What do you think?
Rate this book
Mike Hammer #19
King of the Weeds: A Mike Hammer Novel
"HE WAS THE KILLER AND I WAS THE TARGET.”
It should be a mellow time for America’s toughest PI. He and Velda are planning their nuptials, and Captain of Homicide Pat Chambers is nearing retirement. Then an assassin’s bullet almost brings Mike down on his office doorstep. Could the attempted hit have anything to do with the impending release of a serial killer put away by Mike and Pat? There’s also the small matter of the $89 billion in Mafia money stashed in a cave, in a location known only to Hammer. With everyone from wiseguys to the US Government on his tail, Mike must prove that he is just as sharp, and deadly, as ever.
It should be a mellow time for America’s toughest PI. He and Velda are planning their nuptials, and Captain of Homicide Pat Chambers is nearing retirement. Then an assassin’s bullet almost brings Mike down on his office doorstep. Could the attempted hit have anything to do with the impending release of a serial killer put away by Mike and Pat? There’s also the small matter of the $89 billion in Mafia money stashed in a cave, in a location known only to Hammer. With everyone from wiseguys to the US Government on his tail, Mike must prove that he is just as sharp, and deadly, as ever.
1 pages, MP3 CD
First published May 6, 2014
69 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
Mickey Spillane
316 books447 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 19, 2014
Mickey Spillane has the most interesting biography. He lived to age 88 dying in Murrells Inlet, SC.
As a Jehovah Witness, on weekends he would knock on doors in the area he lived to hand our literature for his church.
He was quite talented, writing beginning in 1947. He's considered one of the early writers who contributed much towards the pulp/hard-boiled genre.
His most famous character is Mike Hammer, P. I., whose name I'm sure you know. Mickey even played Hammer in a Mike Hammer movie.
Mickey's friend Max Allen Collins who is also a mystery writer, is his literary executor of his will and this book was published recently from notes and transcripts Spillane left at his house.
I love this talented writer who was quite a fellow. It seems he has no web page but here's his bio on Wiki: Wiki Bio of MSpillane
Read some early MS books, they're proof of his induction as Grand Master presented by the Mystery Writers of America...a top honor for mystery writers.
This Mickey Spillane, the writer, is not, please, to be confused with the mobster with the same name.
As a Jehovah Witness, on weekends he would knock on doors in the area he lived to hand our literature for his church.
He was quite talented, writing beginning in 1947. He's considered one of the early writers who contributed much towards the pulp/hard-boiled genre.
His most famous character is Mike Hammer, P. I., whose name I'm sure you know. Mickey even played Hammer in a Mike Hammer movie.
Mickey's friend Max Allen Collins who is also a mystery writer, is his literary executor of his will and this book was published recently from notes and transcripts Spillane left at his house.
I love this talented writer who was quite a fellow. It seems he has no web page but here's his bio on Wiki: Wiki Bio of MSpillane
Read some early MS books, they're proof of his induction as Grand Master presented by the Mystery Writers of America...a top honor for mystery writers.
This Mickey Spillane, the writer, is not, please, to be confused with the mobster with the same name.
November 9, 2017
Ageing Mike Hammer, more mellow but every bit as deadly survives an early assassination attempt on his life in the opening pages of King of the Weeds, a posthumously published Spillane book (and co-written by Max Allan Collins) which is the intended direct sequel to Black Alley (published 1996).
The ties to Black Alley are evident but the authors do a great job in bringing the reader up to speed, however, I recommend reading Black Alley then King of the Weeds as there is a heap of good Hammer stuff mentioned/alluded to from the preceding volume - I didn't read Black Alley first but wish I had (fortunately I own a nice h/cover and have bumped Black Alley up the tbr pile). That said, King of the Weeds stands up fine in its own right as a self contained Hammer story.
There are a few plot elements running parallel to one another here; the reason behind the assassination attempt and Hammers quest to find out who hired the hit, the case of a man seemingly wrongly convicted of multiple murders decades ago who has spent the better part of this life in jail, soon to be released following a death bed confession out of the blue, and lastly the hidden wealth of the mafia amounting to some 89 billion dollars - of which only Hammer and Velda know the location.
