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Mike Hammer #20
Mike Hammer - Kill Me, Darling
Mike Hammer’s partner Velda has walked out on him, and Mike is just surfacing from a four-month bender. But then Pat Chambers reveals that Velda is in Florida, the moll of gangster and drug runner Nolly Quinn. Hammer hits the road and drives to Miami. But can he find Velda in time? And what is the connection between a murdered vice cop in Manhattan, and Velda turning gun moll?
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 24, 2015
78 people are currently reading
228 people want to read
About the author
Mickey Spillane
314 books445 followersMickey Spillane was one of the world's most popular mystery writers. His specialty was tight-fisted, sadistic revenge stories, often featuring his alcoholic gumshoe Mike Hammer and a cast of evildoers who launder money or spout the Communist Party line.
His writing style was characterized by short words, lightning transitions, gruff sex and violent endings. It was once tallied that he offed 58 people in six novels.
Starting with "I, the Jury," in 1947, Mr. Spillane sold hundreds of millions of books during his lifetime and garnered consistently scathing reviews. Even his father, a Brooklyn bartender, called them "crud."
Mr. Spillane was a struggling comic book publisher when he wrote "I, the Jury." He initially envisioned it as a comic book called "Mike Danger," and when that did not go over, he took a week to reconfigure it as a novel.
Even the editor in chief of E.P. Dutton and Co., Mr. Spillane's publisher, was skeptical of the book's literary merit but conceded it would probably be a smash with postwar readers looking for ready action. He was right. The book, in which Hammer pursues a murderous narcotics ring led by a curvaceous female psychiatrist, went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
Mr. Spillane spun out six novels in the next five years, among them "My Gun Is Quick," "The Big Kill," "One Lonely Night" and "Kiss Me, Deadly." Most concerned Hammer, his faithful sidekick, Velda, and the police homicide captain Pat Chambers, who acknowledges that Hammer's style of vigilante justice is often better suited than the law to dispatching criminals.
Mr. Spillane's success rankled other critics, who sometimes became very personal in their reviews. Malcolm Cowley called Mr. Spillane "a homicidal paranoiac," going on to note what he called his misogyny and vigilante tendencies.
His books were translated into many languages, and he proved so popular as a writer that he was able to transfer his thick-necked, barrel-chested personality across many media. With the charisma of a redwood, he played Hammer in "The Girl Hunters," a 1963 film adaptation of his novel.
Spillane also scripted several television shows and films and played a detective in the 1954 suspense film "Ring of Fear," set at a Clyde Beatty circus. He rewrote much of the film, too, refusing payment. In gratitude, the producer, John Wayne, surprised him one morning with a white Jaguar sportster wrapped in a red ribbon. The card read, "Thanks, Duke."
Done initially on a dare from his publisher, Mr. Spillane wrote a children's book, "The Day the Sea Rolled Back" (1979), about two boys who find a shipwreck loaded with treasure. This won a Junior Literary Guild award.
He also wrote another children's novel, "The Ship That Never Was," and then wrote his first Mike Hammer mystery in 20 years with "The Killing Man" (1989). "Black Alley" followed in 1996. In the last, a rapidly aging Hammer comes out of a gunshot-induced coma, then tracks down a friend's murderer and billions in mob loot. For the first time, he also confesses his love for Velda but, because of doctor's orders, cannot consummate the relationship.
Late in life, he received a career achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America and was named a grand master by the Mystery Writers of America.
In his private life, he neither smoked nor drank and was a house-to-house missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses. He expressed at times great disdain for what he saw as corrosive forces in American life, from antiwar protesters to the United Nations.
His marriages to Mary Ann Pearce and Sherri Malinou ended in divorce. His second wife, a model, posed nude for the dust jacket of his 1972 novel "The Erection Set."
Survivors include his third wife, Jane Rodgers Johnson, a former beauty queen 30 years his junior; and four children from the first marriage.
He also carried on a long epistolary flirtation with Ayn Rand, an admirer of his writing.
His writing style was characterized by short words, lightning transitions, gruff sex and violent endings. It was once tallied that he offed 58 people in six novels.
Starting with "I, the Jury," in 1947, Mr. Spillane sold hundreds of millions of books during his lifetime and garnered consistently scathing reviews. Even his father, a Brooklyn bartender, called them "crud."
Mr. Spillane was a struggling comic book publisher when he wrote "I, the Jury." He initially envisioned it as a comic book called "Mike Danger," and when that did not go over, he took a week to reconfigure it as a novel.
