nobody was there. The fires began in my feet and licked up my body until they were eating into my brain. Every pain that had been ignored up to this moment gave birth to greater pains that were like teeth gripping my flesh apart....
As in his two previous novels, Vengeance is Mine contains some characters that have been created with a chisel, and the city of New York, buried in a white blanket, seethes with an underlying darkness that only Spillane can portray, and the only person out there that can set it right is Mike Hammer, a man compromised by the times, the Gotham type environment, and his brutal profession. But of course, it isn't only Hammer that strives to save, it's those friends of his, Velda and Pat, who never fail him regardless of his brazen and unpredictable personality. Hammer was like the post World War II superhero; tough and honest, but always able to dazzle a beautiful woman or put the fear of God into a sinister villain. A normal person could never withstand the physical punishment, smoke the number of cigarettes, drink the number of shots, or tantalize the number of women Mike Hammer did. He was the type of guy into which men transfigured themselves as an escape from the America they returned to after the war, or that women dreamed about as they tried to cope with an unhappy and mundane existence. He was an escape. He was a dream. He was a wish.
In any case, for me, I feel awed at Spillane's stories, dark descriptions, and characters, and they just keep surprising me. In a way, I'm so glad I had not read them earlier, so that I can be amazed with them now.
November 24, 2023
A portrait of a man who's against the world though the world is not against him. Mike Hammer is always a kneejerk reaction away from violence. A man who must cruelly mock or attack anyone who doesn't conform to his view of the world, but rejects the social contract by which everyone else lives. If everyone was Mike Hammer everyone would be dead. This is your hero, anti-hero, sociopath. Antisocial with only the barest bit of a vestigial conscience. Yet I think many men find the freedom of the sociopath to be intriguing, tempting, a fantasy. This is wish fulfillment for many readers. Do what you want regardless of the consequences, as long as you're strong enough to fight your way out. In this the third installment, Hammer loses his PI license, and loyal secretary Velda must take over the agency and investigation. She gets her chance to shine and does well. At times the story relates back to the two earlier volumes: when he's not manhandling everyone in sight Hammer's agonizing over which of five women he's in love with, although two of them are dead. He's in such straits that he can't manage to go to bed with any of them. There's no matter so life and death, however, that he can't step into the closest bar to have a beer, even shortly after polishing off the better part of a bottle of liquor. Any normal human would soon be dead of acute alcohol poisoning. In between all that there's some nice description of urban landscape. After three novels the Hammer plot has settled into a pattern: he stumbles into a killing involving a friend or chance acquaintance, which makes it personal. Hammer then spends the rest of the book moving heaven and earth (when not stopping into aforesaid bar) seeking revenge for the murder, alternately getting beat up, beating someone up, loving and lusting, drinking heavily, and probably smoking too much. Everything then reaches its climax on the very last page in a final shocking instant involving a gun. [3★]
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