This book as a lot going on, which in typical Hammer fashion, all eventually forge together in a hail of bullets.
My rating: 3.5/5 - I like the way Hammer is portrayed here; he's still as dangerous as ever but age is creeping up on him, he's a step behind his former self and that is integrated into the story in a clever way.
The ties to Black Alley are evident but the authors do a great job in bringing the reader up to speed, however, I recommend reading Black Alley then King of the Weeds as there is a heap of good Hammer stuff mentioned/alluded to from the preceding volume - I didn't read Black Alley first but wish I had (fortunately I own a nice h/cover and have bumped Black Alley up the tbr pile). That said, King of the Weeds stands up fine in its own right as a self contained Hammer story.
There are a few plot elements running parallel to one another here; the reason behind the assassination attempt and Hammers quest to find out who hired the hit, the case of a man seemingly wrongly convicted of multiple murders decades ago who has spent the better part of this life in jail, soon to be released following a death bed confession out of the blue, and lastly the hidden wealth of the mafia amounting to some 89 billion dollars - of which only Hammer and Velda know the location.
This book as a lot going on, which in typical Hammer fashion, all eventually forge together in a hail of bullets.
My rating: 3.5/5 - I like the way Hammer is portrayed here; he's still as dangerous as ever but age is creeping up on him, he's a step behind his former self and that is integrated into the story in a clever way.
July 21, 2017
2014’s King of The Weeds is an excellent entry in the Hammer series and I highly recommend it. In it, Hammer, who is a New York City private eye in the requisite trenchcoat and always packing his ancient .45, is in his latter years. He is in his sixties now, having been pals with Police Captain Pat Chambers for forty years and having been engaged to the knockout Velda, also his secretary, for decades, one of the truly greatest romances in paperback history. Hammer believes in justice. He believes in right and wrong, but he doesn’t always wait for the law and the press to sort it out. He is quick with his gun and often singlehandedly takes on bad guys and the mob.
There are two interconnected stories winding their way through this novel. In one, someone just confessed to being a serial killer and the man who Pat Chambers put away forty years ago, making his career, is being released and the wrongful imprisonment lawsuit that is coming threatens to destroy Chambers’ legacy and reputation. In the other story, which at first seems a little far-fetched, but actually works here, it seems that all the dons of the five families were nervous about the new generation coming up so they took their vast fortunes and hid it in paper form (meaning boxes and boxes of bills), adding up to $89 billion. Dooley, who was a war buddy of Hammer and Chambers, worked as a gardener for the last of the dons and hid the cash in a mountain in the Adirondacks, but tricked the don and hid it someplace the don wasn’t looking. Like the old-time pirates who buried treasure in the carribean, the mafia underbosses tommy-gunned all the men who hid the money in the mountain, leaving their corpses to rot there. Dooley, who is the only one left who knows the secret location, dies in a mob shootout and Hammer is the last to talk to him. The result being that there are elements of the mob and the Treasury Department who believe Hammer knows the secret.
With these two stories proceeding (even if one of them is a little bit hokey), the book is written so well that it just reels the reader in, beginning with a gunfight in just the first few pages that leaves Hammer with two gunshots to his chest: “Both shots pounded into my chest right at the heart region and I hit the carpet with my breath hissing through my teeth as the killer got on the elevator, his back to me, and the door snicked shut.” There, reader be forewarned, Hammer novels are not cozy mysteries, they are renowned for violence, often coming from Hammer’s own hands, but not always.
Even though Hammer and Velda have been dating for decades, she is still described in terms that make her the ultimate ageless beauty: “This was a woman, a beautiful woman, who could make men decades her junior stop and stare.” She was “statuesque, raven-haired, with a shoulder-brushing page boy that thumbed its nose at changing fashion, and a body that made a silk beige blouse and brown knee- length skirt seem provocative.” But, she is no fashion model. Originally, his secretary, she is just as deadly a private eye as Hammer is, but there is no mistaking the affection between them even as they get their monthly AARP newsletters. She is often portrayed as sitting on his lap and he calls her “Doll” or “Kitten.”
Here, Hammer is an old, battle-scarred warrior with a reputation for violence that precedes him. He is a bit slower on the draw and in constant pain from old wounds. It is a great portrayal of a timeless character.