Even the editor in chief of E.P. Dutton and Co., Mr. Spillane's publisher, was skeptical of the book's literary merit but conceded it would probably be a smash with postwar readers looking for ready action. He was right. The book, in which Hammer pursues a murderous narcotics ring led by a curvaceous female psychiatrist, went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
Mr. Spillane spun out six novels in the next five years, among them "My Gun Is Quick," "The Big Kill," "One Lonely Night" and "Kiss Me, Deadly." Most concerned Hammer, his faithful sidekick, Velda, and the police homicide captain Pat Chambers, who acknowledges that Hammer's style of vigilante justice is often better suited than the law to dispatching criminals.
Mr. Spillane's success rankled other critics, who sometimes became very personal in their reviews. Malcolm Cowley called Mr. Spillane "a homicidal paranoiac," going on to note what he called his misogyny and vigilante tendencies.
His books were translated into many languages, and he proved so popular as a writer that he was able to transfer his thick-necked, barrel-chested personality across many media. With the charisma of a redwood, he played Hammer in "The Girl Hunters," a 1963 film adaptation of his novel.
Spillane also scripted several television shows and films and played a detective in the 1954 suspense film "Ring of Fear," set at a Clyde Beatty circus. He rewrote much of the film, too, refusing payment. In gratitude, the producer, John Wayne, surprised him one morning with a white Jaguar sportster wrapped in a red ribbon. The card read, "Thanks, Duke."
Done initially on a dare from his publisher, Mr. Spillane wrote a children's book, "The Day the Sea Rolled Back" (1979), about two boys who find a shipwreck loaded with treasure. This won a Junior Literary Guild award.
He also wrote another children's novel, "The Ship That Never Was," and then wrote his first Mike Hammer mystery in 20 years with "The Killing Man" (1989). "Black Alley" followed in 1996. In the last, a rapidly aging Hammer comes out of a gunshot-induced coma, then tracks down a friend's murderer and billions in mob loot. For the first time, he also confesses his love for Velda but, because of doctor's orders, cannot consummate the relationship.
Late in life, he received a career achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America and was named a grand master by the Mystery Writers of America.
In his private life, he neither smoked nor drank and was a house-to-house missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses. He expressed at times great disdain for what he saw as corrosive forces in American life, from antiwar protesters to the United Nations.
His marriages to Mary Ann Pearce and Sherri Malinou ended in divorce. His second wife, a model, posed nude for the dust jacket of his 1972 novel "The Erection Set."
Survivors include his third wife, Jane Rodgers Johnson, a former beauty queen 30 years his junior; and four children from the first marriage.
He also carried on a long epistolary flirtation with Ayn Rand, an admirer of his writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
September 24, 2019
Kill Me, Darling is classic Mike Hammer with a modern twist (thanks to co-author Max Allan Collins). Completed posthumously based on an outline, the twentieth Mike Hammer novel stays true to the source material to give the reader that authentic hardboiled feel.
Replacing the dark and dangerous backstreets and alleyways of New York City for the sun and shine of Florida, one could be forgiven for thinking the lone wolf private eye would be a fish out of water, after all Hammer is best suited to a life in perennial sepia; colours of the rainbow just aren’t his thing. Yet, I found the place setting refreshing and complimentary to the complex criminally focused plot.
There are many facets to a Mike Hammer novel and Kill Me, Darling is no exception; drug runners, undercover cops, murder, mafia power struggles, and body bags a plenty. Despite various plot threads, the story pulls together organically and in true Mike Hammer fashion. As the pages turn, you can hear the spent bullet casings hitting the floor.
Solid from start to finish. 5 stars.
Replacing the dark and dangerous backstreets and alleyways of New York City for the sun and shine of Florida, one could be forgiven for thinking the lone wolf private eye would be a fish out of water, after all Hammer is best suited to a life in perennial sepia; colours of the rainbow just aren’t his thing. Yet, I found the place setting refreshing and complimentary to the complex criminally focused plot.
There are many facets to a Mike Hammer novel and Kill Me, Darling is no exception; drug runners, undercover cops, murder, mafia power struggles, and body bags a plenty. Despite various plot threads, the story pulls together organically and in true Mike Hammer fashion. As the pages turn, you can hear the spent bullet casings hitting the floor.
Solid from start to finish. 5 stars.
February 11, 2020
Mike hammer books are more action/adventure than detective stories. I enjoy that they are written in an older time as I get a peak at society from back then. Good entertaining read. Recommended
April 6, 2017
Collins really surprised me with the ending. Didn't see that twist coming. Very good story and a must read for any Hard-boiled fan. This combination of Spillane starting a story in the long ago, (1954 this time) and Collins finishing the story 60 years later has worked surprisingly well and I hope there are many more partially completed Spillane manuscripts out there waiting for Max Allan Collins to complete. Usually when another writer, no matter how qualified they may be, takes on the task of completing one of his contemporaries books it rarely works out and more often than not it ends up being a complete train wreck. That is not the case with the late Spillane and his friend Max Allan Collins.
But Seriously, you should read this book, it was a nice little vacation for me to 1954 Miami and the weather down there was way better than here in Ohio. Now I will need a couple of days to get used to the realization that my Miami vacation is over and it's back to the same old gray skies and cold weather that hangs around way too long up here in the Midwest, nothing another trip to the library can't fix. I look forward to reading the rest of the Spillan- Collins books.
But Seriously, you should read this book, it was a nice little vacation for me to 1954 Miami and the weather down there was way better than here in Ohio. Now I will need a couple of days to get used to the realization that my Miami vacation is over and it's back to the same old gray skies and cold weather that hangs around way too long up here in the Midwest, nothing another trip to the library can't fix. I look forward to reading the rest of the Spillan- Collins books.
July 21, 2017
Hard-hitting! Action-packed! Pulpy! Awesome! This is the twentieth Mike Hammer novel, the first thirteen published in Spillane's lifetime and the last seven a collaborative effort between Spillane's notes and outlines and Collins' work. This one may be more Collins than Spillane, but, in the end, does it really matter who wrote which chapters? It's a brand new Mike Hammer novel! As long as it has Mike and Velda and Pat in it and as long as Mike doesn't take any nonsense from any two- bit punk, it is a must-read.
This one takes Mike and Velda back to 1954 and the action whisks Mike and the readers all the way to South Florida.
And it is dripping with pulpy goodness right from the first page. Mike's been drinking steadily for four months since Velda left a note and disappeared and now he's just stumbling around in the gutter, looking for someone to pick a fight with.
Velda is his secretary and a part of the greatest love story to ever grace the printed page. Tall, lithe, with black pageboy hair and a body that looked like it just stepped out of a calendar. But, except for a bottle, Mike's all alone. He's tight as a bowstring with his brain "a seething, squirming nasty mess that wouldn't let (him) think." And Velda's gone and with someone else.
This book is as good as it gets. If you've never read Spillane before, this is as good a place to start as any. If you've read everything published since "I, The Jury," you'll eat this up like you haven't had a full meal in a year.
This one takes Mike and Velda back to 1954 and the action whisks Mike and the readers all the way to South Florida.
And it is dripping with pulpy goodness right from the first page. Mike's been drinking steadily for four months since Velda left a note and disappeared and now he's just stumbling around in the gutter, looking for someone to pick a fight with.
Velda is his secretary and a part of the greatest love story to ever grace the printed page. Tall, lithe, with black pageboy hair and a body that looked like it just stepped out of a calendar. But, except for a bottle, Mike's all alone. He's tight as a bowstring with his brain "a seething, squirming nasty mess that wouldn't let (him) think." And Velda's gone and with someone else.
This book is as good as it gets. If you've never read Spillane before, this is as good a place to start as any. If you've read everything published since "I, The Jury," you'll eat this up like you haven't had a full meal in a year.
June 5, 2016
This is the first Mike Hammer novel I have ever read, and I enjoyed it very much. This novel takes place in 1954, and Mr. Hammer has received a handwritten note from his office and private investigator associate (in addition to fiancée) Velda Sterling, telling him goodbye. Hammer goes off on a two week drunk, before he begins to realize that there is more to this than it appears. Apparently, Velda is in Miami with a "lowlife"who is reputed to have ties with organized crime. He also finds out that an old police friend of his has been murdered down by the docks in New York. He learns from his cop friend, Pat, that there may be a connection between the cop's murder and Velda being down in Miami, so Mike goes to Miami in person to investigate. What follows is quite an involved story, and I loved the story that Max Allan Collins came up with that Mickey Spillane originally started. It has everything in it including romance, scandal, chase scenes, and surprises.