This book may be among the best of the new Hammer novels and is well worth a read.
There are two interconnected stories winding their way through this novel. In one, someone just confessed to being a serial killer and the man who Pat Chambers put away forty years ago, making his career, is being released and the wrongful imprisonment lawsuit that is coming threatens to destroy Chambers’ legacy and reputation. In the other story, which at first seems a little far-fetched, but actually works here, it seems that all the dons of the five families were nervous about the new generation coming up so they took their vast fortunes and hid it in paper form (meaning boxes and boxes of bills), adding up to $89 billion. Dooley, who was a war buddy of Hammer and Chambers, worked as a gardener for the last of the dons and hid the cash in a mountain in the Adirondacks, but tricked the don and hid it someplace the don wasn’t looking. Like the old-time pirates who buried treasure in the carribean, the mafia underbosses tommy-gunned all the men who hid the money in the mountain, leaving their corpses to rot there. Dooley, who is the only one left who knows the secret location, dies in a mob shootout and Hammer is the last to talk to him. The result being that there are elements of the mob and the Treasury Department who believe Hammer knows the secret.
With these two stories proceeding (even if one of them is a little bit hokey), the book is written so well that it just reels the reader in, beginning with a gunfight in just the first few pages that leaves Hammer with two gunshots to his chest: “Both shots pounded into my chest right at the heart region and I hit the carpet with my breath hissing through my teeth as the killer got on the elevator, his back to me, and the door snicked shut.” There, reader be forewarned, Hammer novels are not cozy mysteries, they are renowned for violence, often coming from Hammer’s own hands, but not always.
Even though Hammer and Velda have been dating for decades, she is still described in terms that make her the ultimate ageless beauty: “This was a woman, a beautiful woman, who could make men decades her junior stop and stare.” She was “statuesque, raven-haired, with a shoulder-brushing page boy that thumbed its nose at changing fashion, and a body that made a silk beige blouse and brown knee- length skirt seem provocative.” But, she is no fashion model. Originally, his secretary, she is just as deadly a private eye as Hammer is, but there is no mistaking the affection between them even as they get their monthly AARP newsletters. She is often portrayed as sitting on his lap and he calls her “Doll” or “Kitten.”
Here, Hammer is an old, battle-scarred warrior with a reputation for violence that precedes him. He is a bit slower on the draw and in constant pain from old wounds. It is a great portrayal of a timeless character.
This book may be among the best of the new Hammer novels and is well worth a read.
February 15, 2017
What do you do when you lose a step to age and a lifetime of bullets, booze and broads? If you're Mike Hammer, you get smarter, craftier and tap old friends that even the government doesn't want to admit exist.
Spillane and Collins give us a man who feels every ache and pain over the last forty years and 18 novels but comes out on top anyway. Mike is still the ultimate hard-case, outshooting assassins and beating down guys half his age.
The final fate of the money just might make you cry, but it's the Hammer way, so you suck it up and deal with it. The final fate of Rudy Olaf though will make you smile.
Read it!
Spillane and Collins give us a man who feels every ache and pain over the last forty years and 18 novels but comes out on top anyway. Mike is still the ultimate hard-case, outshooting assassins and beating down guys half his age.
The final fate of the money just might make you cry, but it's the Hammer way, so you suck it up and deal with it. The final fate of Rudy Olaf though will make you smile.
Read it!
May 11, 2015
This is a good story with some interesting twists and dynamic action scenes. Although Collins is trying to capture the old Hammer attitudes, at this late date I was annoyed by his relationship with the "dame" Velda. But I did appreciate, very much, the fact that Hammer was feeling his age. A man in his sixties cannot be the same physical force as a man in his thirties or forties. I should acknowledge, though, that even now Hammer still has more deadly skills than most of the bad guys.
December 24, 2017
At this point, it seems that Mr. Collins is poised to produce more novels featuring Mike Hammer than Mr. Spillane ever did in his lifetime. I am really beginning to wonder for whom is this series written. As a longtime reader of Spillane, Mr. Collins does capture the feel and tone of the old novels, but stylistically Spillane and Collins are quite different (the former preferring longer sentences, denser paragraphs oddly enough).