I really liked the fact that this story took place in 1954, and Collins had all the correct details of what Miami was like during that time period. I found it a fast, escapist and enjoyable story.
I really liked the fact that this story took place in 1954, and Collins had all the correct details of what Miami was like during that time period. I found it a fast, escapist and enjoyable story.
August 29, 2022
This was a fun read for those that enjoy Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer detective stories.
Max Allan Collins is one of my favorite authors and he doesn't disappoint.
Max Allan Collins is one of my favorite authors and he doesn't disappoint.
April 4, 2015
#20 in the Mike Hammer series (#7 completed by Max Allan Collins after the death of author Mickey Spillane). This novel was completed from a manuscript fragment that was apparently intended to be set in 1954 as a follow-up to Kiss Me Deadly (1952), as it turns out it was an early variant of The Girl Hunters (1962) the first Mike Hammer novel to follow Kiss Me Deadly. It has all the Spillane trademarks, snappy dialogue, violent action and gender challenged villains.
Mike Hammer series - 1954, four months ago, private eye Mike Hammer's partner and girlfriend, Velda, left him without any sort of explanation. Mike leapt feet first into a bender, a four-month drunk; now he's addicted to the booze and uninvolved in the world. His best friend, NYPD captain Pat Chambers, tells Mike he had better get his act together because Velda has turned up in Florida, hanging on the arm of a big-time gangster, and Velda's boss from her undercover-cop days has turned up dead, the victim of a mugging that looks suspiciously like murder. So Mike heads off to the Sunshine State, determined to pull his head out of the bottle and find out why Velda left him and, just maybe, to pull her out of whatever hole she's put herself in and bring her back home.
Mike Hammer series - 1954, four months ago, private eye Mike Hammer's partner and girlfriend, Velda, left him without any sort of explanation. Mike leapt feet first into a bender, a four-month drunk; now he's addicted to the booze and uninvolved in the world. His best friend, NYPD captain Pat Chambers, tells Mike he had better get his act together because Velda has turned up in Florida, hanging on the arm of a big-time gangster, and Velda's boss from her undercover-cop days has turned up dead, the victim of a mugging that looks suspiciously like murder. So Mike heads off to the Sunshine State, determined to pull his head out of the bottle and find out why Velda left him and, just maybe, to pull her out of whatever hole she's put herself in and bring her back home.
February 25, 2025
KILL ME, DARLING is just what you would expect from Max Allen Collins completing a book from notes and outlines left behind by the iconic Mickey Spillane. Yes, Mike Hammer is back, but not the Mike you’ve known from Spillane’s other books. This Hammer is in the gutter. Velda has left him taking the engagement ring with her and leaving Mike with only a few words goodbye and no explanation.
Four months ago he hit the bottle and never looked back, but Mike has friends out there. When Pat Chambers has him brought in it is to tell Mike about Velda’s whereabouts.
Miami.
She’s been seen in the company of a slick mobster named Nolly Quinn.
You know where Hammer is heading and while you will have some idea of what is going to happen, the fun is in the trip and this Cadillac has big 1950’s fins and a cushy ride, although there are plenty of rough spots thrown in to add to the excitement.
Spillane and Collins make a dynamic mix, just the juice you need to get you through a slow weekend.
Four months ago he hit the bottle and never looked back, but Mike has friends out there. When Pat Chambers has him brought in it is to tell Mike about Velda’s whereabouts.
Miami.
She’s been seen in the company of a slick mobster named Nolly Quinn.
You know where Hammer is heading and while you will have some idea of what is going to happen, the fun is in the trip and this Cadillac has big 1950’s fins and a cushy ride, although there are plenty of rough spots thrown in to add to the excitement.
Spillane and Collins make a dynamic mix, just the juice you need to get you through a slow weekend.
September 21, 2018
Even though I have a hardback copy of this one, I listened to it on audio because it's narrated by Stacy Keach. I'm sure I'm not alone in agreeing with Max Alan Collins that Keach is the voice of Mike Hammer for a generation (or even longer really).
In the intro, Collins explains that he completed this book from a manuscript that was an early alternative version of Spillane's 1962 book The Girl Hunters. As such, quite a bit of this book felt very familiar. It has all the traits that make Hammer the character he is, a violent ruthless vigilante. It's written very much in the style of the period, so people obsessed with modern political correctness are likely to be offended.
The story begins, like so many others, when a cop friend of Hammer is murdered. Pat Chambers points him the direction of Miami, where all of the action occurs.