This particular outing feels like an epilogue to an epilogue, a post-credit scene, as the story is set after Black Alley, the last Mike Hammer novel fully written by Mickey Spillane. It's fairly standard after that, but one cannot escape a sense of pervasive fatigue and melancholy. This really does feel like an ending prematurely written for a series that Mr. Collins will never cease to produce.
Much appreciated are Collins' attempts at giving Mike Hammer something of a consistent timeline, but it does feel like a subtle or insidious hijacking.
This particular outing feels like an epilogue to an epilogue, a post-credit scene, as the story is set after Black Alley, the last Mike Hammer novel fully written by Mickey Spillane. It's fairly standard after that, but one cannot escape a sense of pervasive fatigue and melancholy. This really does feel like an ending prematurely written for a series that Mr. Collins will never cease to produce.
Much appreciated are Collins' attempts at giving Mike Hammer something of a consistent timeline, but it does feel like a subtle or insidious hijacking.
November 15, 2022
Rating between 3.5 & 4
A sequel to the Black Alley novel written by MS , longer ago than I really want to think about.
Despite MH ageing and beginning to seriously consider retiring with Velda to somewhere outside of New York, he finds he is still a target for various individuals, lawful and not, especially since they are all looking for the large stash of money he found in the previous novel.
Linked to that is the imminent release of a killer from 40 years previous who has a serious beef with the police, and pat chambers in particular.
Both threads run together as you’d expect and end in a Mike Hammer finale.
I did enjoy this novel, it is quite a while since I read any MS novels but the voices of the main characters all sounded right to me. The story ran along quickly and didn’t out stay its welcome.
A definite recommendation for readers looking for more Mike Hammer stories
A sequel to the Black Alley novel written by MS , longer ago than I really want to think about.
Despite MH ageing and beginning to seriously consider retiring with Velda to somewhere outside of New York, he finds he is still a target for various individuals, lawful and not, especially since they are all looking for the large stash of money he found in the previous novel.
Linked to that is the imminent release of a killer from 40 years previous who has a serious beef with the police, and pat chambers in particular.
Both threads run together as you’d expect and end in a Mike Hammer finale.
I did enjoy this novel, it is quite a while since I read any MS novels but the voices of the main characters all sounded right to me. The story ran along quickly and didn’t out stay its welcome.
A definite recommendation for readers looking for more Mike Hammer stories
January 4, 2022
It isn't the best of the Mike Hammer novels, but it is still a fun read. The opening chapter reminded me a lot of another Spillane/Collins collaboration (Murder Never Knocks), but as I progressed through the book, I noticed the differences. Still, there are similarities between the two books and M.N.K. is definitely the better of the two.
It is still an essential part of the Hammer franchise, so don't pass it up.
It is still an essential part of the Hammer franchise, so don't pass it up.
April 20, 2018
I listened to the audio, and the best part was hearing Stacy Keach.
This book contains 3 mysteries / plots. One is grisly and plausible, one is implausible and only slightly resolved, and one is totally absurd and receives the most book time.
The book was okay, but would have been much better if it focused on one story and told it well.
This book contains 3 mysteries / plots. One is grisly and plausible, one is implausible and only slightly resolved, and one is totally absurd and receives the most book time.
The book was okay, but would have been much better if it focused on one story and told it well.
January 24, 2021
A sequel to the last Spillane solo Mike Hammer book Black Alley. It does tie up some loose ends from that book. It does feature an older, if not wiser, Hammer.
May 27, 2021
Great story, good plot development, keeps you guessing, enjoyed the audibook
January 2, 2022
Not one of the strongest of the works. I think I have now read them all in the last 2 years, surprisingly.
May 9, 2022
Mike does it again
It's almost like Spillane wrote the entire book. Nothing is lost. Hammer is just as badass as always. Need two more words.
It's almost like Spillane wrote the entire book. Nothing is lost. Hammer is just as badass as always. Need two more words.
October 21, 2022
4/5
What was supposed to be the last Mike Hammer turned out to be a gem. Really enjoyed this one. M.A.C is really good at finishing up these.
What was supposed to be the last Mike Hammer turned out to be a gem. Really enjoyed this one. M.A.C is really good at finishing up these.