This is an odd one, it's familiarity works as a pro and a con so I give it 3.5 starts, rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.
In the intro, Collins explains that he completed this book from a manuscript that was an early alternative version of Spillane's 1962 book The Girl Hunters. As such, quite a bit of this book felt very familiar. It has all the traits that make Hammer the character he is, a violent ruthless vigilante. It's written very much in the style of the period, so people obsessed with modern political correctness are likely to be offended.
The story begins, like so many others, when a cop friend of Hammer is murdered. Pat Chambers points him the direction of Miami, where all of the action occurs.
This is an odd one, it's familiarity works as a pro and a con so I give it 3.5 starts, rounded up to 4 for Goodreads.
November 6, 2021
Collins does a good job at imitating Mickey Spillane, but there is a certain roughness to Spillane that seems not quite there for Collins. And, though these are set in the time Spillane wrote the Hammer novels, the sensibility of Mike Hammer in the novels seems somewhat anachronistic at times.
March 25, 2015
Max Allan Collins had less to work with this time around in completing Spillane's Hammer novel. About half the previous works and a first chapter used for another published novel: The Girl Hunters.
Reworking the beginning with another fragment, Collins has given us a superb story that finds Mike on another bender because Velda walked out on him four months previous with a one word note: "Good-bye."
It takes Pat Chambers to clue him in after Mike learns of the murder of an old cop friend of the both of them. Velda is in Miami keeping company with a hood named Nolly Quinn.
Velda had been a vice cop when Mike met her and the murdered cop had put them together. They had to be some connection there.
An out of shape Mike, four months of drinking and not working will do that, heads to Miami to figure it out.
Author Collins continues to add to the Hammer tales and add to the legacy of one of the genre's best writers.
Recommended.
Reworking the beginning with another fragment, Collins has given us a superb story that finds Mike on another bender because Velda walked out on him four months previous with a one word note: "Good-bye."
It takes Pat Chambers to clue him in after Mike learns of the murder of an old cop friend of the both of them. Velda is in Miami keeping company with a hood named Nolly Quinn.
Velda had been a vice cop when Mike met her and the murdered cop had put them together. They had to be some connection there.
An out of shape Mike, four months of drinking and not working will do that, heads to Miami to figure it out.
Author Collins continues to add to the Hammer tales and add to the legacy of one of the genre's best writers.
Recommended.
April 12, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook narrated by Stacy Keach. Is Mickey Spillane high art? No I suppose not but if you want to enjoy some old fashioned hard nose, gum shoe action dripping with dames and cliche, Mike Hammer is your man.
And the title is a free download on Audible.
And the title is a free download on Audible.
June 20, 2021
One of the better, more coherent ones. As always, the last 2-3 "pages" are WTF in 2021.
July 23, 2017
Mike Hammer in bite-sized chunks. Collins is a more telegraphic prose stylist. He gets the atmosphere of Spillane right, but things feel more compressed. No musings just shorter paragraphs with respect to something Spillane would have written.
At this point, soon there will be more Spillane-Collins collaborations than Hammer novels written by Spillane alone.
Lastly, once again, in another Collins-Spillane collaboration, there's a bit of transphobia (the unsettling gender reveal happened just once in an old Hammer novel); it's getting a bit weird that Collins has done it twice (once before with Kiss Her Goodbye). Women who aren't Velda who fawn over Mike Hammer usually end up dead or being transgendered. Not good.
At this point, soon there will be more Spillane-Collins collaborations than Hammer novels written by Spillane alone.
Lastly, once again, in another Collins-Spillane collaboration, there's a bit of transphobia (the unsettling gender reveal happened just once in an old Hammer novel); it's getting a bit weird that Collins has done it twice (once before with Kiss Her Goodbye). Women who aren't Velda who fawn over Mike Hammer usually end up dead or being transgendered. Not good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2022
Forerunner to a Lee Childs fast paced novel with a hero who continually outsmarts the bad guys. Easy read, entertaining and being set in the fifties, is refreshingly different. i.e. beer for 25c and three night’s accommodation for $15. Attitudes very different from today and a reminder how technology has changed things. Not sure that I’ll return but plenty more In the Mike Hammer series if i decide to.
June 20, 2018
I am a huge fan of both Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins. Once again Collins did a superb job of fleshing out an old Spillane manuscript and transporting his readers to Florida in 1954. It was honestly hard to know which great Mike Hammer line was Spillane's and which was Collins. If you are a Mike Hammer fan you will not be disappointed with this one.
February 16, 2019
I am a big fan of Hard Case Crimes,and have now discovered Max Allan Collins,who is a major contributor to that series.
This hybrid of Collins and Mickey Spillane featuring Mike Hammer is so fun.
Twists,hard boiled dialogue,Miami Beach, guys whose idea of sobriety is four beers a day..
Really fun...have another waiting on my reading table.
This hybrid of Collins and Mickey Spillane featuring Mike Hammer is so fun.
Twists,hard boiled dialogue,Miami Beach, guys whose idea of sobriety is four beers a day..
Really fun...have another waiting on my reading table.
October 26, 2022
4/5
Another gem. I’m glad I finally decided to start these. They have been a fun diversion from what I usually listen to. Sometimes Mike Hammer is too much of a tough guy. But M.A.C helps tone him down.
Another gem. I’m glad I finally decided to start these. They have been a fun diversion from what I usually listen to. Sometimes Mike Hammer is too much of a tough guy. But M.A.C helps tone him down.
August 6, 2017
3.5 stars
October 12, 2019
Massively readable
March 15, 2020
This is the second time that Hammer has become a drunk. Both times, were because of Velda. This is not a plot device I would like to see again.
June 9, 2020
Hard-boiled reputation is fulfilled. If you want tough-guy shoot-up smack-down action, double twists on guy.
July 29, 2022
GOLDEN OLDIE REDUX
This book was well written in MH's style. It had several interesting characters as well as a few colorful action scenes.
This book was well written in MH's style. It had several interesting characters as well as a few colorful action scenes.
September 7, 2022
An entertaining read.
August 17, 2025
classic PI adventure, perfect for film noir, recommended
December 1, 2016
When Velda Sterling walks out on him without a word and a former associate of theirs on the Vice Squad ends up dead, a broken Mike Hammer fights his way back from the edge and follows the trail to the beaches of Miami, where peeling through the gangster rivalries reveals the motive behind his friend’s murder, as well as its connection to Velda’s current activities.
Another “buried treasure” left behind by Mickey Spillane and unearthed by Max Allan Collins, KILL ME, DARLING has a somewhat murky origin. Apparently derived from an earlier, unused version of THE GIRL HUNTERS, Collins states the novel sets down some similar patterns: Hammer descending into a drunken depression following the loss of Velda, only to sober up quickly when he learns of an opportunity to save her from whatever danger she’s in and bring her back to New York, kicking and screaming if necessary. He also sets the story in the same 1950s timeframe and, for added measure, includes references not only to THE GIRL HUNTERS, but also KISS ME, DEADLY and possibly COMPLEX 90 to give it that added depth and continuity of the still-expanding Mike Hammer universe.
Variations on a theme aside, KILL ME, DARLING is not short in the action department. Hammer’s return to form is not overly drawn out, and it isn’t long before he’s cracking as many skulls as he does quips. The bosses and their thugs, of course, are so irredeemably nasty, and their acts so despicable, that it’s worth it to see them get their comeuppance at Hammer’s hands.
While not straying too far from certain parallel plot points in THE GIRL HUNTERS, KILL ME, DARLING redeems itself by virtue of the attempt at overarching continuity and the surprise ending which, like many a Spillane and Collins tale, was delivered with superb finesse. Hammer and Velda’s fleeting scenes together are enough to keep the pages turning, and who wouldn’t root for the hardcore private eye as he wades through the bad guys to save his girl and see justice done? An amusing anecdote in the co-author’s note is Collins’ response when asked if he’d ever consider writing his own Mike Hammer novel. The answer: no need, since Spillane left behind so much unpublished material or material which ended up being published in another form. Inevitably, there will be an ending in sight, but so much more awaits before getting to that point. Spillane, Collins, and Mike Hammer aren’t done yet.
Another “buried treasure” left behind by Mickey Spillane and unearthed by Max Allan Collins, KILL ME, DARLING has a somewhat murky origin. Apparently derived from an earlier, unused version of THE GIRL HUNTERS, Collins states the novel sets down some similar patterns: Hammer descending into a drunken depression following the loss of Velda, only to sober up quickly when he learns of an opportunity to save her from whatever danger she’s in and bring her back to New York, kicking and screaming if necessary. He also sets the story in the same 1950s timeframe and, for added measure, includes references not only to THE GIRL HUNTERS, but also KISS ME, DEADLY and possibly COMPLEX 90 to give it that added depth and continuity of the still-expanding Mike Hammer universe.