Read
December 13, 2022Another novel about the disappeared billions. An entertaining read.
January 23, 2025
Even as he ages, Spillane's Mike Hammer does not disappoint. One of the unfinished stories that was finished by Max Allan Collins.
May 5, 2022
Like Discovering Spillane All Over
I haven’t read a Spillane novel for a couple of decades and wondered if a collaboration with Collins would be up to snuff. It was! Great descriptive prose that flows seamlessly around the story. Great read.
I haven’t read a Spillane novel for a couple of decades and wondered if a collaboration with Collins would be up to snuff. It was! Great descriptive prose that flows seamlessly around the story. Great read.
August 5, 2016
The walls are closing in around Mike Hammer and Velda as vicious thugs and corrupt government officials attempt to shake him down to learn the whereabouts of some $89 billion hidden during one of his more infamous cases. Meanwhile, Hammer’s best friend Captain Pat Chambers has problems of his own; a charge of wrongful arrest of a man he and Hammer brought down over four decades prior. It is a mistake that could cost Chambers his career as well as his respect, and plunges Hammer head-first into not one but several seemingly unrelated cases, while the manipulative “King of the Weeds” enjoys every moment of it…
Originally intended as the last Mike Hammer novel by Mickey Spillane, this story was placed on hold in favor of the more topical, and more fitting, finale THE GOLIATH BONE. He was never able to complete either story before his death in 2006, and it fell to his partner in crime, Max Allan Collins, to grab the writing reins of these and other unfinished Hammer manuscripts. KING OF THE WEEDS has the added dimension of being a follow-up of sorts to BLACK ALLEY, the final Hammer story Spillane completed in his lifetime. This makes it one of the entries that seem less episodic and more a part of an overall tapestry of stories, but at the same time it’s self-contained to an extent where it’s not necessary to be a Mike Hammer completist to understand everything that’s going on.
What makes KING OF THE WEEDS truly stand out is its multi-level plotting. Here we have a Mike Hammer who is roughly in his 60s-70s (give or take), coming to terms with his own mortality yet still able to hold his own against adversaries on both sides of the law, as well as piece together such disparate elements as cop killings, extortion, defamation of character, homophobia, and of course the greed and obsession that comes with the search for legendary lost loot. Spillane, and later Collins, expertly brings everything together in a masterfully crafted way. The feel of the book is less like a street brawl, and more like a chess match; all the pieces are in place, and each move uncovers more of the connection and determines how the outcome will play out.
Pitting Mike Hammer against a higher-caliber criminal and engaging the reader in a game of guile and misdirection, KING OF THE WEEDS is one of the most daring and intelligent tales of Spillane’s iconic private eye. Keep them coming, Mr. Collins!
Originally intended as the last Mike Hammer novel by Mickey Spillane, this story was placed on hold in favor of the more topical, and more fitting, finale THE GOLIATH BONE. He was never able to complete either story before his death in 2006, and it fell to his partner in crime, Max Allan Collins, to grab the writing reins of these and other unfinished Hammer manuscripts. KING OF THE WEEDS has the added dimension of being a follow-up of sorts to BLACK ALLEY, the final Hammer story Spillane completed in his lifetime. This makes it one of the entries that seem less episodic and more a part of an overall tapestry of stories, but at the same time it’s self-contained to an extent where it’s not necessary to be a Mike Hammer completist to understand everything that’s going on.
What makes KING OF THE WEEDS truly stand out is its multi-level plotting. Here we have a Mike Hammer who is roughly in his 60s-70s (give or take), coming to terms with his own mortality yet still able to hold his own against adversaries on both sides of the law, as well as piece together such disparate elements as cop killings, extortion, defamation of character, homophobia, and of course the greed and obsession that comes with the search for legendary lost loot. Spillane, and later Collins, expertly brings everything together in a masterfully crafted way. The feel of the book is less like a street brawl, and more like a chess match; all the pieces are in place, and each move uncovers more of the connection and determines how the outcome will play out.
Pitting Mike Hammer against a higher-caliber criminal and engaging the reader in a game of guile and misdirection, KING OF THE WEEDS is one of the most daring and intelligent tales of Spillane’s iconic private eye. Keep them coming, Mr. Collins!