Variations on a theme aside, KILL ME, DARLING is not short in the action department. Hammer’s return to form is not overly drawn out, and it isn’t long before he’s cracking as many skulls as he does quips. The bosses and their thugs, of course, are so irredeemably nasty, and their acts so despicable, that it’s worth it to see them get their comeuppance at Hammer’s hands.
While not straying too far from certain parallel plot points in THE GIRL HUNTERS, KILL ME, DARLING redeems itself by virtue of the attempt at overarching continuity and the surprise ending which, like many a Spillane and Collins tale, was delivered with superb finesse. Hammer and Velda’s fleeting scenes together are enough to keep the pages turning, and who wouldn’t root for the hardcore private eye as he wades through the bad guys to save his girl and see justice done? An amusing anecdote in the co-author’s note is Collins’ response when asked if he’d ever consider writing his own Mike Hammer novel. The answer: no need, since Spillane left behind so much unpublished material or material which ended up being published in another form. Inevitably, there will be an ending in sight, but so much more awaits before getting to that point. Spillane, Collins, and Mike Hammer aren’t done yet.
November 29, 2015
Inheriting a mass of unfinished Mickey Spillane manuscripts, Max Collins has undertaken to somehow finish them, completing the work the author left unfinished at his death in 2006. This novel, set in Miami during 1954, begins with Mike Hammer reeling from a four-month-long bender, the result of his secretary/girlfriend having left him with a note effectively saying “so long.” A shadow of himself, Mike stops drinking (and smoking), if you can believe it, and drives to Florida to win Velda back.
Instead, he discovers she is hooked up with a notorious gangster. The question, of course, is: Is she acting undercover to expose the person she’s playing footsies with, or has she literally become another person. Meanwhile, Mike is sought out by five mafia bosses to kill the man she is living with. Remember, this is Miami in the 1950’s, pre-Castro. So there is an element of drug trafficking from Cuba to enliven the plot.
Somehow, some of the elements of a Mike Hammer novel are present in this volume. But on the whole, it just doesn’t read like Mickey Spillane. And that is unexpected, because Max Collins has demonstrated an uncanny ability to mimic that original and unique style. He just, somehow, misses here. It still is a good read, however, and is recommended
Instead, he discovers she is hooked up with a notorious gangster. The question, of course, is: Is she acting undercover to expose the person she’s playing footsies with, or has she literally become another person. Meanwhile, Mike is sought out by five mafia bosses to kill the man she is living with. Remember, this is Miami in the 1950’s, pre-Castro. So there is an element of drug trafficking from Cuba to enliven the plot.
Somehow, some of the elements of a Mike Hammer novel are present in this volume. But on the whole, it just doesn’t read like Mickey Spillane. And that is unexpected, because Max Collins has demonstrated an uncanny ability to mimic that original and unique style. He just, somehow, misses here. It still is a good read, however, and is recommended
May 20, 2015
Always enjoyed the Mike Hammer stories as not quite right tales of a very unstable detective. His code of honor was just a bit above that of the criminals he dealt with and those of organized crime. He was a little boy playing grownup. The Max Collins books had some of this feel to them but again they were period pieces. So when Spillane left his material to Collins to organize and finish many Hammer books the choice was a good one. Collins has hit the period right after WWI very well. His post WWII books are just as well written because he researches the eras rather than just place a tale in a time or period. This completed Hammer story is a quick read and not very detailed. Collins follows the Spillane style and adds just a touch of his own. Worth a read and looking forward to checking out more of the series.
February 9, 2017
Superb story
A really good read, I was still believe it was a full Mickey Spillane tale, well Done Max Collins. Will read more.
A really good read, I was still believe it was a full Mickey Spillane tale, well Done Max Collins. Will read more.
September 25, 2016
This is one of the unfinished Spillane Hammer detective novels thaat Max Allan Collins finished for him. Surprisingly keeping the Spillane style so well that if his name had not been on the book I would have thought it was simply an unpublished Mike Hammer adventure. There are some with Collins where Mike is older but this is set in the 50s where Mike travels to Florida to find why his lost love Velda left him with simply a note saying good-bye. The action is swift and rough just like I, The Jury, My Gun is Quick and the others he wrote in his heyday. Recommended for anyone who even has a little interest in the old Mike Hammer style.
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