April 24, 2014
Mike Hammer is in his mid-sixties and still tough as ever, albeit a bit slower. So when the hit man came at him, his reaction was not quite up to old standards. Still good enough for two shots in the chest and not one in the back of his head.If not for the thick paperback dictionary Mike had picked up for Velda, it would have been enough. It left his chest heavily bruised though.
Someone wanted Mike Hammer dead. Who? Both the Mafia and the government wanted him alive because they believed he knew the location of eighty-nine billion in cash and securities the old Dons had hidden away against their younger, better educated brethren. NoOne was positive about it though.
The hoard had been hijacked by the man the Dons had paid to hide it, a man who was an old war buddy of Mike and Pat Chambers. Mike had come at invitation and was there for the man's last words.
At the same time, a forty year old case was coming back to haunt Mike and Pat. A serial killer they'd captured was apparently innocent, the real killer confessing as he was already dying of cancer. A huge lawsuit was in the offing. Throw in a rash of cops dying of various reasons to close together and the two men were suspicious.
This makes the sixth Hammer novel Mr. Collins has completed from extensive fragments and notes left by the late author. They just keep getting better. Collins melds his own style perfetly and produces some great fiction here.
Someone wanted Mike Hammer dead. Who? Both the Mafia and the government wanted him alive because they believed he knew the location of eighty-nine billion in cash and securities the old Dons had hidden away against their younger, better educated brethren. NoOne was positive about it though.
The hoard had been hijacked by the man the Dons had paid to hide it, a man who was an old war buddy of Mike and Pat Chambers. Mike had come at invitation and was there for the man's last words.
At the same time, a forty year old case was coming back to haunt Mike and Pat. A serial killer they'd captured was apparently innocent, the real killer confessing as he was already dying of cancer. A huge lawsuit was in the offing. Throw in a rash of cops dying of various reasons to close together and the two men were suspicious.
This makes the sixth Hammer novel Mr. Collins has completed from extensive fragments and notes left by the late author. They just keep getting better. Collins melds his own style perfetly and produces some great fiction here.
September 14, 2014
#19 in the Mike Hammer series, #6 co-written by Max Allan Collins. The back cover of the book calls this 'the penultimate Mike Hammer' and I've read Collins as saying that on his death in 2006, Mickey Spillane left enough manuscript fragments, detailed outlines, and notes to allow him to finish a book each year through 2015. This encompasses a span of 68 years since Spillane's first published novel I, the Jury (1947). The action takes place in the NYC streets of the mid-nineties and fits into the Hammer universe after Black Alley (1996). Part of the plot depends on Pat Chambers' career being in jeopardy if the subject of his first arrest (based on a wanted bulletin) turns out to be innocent - a far fetched plot device but not crucial to the story. Also, 10% of $89 billion, rounded up is not $1 billion. Engrossing tale for Mike Hammer fans, hard-boiled detective fans or noir fans.
Mike Hammer series - Hammer finds himself up against a clever serial killer targeting only cops. A killer his old friend Captain Pat Chambers had put away many years ago is suddenly freed on new, seemingly indisputable evidence, and Hammer wonders if this seemingly placid, very odd old man might somehow be engineering cop killings that all seem to be either accidental or by natural causes. At the same time Hammer and Velda are dealing with the fallout – some of it mob, some of it federal government – over the $89 billion dollar cache the detective is (rightly) suspected of finding not long ago
Mike Hammer series - Hammer finds himself up against a clever serial killer targeting only cops. A killer his old friend Captain Pat Chambers had put away many years ago is suddenly freed on new, seemingly indisputable evidence, and Hammer wonders if this seemingly placid, very odd old man might somehow be engineering cop killings that all seem to be either accidental or by natural causes. At the same time Hammer and Velda are dealing with the fallout – some of it mob, some of it federal government – over the $89 billion dollar cache the detective is (rightly) suspected of finding not long ago
April 16, 2015
Nicely done Spillane/Collins combo
I might have said this about another of the "further adventures" of Mike Hammer, but this is very likely the best yet of the Spillane/Collins combinations. I am not sure (but would certainly like to know) how much of this was Spillane's work, but the transition from one author to another is seamless.
This is very much the (slightly) more mellow but still tough Mike Hammer that Mickey had developed in "The Killing Man" and "Black Alley," the latter of which was a personal rumination on ageing and death in the guise of a herd-boiled private eye novel. This is a direct sequel to "Black Alley," with a cast of characters still angling for the big payday discovered at the end of the previous novel. It also makes for a pretty good stand-alone thriller.
I have had great respect for (and minor quibbles with) the Max Allen Collins Mike Hammer novels. This novel tops them all (and there is some very tough competition, particularly with The Big Bang and Lady, Go Die, which are also at the top of my list.)
I recommend this, even if you are unfamiliar with Mike Hammer - a near impossibility- or have not read Collins's other Hammers.
I might have said this about another of the "further adventures" of Mike Hammer, but this is very likely the best yet of the Spillane/Collins combinations. I am not sure (but would certainly like to know) how much of this was Spillane's work, but the transition from one author to another is seamless.
This is very much the (slightly) more mellow but still tough Mike Hammer that Mickey had developed in "The Killing Man" and "Black Alley," the latter of which was a personal rumination on ageing and death in the guise of a herd-boiled private eye novel. This is a direct sequel to "Black Alley," with a cast of characters still angling for the big payday discovered at the end of the previous novel. It also makes for a pretty good stand-alone thriller.
I have had great respect for (and minor quibbles with) the Max Allen Collins Mike Hammer novels. This novel tops them all (and there is some very tough competition, particularly with The Big Bang and Lady, Go Die, which are also at the top of my list.)
I recommend this, even if you are unfamiliar with Mike Hammer - a near impossibility- or have not read Collins's other Hammers.
May 7, 2014
As detective fiction goes, this is tops. Oh, sure, Mike Hammer has more dumb luck than a cat at a milk spill, but it's a super fun read. Hammer is in his 60s now, but he's still got it. And he's still got Velda, his beautiful secretary -- and partner, and fiance -- who is aging quite nicely herself.
Author Max Allan Collins knew Spillane, and he was fortunate enough to be granted the rights to explore Spillane's notes and carry on the Hammer series. Well, he's a fine choice, because the voice is near perfect. In this story, there seems to be an extraordinary number of NYC cops dying, but is it coincidence? Hammer doesn't think so, and he wants to find out who's behind the deaths. But he's got his own worries, since someone seems to want him dead. Maybe more than one someone. Well, it may have something to do with 89 BILLION dollars of hidden mob money. Apparently Hammer is the only one who knows where it is, now that the last of the mob guys in on the secret has passed away. Great shootouts, chase scenes and, best of all, killer ending.
Author Max Allan Collins knew Spillane, and he was fortunate enough to be granted the rights to explore Spillane's notes and carry on the Hammer series. Well, he's a fine choice, because the voice is near perfect. In this story, there seems to be an extraordinary number of NYC cops dying, but is it coincidence? Hammer doesn't think so, and he wants to find out who's behind the deaths. But he's got his own worries, since someone seems to want him dead. Maybe more than one someone. Well, it may have something to do with 89 BILLION dollars of hidden mob money. Apparently Hammer is the only one who knows where it is, now that the last of the mob guys in on the secret has passed away. Great shootouts, chase scenes and, best of all, killer ending.
October 5, 2015
Another Mike Hammer novel started by Spillane and completed by Max Allen Collins. Apparently this was going to be the last Mike hammer novel but Spillane sidelined it after 9/11 to write The Goliath Bone. As it turned out he never got to finish it.
Probably the best Spillane/Collins collaboration since 'Lady Go Die' as the style was very Spillane like all the way through. There were no parts where I could tell that it was Collins's work. Spillane aged Hammer well and in this book he is on his 60's and thinking about retirement and settling down. Criminals that were put away 40 years ago eventually get parole and that's where this story goes. The only negative I could find was that the amount of money being talked about was probably a bit unrealistic.
A good quick read in book form. As with all the later Hammer books, Stacy Keach reprises his role by narrating the audio book. Well worth listening too.
Probably the best Spillane/Collins collaboration since 'Lady Go Die' as the style was very Spillane like all the way through. There were no parts where I could tell that it was Collins's work. Spillane aged Hammer well and in this book he is on his 60's and thinking about retirement and settling down. Criminals that were put away 40 years ago eventually get parole and that's where this story goes. The only negative I could find was that the amount of money being talked about was probably a bit unrealistic.
A good quick read in book form. As with all the later Hammer books, Stacy Keach reprises his role by narrating the audio book. Well worth listening too.
November 26, 2014
I have to say that this book brought back a lot of memories. I
was reading Mickey Spillane books in high school.I would take a
copy of one of Mike Hammers books to the school library and make
like I was doing my homework. The nuns would have chased me down
the street with a paddle if I was caught. Capital punishment was
allowed back then. This book is number 19 in the Mike Hammer series
and before he died in 2006 Mr Spillane told his wife that there
were a few unfinished manuscripts around the house and to give them
to his friend Max Allan Collins who would finish them. This is one of
them and he writes very similar to Mr Spillane. The same characters
are there, Mike with his trusty 45, Captain Pat Chambers and Mike's
secretary Velda. I believe that there are two more coming out in 2015
I hope all of the old Mike Hammer fans will be there I know that I
will be.
was reading Mickey Spillane books in high school.I would take a
copy of one of Mike Hammers books to the school library and make
like I was doing my homework. The nuns would have chased me down
the street with a paddle if I was caught. Capital punishment was
allowed back then. This book is number 19 in the Mike Hammer series
and before he died in 2006 Mr Spillane told his wife that there
were a few unfinished manuscripts around the house and to give them
to his friend Max Allan Collins who would finish them. This is one of
them and he writes very similar to Mr Spillane. The same characters
are there, Mike with his trusty 45, Captain Pat Chambers and Mike's
secretary Velda. I believe that there are two more coming out in 2015
I hope all of the old Mike Hammer fans will be there I know that I
will be.
May 1, 2017
This was an unexpected treat. Max Allan Collins is a favorite of mine - even his graphic novels have been a pleasure to these old eyes, but I have avoided reading his completion of unfinished Mickey Spillane novels because I didn't want to be disappointed. This third of the novels 'starring' Mike Hammer was a joy to read. Collins doesn't try to imitate Spillane's work, he takes the character and adds a little age and a settling into life and thereby creates an older, more mature Hammer that I find completely acceptable. I will find Lady Go Die! and Complex 90 now, and read them in order....
December 24, 2015
This posthumous collaboration of Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins is a sequel to Spillane's last Hammer novel, Black Alley. I've always thought that Black Alley was not really one of the strongest books in the series. This sequel is better, with a harder edge.
There's a fortune in them thar hills, and Mike Hammer knows where it is. A hitman tries to take him out, and Mike starts to investigate. There are links to one of Pat Chambers's early cases, the pinch that started his meteoric rise. Chambers is about to retire, and this poison pill could ruin his legacy. Mike takes care of things the way only he can.
Pretty good, with a great twist ending.
There's a fortune in them thar hills, and Mike Hammer knows where it is. A hitman tries to take him out, and Mike starts to investigate. There are links to one of Pat Chambers's early cases, the pinch that started his meteoric rise. Chambers is about to retire, and this poison pill could ruin his legacy. Mike takes care of things the way only he can.
Pretty good, with a great twist ending.
November 13, 2015
The problem I had with both this one and "Black Alley" is that I just didn't care about the big fat MacGuffin around which both are centered. Both are otherwise quite enjoyable, so I don't even mean to complain, but it was a distraction for me. I think I enjoyed this one a bit more, although I wasn't sure I felt the continuity on the recurring character in both, the son of the old Army buddy of Hammer whose death precipitated the events of "Black Alley", felt right when reading them together.
November 30, 2014
The King of Weeds, as with all recent Mike Hammer stories, reads like Mickey Spillane lite. The characters are there, going through their motions and talking the talk, but the energy and edginess found in earlier Spillane stories is lacking. The tale is good and entertaining, but wraps up too quickly and with what seems to be a staged ending. But it is a decent read.
May 27, 2014
Great author. Love the genre.
September 12, 2014
My understanding is that this is the last of the Spillane "hidden treasure" manuscripts. Which is a shame as Collins has done such a nice job piecing these together for us to enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews