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The Last Stand
ON MICKEY SPILLANE'S 100TH BIRTHDAY - A BRAND-NEW NOVEL FROM THE MASTER .
When legendary mystery writer Mickey Spillane died in 2006, he left behind the manuscript of one last novel he'd just THE LAST STAND . He asked his friend and colleague (and fellow Mystery Writers of America Grand Master) Max Allan Collins to take responsibility for finding the right time and place to publish this final book. Now, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of Spillane's birth, his millions of fans at last get to read THE LAST STAND , together with a second never-before-published work, this one from early in Spillane's the feverish crime novella A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION.
A tarnished former cop goes on a crusade to find a politician's killer and avoid the .45-caliber slug with his name on it. A pilot forced to make an emergency landing in the desert finds himself at the center of a struggle between FBI agents, unsavory fortune hunters, and the local Indian tribe to control a mysterious find that could mean wealth and power - or death. Two substantial new works filled with Spillane's muscular prose and the gorgeous women and two-fisted action the author was famous for, topped off by an introduction from Max Allan Collins describing the history of these lost manuscripts and his long relationship with the writer who was his mentor, his hero, and for much of the last century the bestselling author in the world.
When legendary mystery writer Mickey Spillane died in 2006, he left behind the manuscript of one last novel he'd just THE LAST STAND . He asked his friend and colleague (and fellow Mystery Writers of America Grand Master) Max Allan Collins to take responsibility for finding the right time and place to publish this final book. Now, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of Spillane's birth, his millions of fans at last get to read THE LAST STAND , together with a second never-before-published work, this one from early in Spillane's the feverish crime novella A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION.
A tarnished former cop goes on a crusade to find a politician's killer and avoid the .45-caliber slug with his name on it. A pilot forced to make an emergency landing in the desert finds himself at the center of a struggle between FBI agents, unsavory fortune hunters, and the local Indian tribe to control a mysterious find that could mean wealth and power - or death. Two substantial new works filled with Spillane's muscular prose and the gorgeous women and two-fisted action the author was famous for, topped off by an introduction from Max Allan Collins describing the history of these lost manuscripts and his long relationship with the writer who was his mentor, his hero, and for much of the last century the bestselling author in the world.
288 pages, Paperback
First published March 20, 2018
127 people are currently reading
316 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 53 reviews
August 4, 2024
Just So Sexy!
I definitely recommend to anyone who is a fan of the hard-boiled thriller, the classic noire, that you read this book.
The book contains two stories. The first one is called A Bullet For Satisfaction, and boy is it a thriller.
Although not published until Spillane’s 100th birthday, it was written many years ago, during the golden period of hard-boiled thrillers.
The narrator, the protagonist, is a man of few words but plenty of action, and he is very sexy to boot. Just couldn’t help rooting for him on every page, and went along on every ride he took. Yes, I was also in the car.
Although l don’t consider myself a violent person (yes, I do enjoy violent horror and thrillers), I immensely appreciated every butt kicking and shooting scene in the book.
And when ex-police Captain Dexter, rolled over the criminal hoodlum with his own darn car, and then backed over him a few times (just for good luck), l knew then, this has become one of my favorite books.
And then, after all those thrills, another story to read...for free!
Why it’s called The Last Stand, l can’t figure out. Maybe someday, somebody can enlighten me. The book didn’t affect me at first, the same way “...Bullet” did, l had to read it a bit. Figure out where it was going.
Once l did, I knew I had stumbled onto a book of witty verbosity, with historical intellect between each unspoken word.
Not as sexy as A Bullet For Satisfaction, but adorable, all the same. Written during the new millennia, with current knowledge and problem solving, the book is still hard-core.
I enjoyed reading every moment of humor and violence (I’m just a hard-core girl). Every scuffle, every joke, every sentimental sign of romance, l was a fly on the wall.
I am now going to Amazon to see if I can find something similar for sale. If you want to come along, I’ll see you there, just leave some books for me.
Most definitely...five stars ✨✨✨✨✨
I definitely recommend to anyone who is a fan of the hard-boiled thriller, the classic noire, that you read this book.
The book contains two stories. The first one is called A Bullet For Satisfaction, and boy is it a thriller.
Although not published until Spillane’s 100th birthday, it was written many years ago, during the golden period of hard-boiled thrillers.
The narrator, the protagonist, is a man of few words but plenty of action, and he is very sexy to boot. Just couldn’t help rooting for him on every page, and went along on every ride he took. Yes, I was also in the car.
Although l don’t consider myself a violent person (yes, I do enjoy violent horror and thrillers), I immensely appreciated every butt kicking and shooting scene in the book.
And when ex-police Captain Dexter, rolled over the criminal hoodlum with his own darn car, and then backed over him a few times (just for good luck), l knew then, this has become one of my favorite books.
And then, after all those thrills, another story to read...for free!
Why it’s called The Last Stand, l can’t figure out. Maybe someday, somebody can enlighten me. The book didn’t affect me at first, the same way “...Bullet” did, l had to read it a bit. Figure out where it was going.
Once l did, I knew I had stumbled onto a book of witty verbosity, with historical intellect between each unspoken word.
Not as sexy as A Bullet For Satisfaction, but adorable, all the same. Written during the new millennia, with current knowledge and problem solving, the book is still hard-core.
I enjoyed reading every moment of humor and violence (I’m just a hard-core girl). Every scuffle, every joke, every sentimental sign of romance, l was a fly on the wall.
I am now going to Amazon to see if I can find something similar for sale. If you want to come along, I’ll see you there, just leave some books for me.
Most definitely...five stars ✨✨✨✨✨
Want to read
March 20, 2018Contents:
013 - Introduction by Max Allan Collins
023 - "A Bullet for Satisfaction"
119 - "The Last Stand"
Cover by Laurel Blechman
013 - Introduction by Max Allan Collins
023 - "A Bullet for Satisfaction"
119 - "The Last Stand"
Cover by Laurel Blechman
July 27, 2025
I’ve never read any Mickey Spillane before but that’s going to change after finishing the Last Stand. An early in his career work and the very last story he wrote collected together. While both stories are very different they are both excellent, well written, page turners that are impossible to put down. Pulpy, noir mysteries that are thoroughly enjoyable.
March 21, 2018
One Classic Fifties-Era Pulp Tale and One Modern Pseudo-Western Adventure
Spillane and Collins are two of my favorite writers and when they put out something new I take notice. The Last Stand, the latest collaboration of Spillane’s archive of unpublished work with Collins’ finishing touches, is actually not a novel, but two novellas, published together, in what should probably have been a double cover book like Ace used to put out. This volume groups an unpublished novella from Spillane’s early writing years in the fifties, A Bullet For Satisfaction,” with his final work, “The Last Stand,” a much more modern work and the longer of the two pieces.
For my money, A Bullet For Satisfaction was just what I was looking for when I opened up this volume. It is classic fifties hardboiled crime fiction with an honest cop doing battle singlehandedly with the forces of corruption, plenty of vicious syndicate hoodlums, femme fatales aplenty, and the sudden explosions of raw unfiltered violence that became a Spillane trademark. The lone tough guy standing tall against the forces of evil feels just like an early version of Mike Hammer. The writing is so solid that it is easy to read and all the usual pulp detective motifs are here. It’s just great stuff through and through.
The Last Stand didn’t quite capture me the sane way. It’s a totally different style of novel, sort of a humorous modern-day pseudo-Western taking place in the great Southwest and on a reservation. The main character, Joe Gillian, is an anti-Spillane hero who pilots a vintage hobby plane and is an ordinary guy, not a tough guy. There’s hidden treasure, government agents, a duel with a monster of a man, and Running Fox, whose figure makes Joe just melt. Overall, it’s a short interesting read, but simply not what you’d expect given the cover art and the expectations for Spillane’s work.
Spillane and Collins are two of my favorite writers and when they put out something new I take notice. The Last Stand, the latest collaboration of Spillane’s archive of unpublished work with Collins’ finishing touches, is actually not a novel, but two novellas, published together, in what should probably have been a double cover book like Ace used to put out. This volume groups an unpublished novella from Spillane’s early writing years in the fifties, A Bullet For Satisfaction,” with his final work, “The Last Stand,” a much more modern work and the longer of the two pieces.
For my money, A Bullet For Satisfaction was just what I was looking for when I opened up this volume. It is classic fifties hardboiled crime fiction with an honest cop doing battle singlehandedly with the forces of corruption, plenty of vicious syndicate hoodlums, femme fatales aplenty, and the sudden explosions of raw unfiltered violence that became a Spillane trademark. The lone tough guy standing tall against the forces of evil feels just like an early version of Mike Hammer. The writing is so solid that it is easy to read and all the usual pulp detective motifs are here. It’s just great stuff through and through.
The Last Stand didn’t quite capture me the sane way. It’s a totally different style of novel, sort of a humorous modern-day pseudo-Western taking place in the great Southwest and on a reservation. The main character, Joe Gillian, is an anti-Spillane hero who pilots a vintage hobby plane and is an ordinary guy, not a tough guy. There’s hidden treasure, government agents, a duel with a monster of a man, and Running Fox, whose figure makes Joe just melt. Overall, it’s a short interesting read, but simply not what you’d expect given the cover art and the expectations for Spillane’s work.
August 11, 2018
3 1/2 stars here from me. Two never before published books under 1 title here. A Bullet for Satisfaction is a real early entry from Spillane that is hard core noir with the lead role getting the women & the killer. With the title novel Last Stand being a more modern entry that involves the hunt for gold, treasure & love in the Superstition Mountain range sprinkled with a little Native life from the Rez. Pow Wows, airplanes, good guys & bad guys. Good reading.
March 22, 2020
The Last Stand (2018, Hard Case Crime) features two standalone novellas by Mickey Spillane unrelated to his Mike Hammer series of which he's better known for; A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION and THE LAST STAND.
The fact that these two novellas remained unpublished whilst Spillane was alive, only to be brought to print posthumously thanks to Max Allan Collins, says something about the quality of these stories... (unlike some of the recent Hammer books, these two just don't stack-up)
Firstly, A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION is a hardboiled mess of pulp, private eye, and police procedural. The story features a disgruntled, lone-wolf cop who makes the ladies swoon every time he takes a breath, and kills without compassion; Rod Dexter could easily be a Mike Hammer in poor mans clothing.
The plot centers around a murdered politician with suspicious links to the syndicate. When Dexter looses his badge thanks to this case, he knows the fix is in. The only way he can right the wrong done to him and the murdered politician is by putting bullets in as many bad guys as he can, and bed as many wanton women as he can...
Despite a couple of hardboiled classic Spillane scenes, A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION was bland and underwhelming; I couldn't connect with the story and the plot never felt plausible.
THE LAST STAND is a comedy western of sorts with an equally head scratcher of a plot... why this even got published is a mystery to me.
The plot is pure high school; grown men fighting for the attentions of a women who is happy to go with whichever beats the other to a pulp.
Lurking in the background are FBI agents on the hunt for a source of power which could turn the weapons race on its head, an Indian who lives off the trinkets discarded by others, and a shaman of sorts who can predict the future (at least by way of guessing the victor of brawls).
I couldn't find a single redeeming thing to save this novella.
In summary, the cover art by Laurel Blechman is the best thing about this book. One for the die hard Spillane / Hard Case Crime collectors only.
The fact that these two novellas remained unpublished whilst Spillane was alive, only to be brought to print posthumously thanks to Max Allan Collins, says something about the quality of these stories... (unlike some of the recent Hammer books, these two just don't stack-up)
Firstly, A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION is a hardboiled mess of pulp, private eye, and police procedural. The story features a disgruntled, lone-wolf cop who makes the ladies swoon every time he takes a breath, and kills without compassion; Rod Dexter could easily be a Mike Hammer in poor mans clothing.
The plot centers around a murdered politician with suspicious links to the syndicate. When Dexter looses his badge thanks to this case, he knows the fix is in. The only way he can right the wrong done to him and the murdered politician is by putting bullets in as many bad guys as he can, and bed as many wanton women as he can...
Despite a couple of hardboiled classic Spillane scenes, A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION was bland and underwhelming; I couldn't connect with the story and the plot never felt plausible.
THE LAST STAND is a comedy western of sorts with an equally head scratcher of a plot... why this even got published is a mystery to me.
The plot is pure high school; grown men fighting for the attentions of a women who is happy to go with whichever beats the other to a pulp.
Lurking in the background are FBI agents on the hunt for a source of power which could turn the weapons race on its head, an Indian who lives off the trinkets discarded by others, and a shaman of sorts who can predict the future (at least by way of guessing the victor of brawls).
I couldn't find a single redeeming thing to save this novella.
In summary, the cover art by Laurel Blechman is the best thing about this book. One for the die hard Spillane / Hard Case Crime collectors only.
July 11, 2018
Mickey Spillane is a bit of a lightning rod figure in the crime fiction genre. Lawrence Block gave an interesting summary of his legacy in the book The Crime of Our Lives. At his peak, Spillane was considered in the same breath as Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett. His first six Mike Hammer novels singlehandedly created the paperback originals market. At its best, his prose grabs you by the throat and never lets go. Yet, his work does not stand well the test of time. The characters are shallow, the plots unmemorable. The books are usually exaggerated pastiches of noir.
Spillane completed The Last Stand weeks before his death in 2006 (Max Allan Collins provided minor posthumous edits according to Spillane's wishes). It is clear he had become a different sort of writer by the end of his career; this novel emphasizes humor and adventure over violence and sex.
Joe Gillian is a successful, aging pilot who crashes his antique plane in the desert. He is befriended by Sequoia Pete, a college educated Native American (Joe still calls them Indians) living on the reservation. Pete and Joe find a priceless arrowhead made of a rare indestructible mineral; they fight a mean bully who is in love with Pete's sister, Running Fox; and they investigate the attempted murder of a drunk old prospector who may have hidden a cache of Aztec gold.
I think the book is aiming for a light-hearted Western "buddy-movie" feel, but it is not funny, not exciting, and the story does not make sense. It is less than two hundred pages long, but it feels so much longer.
Also included is "Bullet for Satisfaction", a previously unpublished novella from the early 1950's that was nearly completed in its first draft and which collaborator Max Allan Collins polished for publication in 2018. This story is similar in tone and form to the early Mike Hammer novels. At roughly 100 pages long, it is the story of a lone police officer investigating the murder of a local politician. He quickly finds himself fighting a corrupt city hall, bouncing the sheets with two femme fatales, and rushing headlong into shootouts with numerous mobster hit men. In the introduction, Collins said he needed to rewrite some scenes, which is why he added his name to the byline.
Some examples of the early prose:
- "The reporters didn't waste any time making the scene, looking like flies seeking a dead animal to light on…"
- "She sat down on the couch and still seemed not to mind that my eyes were going over her like they had a search warrant…"
- "Maybe it's against the law to kill, but exterminating rats is legal, so I think it's okay to get rid of some of the vermin that make up this crummy world."
"Bullet for Satisfaction" is closer to vintage Spillane. It is certainly not great, but it has one or two great moments, including the following passage which should be required reading for all writers. You never know when you may need to effectively dispatch an important character in a one hundred thirty words or less:
"The pockmarked stooge ripped the blouse from Jean's back. She wore nothing underneath. You never saw anything more beautiful or ugly. The bastard smiled and licked his lips. He eased down, never letting his eyes leave her, and picked something up--a steel chain. He balled half of it in one hand and brought it down across her back. She cringed but made no sound. The next blow sent her on her stomach. I wanted to make a play for the .38, but Bacon had his eyes and gun on me the whole time. The third blow of the chain made her mouth and eyes open wide and her body quivered. By the fifth one it didn't matter. She was dead.
The beautiful woman had been turned to bloody pulp and the two sadists loved it."
Truthfully, this is a really bad novel and a mediocre short story. I gave it two stars, only because of a few lines of cool dialogue plus Collins' emotional introduction to Spillane's final effort.
Spillane completed The Last Stand weeks before his death in 2006 (Max Allan Collins provided minor posthumous edits according to Spillane's wishes). It is clear he had become a different sort of writer by the end of his career; this novel emphasizes humor and adventure over violence and sex.
Joe Gillian is a successful, aging pilot who crashes his antique plane in the desert. He is befriended by Sequoia Pete, a college educated Native American (Joe still calls them Indians) living on the reservation. Pete and Joe find a priceless arrowhead made of a rare indestructible mineral; they fight a mean bully who is in love with Pete's sister, Running Fox; and they investigate the attempted murder of a drunk old prospector who may have hidden a cache of Aztec gold.
I think the book is aiming for a light-hearted Western "buddy-movie" feel, but it is not funny, not exciting, and the story does not make sense. It is less than two hundred pages long, but it feels so much longer.
Also included is "Bullet for Satisfaction", a previously unpublished novella from the early 1950's that was nearly completed in its first draft and which collaborator Max Allan Collins polished for publication in 2018. This story is similar in tone and form to the early Mike Hammer novels. At roughly 100 pages long, it is the story of a lone police officer investigating the murder of a local politician. He quickly finds himself fighting a corrupt city hall, bouncing the sheets with two femme fatales, and rushing headlong into shootouts with numerous mobster hit men. In the introduction, Collins said he needed to rewrite some scenes, which is why he added his name to the byline.
Some examples of the early prose:
- "The reporters didn't waste any time making the scene, looking like flies seeking a dead animal to light on…"
- "She sat down on the couch and still seemed not to mind that my eyes were going over her like they had a search warrant…"
- "Maybe it's against the law to kill, but exterminating rats is legal, so I think it's okay to get rid of some of the vermin that make up this crummy world."
"Bullet for Satisfaction" is closer to vintage Spillane. It is certainly not great, but it has one or two great moments, including the following passage which should be required reading for all writers. You never know when you may need to effectively dispatch an important character in a one hundred thirty words or less:
"The pockmarked stooge ripped the blouse from Jean's back. She wore nothing underneath. You never saw anything more beautiful or ugly. The bastard smiled and licked his lips. He eased down, never letting his eyes leave her, and picked something up--a steel chain. He balled half of it in one hand and brought it down across her back. She cringed but made no sound. The next blow sent her on her stomach. I wanted to make a play for the .38, but Bacon had his eyes and gun on me the whole time. The third blow of the chain made her mouth and eyes open wide and her body quivered. By the fifth one it didn't matter. She was dead.
The beautiful woman had been turned to bloody pulp and the two sadists loved it."
Truthfully, this is a really bad novel and a mediocre short story. I gave it two stars, only because of a few lines of cool dialogue plus Collins' emotional introduction to Spillane's final effort.
March 12, 2021
I've been a huge detective noir fan for many years and have been meaning to get around to Mickey Spillane for quite some time. This is my first exposure and is most surely not his best. "The Last Stand" contains a short story and a novella. The short story is a great example of early Spillane: Violent, sexy, unforgiving. A rogue cop on the hunt for revenge and love...but mostly revenge.
The second is...well, I don't really know what the second one is. It was his last completed work (edited together by an author friend) and it doesn't really work. It reads more as the fantasy of an old man. He beats up the tough guy, outsmarts the FBI and the bad guys, finds the treasure and gets the girl (who the author assures us, is a knock out). It's enjoyable enough but definitely not a must read by any stretch of the imagination.
The second is...well, I don't really know what the second one is. It was his last completed work (edited together by an author friend) and it doesn't really work. It reads more as the fantasy of an old man. He beats up the tough guy, outsmarts the FBI and the bad guys, finds the treasure and gets the girl (who the author assures us, is a knock out). It's enjoyable enough but definitely not a must read by any stretch of the imagination.
May 3, 2018
(3). I have no idea what the picture on the cover of this book has to do with anything. It sure does not connect in any way to the really fun little ditty inside that is touted as the final completed novel by Mickey Spillane. This is a short journey out to the Wild West, but a truly adventurous one. We have good guys (mostly one), bad guys, Indians (including a beautiful woman), the FBI, the ability to influence the world, history, mountains and the desert. What a recipe. Somehow it all spins very neatly and nicely together in almost an totally satisfying manner. Old school, but still solid. A very pleasant diversion.
August 3, 2024
Never read Mickey Spillane before… and I’m a huge reader of crime fiction… The Last Stand, released 2018, posthumously on Spillane’s 💯 th birthday 🥳. Decided to make a stand… quite different than what I expected.
First though, luckily included in the ebook was an early Spillane novella, Kiss for Satisfaction, that delivered the goods on his books… tough guy, straight talking, get the perps, homicide detective with multiple femme fatales, and crooked pols.
The Opposition. “D.A.’s inner office. For a big shot, Graham was a stocky little guy, five bucks worth of man in a hundred-dollar suit, sitting behind a big mahogany desk the good citizens paid for… “I’m driving at you being one of those rotten apples we hear so much about, Graham. You know—in the barrel?” His fat face reddened and his neck muscles bulged. “What the hell—” “Spare me the indignation, Graham. You might be a big man to some, but to me you’re nothing but a fat slob with your hand in the till. … you are not the top of the ladder, but you know who’s on the rungs above and below you. You can help me clean up this town into something worth living in. You play ball with me and you can come out a hero.” — “The D.A. was a powerful man. You’d think I’d know that, right? But he was even more influential than I thought. The lousy goddamn bastard. I was dead, a thing of the past. Three days ago I was a cop. Now the cop was gone. What was left?” — “vengeance, which I’d quench a whole other way. And when you’re playing a game like this, there’s only one way to play it, and that’s a hell of a lot rougher than they do. I could do what I wanted without fear of losing my job or my badge because they were both gone. My gun had been taken away and the right to use it, too. So what! There were other guns in the world.”
Reflection. “The fault is mine. I handled it with all the finesse of a guy with ten thumbs, a tiny brain and one big temper.”
Choices. “Nothing stands between you and that freight…except me. You want a ride to the train yard, or a trip to the boneyard?”
Atmosphere. “The night, the damp night that sings of its misery and misfortune in the faces of the people—everyone who’s ever walked the streets after dark has probably felt that same thing.”
Spillane delivers the goods — Satisfaction.
The Last Stand is a very different tale… the title a play on Custer’s… and perhaps Spillane’s? It’s injun country and good guy, hero Joe crash lands right into it… hooks up with injun Pete, and the fun begins. An interesting tale with history, snakes, gold, power metal, commerce, bad guys, FBI mixed in. The Indians win 1️⃣ for a change… Joe gets the Fox-y squaw and makes a new friend…
“I spoke to him about The Last Stand on the phone, he said to me, “You know, I really like that Big Arms.” If a voice can have a twinkle in it, his did. With that big-kid quality he often got when he spoke of work he’d done that had pleased him, really like that character.” Not Joe Gillian, but Big Arms, who haunts the good-natured pages of The Last Stand like Mike Hammer’s ghost.”
— Max Allan Collins May 28, 2017
Bottom line. Spillane could tell a tale or two… a born storyteller.
First though, luckily included in the ebook was an early Spillane novella, Kiss for Satisfaction, that delivered the goods on his books… tough guy, straight talking, get the perps, homicide detective with multiple femme fatales, and crooked pols.
The Opposition. “D.A.’s inner office. For a big shot, Graham was a stocky little guy, five bucks worth of man in a hundred-dollar suit, sitting behind a big mahogany desk the good citizens paid for… “I’m driving at you being one of those rotten apples we hear so much about, Graham. You know—in the barrel?” His fat face reddened and his neck muscles bulged. “What the hell—” “Spare me the indignation, Graham. You might be a big man to some, but to me you’re nothing but a fat slob with your hand in the till. … you are not the top of the ladder, but you know who’s on the rungs above and below you. You can help me clean up this town into something worth living in. You play ball with me and you can come out a hero.” — “The D.A. was a powerful man. You’d think I’d know that, right? But he was even more influential than I thought. The lousy goddamn bastard. I was dead, a thing of the past. Three days ago I was a cop. Now the cop was gone. What was left?” — “vengeance, which I’d quench a whole other way. And when you’re playing a game like this, there’s only one way to play it, and that’s a hell of a lot rougher than they do. I could do what I wanted without fear of losing my job or my badge because they were both gone. My gun had been taken away and the right to use it, too. So what! There were other guns in the world.”
Reflection. “The fault is mine. I handled it with all the finesse of a guy with ten thumbs, a tiny brain and one big temper.”
Choices. “Nothing stands between you and that freight…except me. You want a ride to the train yard, or a trip to the boneyard?”
Atmosphere. “The night, the damp night that sings of its misery and misfortune in the faces of the people—everyone who’s ever walked the streets after dark has probably felt that same thing.”
Spillane delivers the goods — Satisfaction.
The Last Stand is a very different tale… the title a play on Custer’s… and perhaps Spillane’s? It’s injun country and good guy, hero Joe crash lands right into it… hooks up with injun Pete, and the fun begins. An interesting tale with history, snakes, gold, power metal, commerce, bad guys, FBI mixed in. The Indians win 1️⃣ for a change… Joe gets the Fox-y squaw and makes a new friend…
“I spoke to him about The Last Stand on the phone, he said to me, “You know, I really like that Big Arms.” If a voice can have a twinkle in it, his did. With that big-kid quality he often got when he spoke of work he’d done that had pleased him, really like that character.” Not Joe Gillian, but Big Arms, who haunts the good-natured pages of The Last Stand like Mike Hammer’s ghost.”
— Max Allan Collins May 28, 2017
Bottom line. Spillane could tell a tale or two… a born storyteller.
July 30, 2020
The Last Stand is actually a double-header by the late and legendary Mickey Spillane. It features two previously unpublished tales: A Bullet for Satisfaction and The Last Stand. Bullet was written at the very beginning of Spillane's career and Stand was completed just before he passed. Spillane was reviled by critics and adored by a legion of fans-my favorite story about the Mickster is not really a story at all I just have this image of him reading all those bad reviews and then laughing all the way to the bank. His influence on crime fiction is still felt, and as an old pulp and comic book writer he knew how to entertain a reader. I'm very lucky a good friend gave me a copy of The Twisted Thing and told me "You have to read this" when I was fifteen or so. I have been a fan ever since. As for the stories in this volume: Bullet is just what readers expect (and love to read) from Spillane's pen: one man fueled by revenge versus a powerful criminal organization, with violence aplenty, blazing guns, and several beautiful women in the mix. (The story could only have been better if it featured Mike Hammer.) Stand is a mellower tale and a departure of sorts, as it is more of an adventure story taking place in the America Southwest. Good stuff.
July 4, 2018
"The Last Stand," by Mickey Spillane (and Max Allan Collins) is actually two short novels in one volume, released for what would have been Mickey Spillane's 100th birthday. One is pretty good...and the other seems like it was written by someone else.
There is a lengthy introduction where Collins talks about Spillane and the genesis of these two wildly different novels. For a few years now, Collins has been "finishing" or "updating" old Spillane manuscripts to get them out to the public. I'd rather he was working on more "Quarry" novels, but he seems to be a guy who can turn out a ton of content.
The first novel, "A Bullet for Satisfaction," is classic Spillane from the early 1950s. It's about a wronged cop on a revenge mission with plenty of creeps and scumbags to kill and a few choice ladies to spend quality time with. The writing is about as subtle as a freight train and has the same amount of nuance. But that's Spillane. And while it may sound like I didn't enjoy "A Bullet for Satisfaction," I very much did. I knew what I was getting with that novel and it filled my expectations.
Side note: I always laugh at how pulp writers had their male heroes walking around in such a cloud of testosterone swagger that the ladies just swooned (and their clothes fell off) with a minimal effort. No suspension of disbelief there! Heh.
The second novel was VERY different from the first. Supposedly, "The Last Stand" is the final novel written by Spillane (in the 2000s). If so, he changed a LOT between writing those two novels. By comparison, "The Last Stand" (a reference to that Custer fella) is slow and thoughtful...and kinda dull. There is plenty of plot and action, don't get me wrong. But the pace is far less runaway train and more slow horseback ride. It feels like Spillane was trying to be Hemingway. The actual novel bears more resemblance to something Craig Johnson (Longmire) or Joe Lansdale (Hap and Leonard) would write. Though they would do the subject (far) more justice.
"The Last Stand," somewhat transparently, is about an older man (and an even older author) trying to have the adventures of a younger man and fulfilling fantasies about becoming accepted in a Native American community. At the core, the writing seems to come from an immature place. It feels like the author just wants to play cowboys and Indians and romp around the badlands looking for buried treasure. Nothing "bad" really happens. The tone is fairly light and breezy. There are bad guys, but nature seems to be a far more capable enemy than man. And the main villain--named Big Arms--is hard to take seriously.
A white pilot finds himself without a working plane in the middle of the desert on an Indian reservation. He meets a Native man who guides him to safety. They have plenty of male bonding over the experience. Then they make an interesting discovery in the desert together and that gets the story rolling. The Native man has an attractive sister. And the sister has a jealous suitor (who is WWE wrestler sized and about as dangerous as pink spandex--that's "Big Arms"). There is a goofy old prospector, a mobster, some FBI agents, and a witch, all added to the novel like throwing leftovers (and tropes) in a stew and hoping for the best.
There are a few problems with "The Last Stand." Including the whole "white dude comes into the Indian territory and wows the Natives (and the sexy Native woman) and solves all their problems" authorial wish-fulfillment kind of thing. Without a city full of seedy bars and crooked cops and syndicate scumbags, Spillane is way, way out of his element. But that's not to say that "The Last Stand" isn't entertaining. It is. Mostly. But there are a lot of obvious flaws. In the end, "The Last Stand" was just not what I was expecting.
Between the two novels in this volume, I landed on a three-star rating. I liked "A Bullet for Satisfaction" a lot more than I did "The Last Stand."
There is a lengthy introduction where Collins talks about Spillane and the genesis of these two wildly different novels. For a few years now, Collins has been "finishing" or "updating" old Spillane manuscripts to get them out to the public. I'd rather he was working on more "Quarry" novels, but he seems to be a guy who can turn out a ton of content.
The first novel, "A Bullet for Satisfaction," is classic Spillane from the early 1950s. It's about a wronged cop on a revenge mission with plenty of creeps and scumbags to kill and a few choice ladies to spend quality time with. The writing is about as subtle as a freight train and has the same amount of nuance. But that's Spillane. And while it may sound like I didn't enjoy "A Bullet for Satisfaction," I very much did. I knew what I was getting with that novel and it filled my expectations.
Side note: I always laugh at how pulp writers had their male heroes walking around in such a cloud of testosterone swagger that the ladies just swooned (and their clothes fell off) with a minimal effort. No suspension of disbelief there! Heh.
The second novel was VERY different from the first. Supposedly, "The Last Stand" is the final novel written by Spillane (in the 2000s). If so, he changed a LOT between writing those two novels. By comparison, "The Last Stand" (a reference to that Custer fella) is slow and thoughtful...and kinda dull. There is plenty of plot and action, don't get me wrong. But the pace is far less runaway train and more slow horseback ride. It feels like Spillane was trying to be Hemingway. The actual novel bears more resemblance to something Craig Johnson (Longmire) or Joe Lansdale (Hap and Leonard) would write. Though they would do the subject (far) more justice.
"The Last Stand," somewhat transparently, is about an older man (and an even older author) trying to have the adventures of a younger man and fulfilling fantasies about becoming accepted in a Native American community. At the core, the writing seems to come from an immature place. It feels like the author just wants to play cowboys and Indians and romp around the badlands looking for buried treasure. Nothing "bad" really happens. The tone is fairly light and breezy. There are bad guys, but nature seems to be a far more capable enemy than man. And the main villain--named Big Arms--is hard to take seriously.
A white pilot finds himself without a working plane in the middle of the desert on an Indian reservation. He meets a Native man who guides him to safety. They have plenty of male bonding over the experience. Then they make an interesting discovery in the desert together and that gets the story rolling. The Native man has an attractive sister. And the sister has a jealous suitor (who is WWE wrestler sized and about as dangerous as pink spandex--that's "Big Arms"). There is a goofy old prospector, a mobster, some FBI agents, and a witch, all added to the novel like throwing leftovers (and tropes) in a stew and hoping for the best.
There are a few problems with "The Last Stand." Including the whole "white dude comes into the Indian territory and wows the Natives (and the sexy Native woman) and solves all their problems" authorial wish-fulfillment kind of thing. Without a city full of seedy bars and crooked cops and syndicate scumbags, Spillane is way, way out of his element. But that's not to say that "The Last Stand" isn't entertaining. It is. Mostly. But there are a lot of obvious flaws. In the end, "The Last Stand" was just not what I was expecting.
Between the two novels in this volume, I landed on a three-star rating. I liked "A Bullet for Satisfaction" a lot more than I did "The Last Stand."
May 10, 2021
There are two novels here, well really a novella and a novel. The first (the novella) is titled "A Bullet for Satisfaction." It was written by Spillane in the 1950s, never printed, but left in Spillane's papers at the time of his death. Co-writer friend Max Allan Collins polished it and placed it in this collection of two as the lead-off story. Rough edges remain, but it nevertheless reads as vintage Spillane. The protagonist, a lone wolf hero, is Captain Dexter, pursuing justice for the murder victim of a mob hit. Compounding his problem is the fact the town and its justice system is owned and run by the mob and no one particularly liked the victim anyway or is upset he is dead. Think Commissioner Gordon in Gotham trying to put away bad guys with no Batman. This novella is about as outlandish. The odds are stacked impossibly high against Captain Dexter from early on. Still, the story was a fun read--four stars.
The second story, a full length if short novel titled "The Last Stand" was less fun. It was not hardboiled crime fiction at all. It took its turns at trying to be humorous (daddy jokes lamed down lower than I have ever seen), socially woke (we just don't give Native Americans the respect they're due, and alcoholism and addiction is a really big problem for the poor guys, all of which is of course Whitey's fault), and suspenseful (airplane crash victim encounters Native American thrown from his horse--can they survive? sure; just walk it on out). There's romance (can Smith win over his Pocahantas by killing Sasquatch Native American who has a prior claim? of course he can) and science fiction (secret alien cosmic cube power source the government will kill anyone for just to get hands on). The only thing lacking is a compelling plot or real characters. This was a long, torturous cliche of a read in every genre, apparently Spillane's last book. Two, maybe two and a half stars for the novel, hence my three star rating as an average.
The second story, a full length if short novel titled "The Last Stand" was less fun. It was not hardboiled crime fiction at all. It took its turns at trying to be humorous (daddy jokes lamed down lower than I have ever seen), socially woke (we just don't give Native Americans the respect they're due, and alcoholism and addiction is a really big problem for the poor guys, all of which is of course Whitey's fault), and suspenseful (airplane crash victim encounters Native American thrown from his horse--can they survive? sure; just walk it on out). There's romance (can Smith win over his Pocahantas by killing Sasquatch Native American who has a prior claim? of course he can) and science fiction (secret alien cosmic cube power source the government will kill anyone for just to get hands on). The only thing lacking is a compelling plot or real characters. This was a long, torturous cliche of a read in every genre, apparently Spillane's last book. Two, maybe two and a half stars for the novel, hence my three star rating as an average.
December 9, 2019
This is a combination of two Spillane novellas he had left unfinished, books which Max Collins completed at his request. Collins does a good job matching tone and approach, unlike a lot of authors tagged by publishers to keep a popular franchise selling.
The first story is A Bullet For Satisfaction, which is an early Spillane story. It reads a lot like a Mike Hammer story with a cop who uncovers corruption and mob influence in his town and gets his revenge. Not his best work, but still entertaining.
The second story is The Last Stand, about an aging pilot flying a WW2 trainer restoration airplane that conks out and forces him down in a nameless desert in the Southwest US. There, he gets entangled in Native American tribal politics, federal government interference, and a criminal ring, not to mention a lovely native girl who is a killer mechanic.
The dialog sparkles, absolutely the best I've ever read from Spillane, and this carries the story along magnificently through a frankly kind of odd sci-fi feeling plot and treasure hunters. The ending was a bit of a letdown, since it slouched into typical Spillane tough guy territory, but until then it was solid and fresh.
The first story is A Bullet For Satisfaction, which is an early Spillane story. It reads a lot like a Mike Hammer story with a cop who uncovers corruption and mob influence in his town and gets his revenge. Not his best work, but still entertaining.
The second story is The Last Stand, about an aging pilot flying a WW2 trainer restoration airplane that conks out and forces him down in a nameless desert in the Southwest US. There, he gets entangled in Native American tribal politics, federal government interference, and a criminal ring, not to mention a lovely native girl who is a killer mechanic.
The dialog sparkles, absolutely the best I've ever read from Spillane, and this carries the story along magnificently through a frankly kind of odd sci-fi feeling plot and treasure hunters. The ending was a bit of a letdown, since it slouched into typical Spillane tough guy territory, but until then it was solid and fresh.
September 21, 2020
Two short stories from Spillane.
A Bullet for Satisfaction is great. It's classic Spillane, so the protagonist is tough talking and the action is brutal. If I were rating based on this story alone, then this book would be at least 4 stars.
The Last Stand is one of Spillane's later works (his last, in fact). I haven't read a later Spillane story that I loved and this one didn't change that. I don't know if getting Jesus or getting old softened Spillane's writing, but his later stuff might as well have been written by someone else. I will say that at least it was different. Instead of a PI led mystery, we get a Western adventure story. The characters were compelling but the plot was awfully slow going.
A Bullet for Satisfaction is great. It's classic Spillane, so the protagonist is tough talking and the action is brutal. If I were rating based on this story alone, then this book would be at least 4 stars.
The Last Stand is one of Spillane's later works (his last, in fact). I haven't read a later Spillane story that I loved and this one didn't change that. I don't know if getting Jesus or getting old softened Spillane's writing, but his later stuff might as well have been written by someone else. I will say that at least it was different. Instead of a PI led mystery, we get a Western adventure story. The characters were compelling but the plot was awfully slow going.
July 7, 2018
I really enjoyed The Last Stand. The first book was not as good.
September 7, 2022
Two stories in this book, “A Bullet for Satisfaction” and “The Last Stand”. The first one was probably written in the 1950’s, and the second is Spillane’s final completed novel. Sort of ‘bookends’ of his career.
“They can take my badge, but not who I am.”
“…I love you Rod, and I want you alive.”
“That’s what I want, too, honey. But first I’ve got to kill some people.” And he does! Rod is the main character of the first story and he’s up against the Shark and the Syndicate and, well, pretty much all of the power brokers in the town of Gantsville. It’s a short story, full of action and a nice twist to wrap it up.
“The Last Stand” finds Joe Gillian in the desert after his plane stopped working and he had to make an emergency landing. Runs into a Native American fella named Pete, who has a horse. “They were a strange trio, two men and a horse.” They gotta survive the desert and then keep a strange arrowhead from falling into the hands of the FBI. It's a good story but gets a little "out there" with the power source thing that the FBI is after. Definitely not a crime/detective story!
“They can take my badge, but not who I am.”
“…I love you Rod, and I want you alive.”
“That’s what I want, too, honey. But first I’ve got to kill some people.” And he does! Rod is the main character of the first story and he’s up against the Shark and the Syndicate and, well, pretty much all of the power brokers in the town of Gantsville. It’s a short story, full of action and a nice twist to wrap it up.
“The Last Stand” finds Joe Gillian in the desert after his plane stopped working and he had to make an emergency landing. Runs into a Native American fella named Pete, who has a horse. “They were a strange trio, two men and a horse.” They gotta survive the desert and then keep a strange arrowhead from falling into the hands of the FBI. It's a good story but gets a little "out there" with the power source thing that the FBI is after. Definitely not a crime/detective story!
May 9, 2018
A double treat from Spillane and Collins
This book contains two novellas that bookend the career of acclaimed mystery author Mickey Spillane, famous for his Mike Hammer PI novels. They were I completed after Spillane’s death and brought to publication by Max Allen Collins, himself an acclaimed author.
The first story is a classic pulp tale of a man against deadly forces. It contains lots of two-fisted and not so politically correct action as well as pliable female character for which Spillane was famously, or infamously, known in his later novels and stories.
The second, eponymous tale is a more mature story that starts more as an adventure story of two men, one Indian the other white, who meet in the desert and form a friendship. The story becomes more complex with the introduction of a crime element that involves ancient native traditions and an element of national security.
Both stories show the range of this classic American popular author.
This book contains two novellas that bookend the career of acclaimed mystery author Mickey Spillane, famous for his Mike Hammer PI novels. They were I completed after Spillane’s death and brought to publication by Max Allen Collins, himself an acclaimed author.
The first story is a classic pulp tale of a man against deadly forces. It contains lots of two-fisted and not so politically correct action as well as pliable female character for which Spillane was famously, or infamously, known in his later novels and stories.
The second, eponymous tale is a more mature story that starts more as an adventure story of two men, one Indian the other white, who meet in the desert and form a friendship. The story becomes more complex with the introduction of a crime element that involves ancient native traditions and an element of national security.
Both stories show the range of this classic American popular author.
June 29, 2022
A collection of two novellas, both of which are readable.
A Bullet for Satisfaction is typical Spillane, having both the strengths (memorable prose, over the top sex and violence), and weaknesses (easy to guess villain). It would have lodged happily in one of those 50s pulp magazines, like Manhunt, as a complete in one issue novel. Instead of Mike Hammer, troubled and troubling private eye, we have Rod Dexter, honest cop determined to clean up the town and have a lot of sex while doing it. Written in 1952, it’s hard to see why this one was buried.
The Last Stand is a change of pace, an oddball adventure story featuring vintage planes, sassy Native Americans, and an aging hero who has a lot of MIller Lite in his cooler. That’s handy to have when you crash land into Tony Hillerman country. Not embarrassing, but if it would not have been published had the author not been an icon.
A Bullet for Satisfaction is typical Spillane, having both the strengths (memorable prose, over the top sex and violence), and weaknesses (easy to guess villain). It would have lodged happily in one of those 50s pulp magazines, like Manhunt, as a complete in one issue novel. Instead of Mike Hammer, troubled and troubling private eye, we have Rod Dexter, honest cop determined to clean up the town and have a lot of sex while doing it. Written in 1952, it’s hard to see why this one was buried.
The Last Stand is a change of pace, an oddball adventure story featuring vintage planes, sassy Native Americans, and an aging hero who has a lot of MIller Lite in his cooler. That’s handy to have when you crash land into Tony Hillerman country. Not embarrassing, but if it would not have been published had the author not been an icon.
June 28, 2021
Two novellas in one volume. The first is a fun mess, ham fisted hard boiled noir. I enjoyed it over all and flew through it. The second titular story was sort of a modern comedic western. It bugged me how the protagonist, a middle aged white guy, managed to captivate mostly native characters (beating their toughest warrior and courting their most eligible single woman). It felt a bit like an adventure story that didn’t quite fit the Hard Case imprint, too.
December 3, 2018
The year 2018 marks Mickey Spillane’s 100th birthday, and it is fans of hard-boiled crime fiction who get the gifts. The respected and revered Hard Case Crime imprint has fittingly planned the publication of a number of Spillane-connected works, the first of these being a volume fittingly titled THE LAST STAND. I am delighted to report that it contains not one but two of Spillane’s previously unpublished novels that effectively bookend his writing career.
The first of these is A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION, which required some supplemental editing and writing by Max Allan Collins, a prolific author in his own right and Spillane’s anointed postmortem collaborator. This is actually a novella, but Spillane --- with Collins working in his wake --- made every word count. Written very early in his career, the tale is vintage Spillane and identifiable as such practically from the first paragraph. Rod Dexter is a homicide detective who crosses swords with Frank Graham, the local district attorney, during the course of a murder investigation. The victim, a friend of Graham’s, is a state politician who was shot to death. There are few clues and no witnesses. Dexter confronts Graham and is summarily fired.
That, of course, doesn’t stop Dexter from continuing to investigate the murder and looking for revenge on Graham. I’m not really giving anything away when I tell you that he accomplishes both, but not before getting involved with a couple of lovely women, living through a gun battle or two, and almost getting beaten to death. If you’ve read any of Spillane’s early works, you’ll be familiar with the formula, but it’s one that is always interesting and never tiresome, in part because Spillane (with an assist from Collins) provides a mystery at the core of the story, a puzzle for which the solution is not revealed until the very end. It’s classic Spillane, presented for the first time.
That brings us to THE LAST STAND, which, as we are informed by Collins in his introduction, is Spillane’s last completed work and is a contemporary western. Spillane, well into his 80s at the time of writing it, was not afraid to depart from his tried-and-true method. Indeed, the novel begins slowly, with the pilot of a private aircraft making an emergency landing on an Indian reservation. The pilot’s name is Joe Gillian, and his sudden return to earth is witnessed by Sequoia Pete. The two engage in some male bonding, leading to a bromance of sorts as they traverse the desert, during which Joe happens to uncover an arrowhead made of a miraculous substance that ultimately comes to the attention of the federal government. Some gangsters searching for rare artifacts are also involved. Pete happens to have a sister named Running Fox --- seriously --- and, of course, romantic sparks fly between her and Joe.
Again, this story takes a while to get going, but once it does, it is a near-perfect example of something that could have been written for a 1940s pulp magazine but reads just fine in 2018. It’s not the Spillane you know, but it’s still a terrific story.
These two novels are not just for Spillane completists. Anyone who enjoys genre fiction can find much to love here, especially those who were born long after Spillane and Mike Hammer had their popular run. Actually, though, that run never really stopped, did it?
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
The first of these is A BULLET FOR SATISFACTION, which required some supplemental editing and writing by Max Allan Collins, a prolific author in his own right and Spillane’s anointed postmortem collaborator. This is actually a novella, but Spillane --- with Collins working in his wake --- made every word count. Written very early in his career, the tale is vintage Spillane and identifiable as such practically from the first paragraph. Rod Dexter is a homicide detective who crosses swords with Frank Graham, the local district attorney, during the course of a murder investigation. The victim, a friend of Graham’s, is a state politician who was shot to death. There are few clues and no witnesses. Dexter confronts Graham and is summarily fired.
That, of course, doesn’t stop Dexter from continuing to investigate the murder and looking for revenge on Graham. I’m not really giving anything away when I tell you that he accomplishes both, but not before getting involved with a couple of lovely women, living through a gun battle or two, and almost getting beaten to death. If you’ve read any of Spillane’s early works, you’ll be familiar with the formula, but it’s one that is always interesting and never tiresome, in part because Spillane (with an assist from Collins) provides a mystery at the core of the story, a puzzle for which the solution is not revealed until the very end. It’s classic Spillane, presented for the first time.
That brings us to THE LAST STAND, which, as we are informed by Collins in his introduction, is Spillane’s last completed work and is a contemporary western. Spillane, well into his 80s at the time of writing it, was not afraid to depart from his tried-and-true method. Indeed, the novel begins slowly, with the pilot of a private aircraft making an emergency landing on an Indian reservation. The pilot’s name is Joe Gillian, and his sudden return to earth is witnessed by Sequoia Pete. The two engage in some male bonding, leading to a bromance of sorts as they traverse the desert, during which Joe happens to uncover an arrowhead made of a miraculous substance that ultimately comes to the attention of the federal government. Some gangsters searching for rare artifacts are also involved. Pete happens to have a sister named Running Fox --- seriously --- and, of course, romantic sparks fly between her and Joe.
Again, this story takes a while to get going, but once it does, it is a near-perfect example of something that could have been written for a 1940s pulp magazine but reads just fine in 2018. It’s not the Spillane you know, but it’s still a terrific story.
These two novels are not just for Spillane completists. Anyone who enjoys genre fiction can find much to love here, especially those who were born long after Spillane and Mike Hammer had their popular run. Actually, though, that run never really stopped, did it?
Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
October 21, 2022
A Bullet for Satisfaction and The Last Stand, two books for the price of one, and neither is honestly that good. The latter, at least, lets the Mickster put someone besides a standard potboiler PI through his paces. Not that it matters, as the protagonist of The Last Stand is basically a Mike Hammer cardboard cutout meant to do the fighting and effing instead of Mike.
A Bullet for Satisfaction deals with the travails of a cop who gets booted off the force for playing too rough in his investigation of a criminal conspiracy. Once off the force, he gets even rougher, slaps some ladies, shoots some men, and puts the world to rights.
The Last Stand shows a few more signs of life, dealing with the MacGuffin of an arrowhead made from a heretofore undiscovered element found in the desert. Pretty soon the Federados come sniffing around, hoping to exploit the red man one last time for fun and profit. The only thing preventing them, though, is a white guy whose plane went down in the wasteland. Ole “White Eyes,” is hesitant to play savior until he gets a look at a buxom, raven-haired squaw who all the braves on the res covet. One Indian in particular, known as Big Arms, is willing to fight to the death in order to lay claim to the girl.
He and White Eyes eventually face off and...do you really need me to tell you who emerges victorious?
Sometimes, the highbrows look down on pulp because they’re acting from their own pretentions, biases, and willful ignorance. Sometimes, they’re right, though, and there’s simply no “there” there. There’s a little more “there” there than usual with Spillane this time out, but it still ain’t much. Meh.
A Bullet for Satisfaction deals with the travails of a cop who gets booted off the force for playing too rough in his investigation of a criminal conspiracy. Once off the force, he gets even rougher, slaps some ladies, shoots some men, and puts the world to rights.
The Last Stand shows a few more signs of life, dealing with the MacGuffin of an arrowhead made from a heretofore undiscovered element found in the desert. Pretty soon the Federados come sniffing around, hoping to exploit the red man one last time for fun and profit. The only thing preventing them, though, is a white guy whose plane went down in the wasteland. Ole “White Eyes,” is hesitant to play savior until he gets a look at a buxom, raven-haired squaw who all the braves on the res covet. One Indian in particular, known as Big Arms, is willing to fight to the death in order to lay claim to the girl.
He and White Eyes eventually face off and...do you really need me to tell you who emerges victorious?
Sometimes, the highbrows look down on pulp because they’re acting from their own pretentions, biases, and willful ignorance. Sometimes, they’re right, though, and there’s simply no “there” there. There’s a little more “there” there than usual with Spillane this time out, but it still ain’t much. Meh.
July 14, 2025
I enjoyed both of these stories. A Bullet for Satisfaction is pure Mickey Spillane with geneous helpings from another master of the genre, Max Allan Collins. There's no Mike Hammer, but Captain Rod Dexter fills in for him neatly. Death, beatings, back-stabbing, treachery, and outright betrayal. And the bodies pile up. There is sex too, doubtlessly implied.
The Last Stand" is a great story! Spillane did his due diligence on this one. Fine details on every aspect, every Mcguffin, and every character. There's a sense that he knew first-hand about everything he wrote. Again, there's no Mike Hammer, but there is Joe Gillian, as fine a stand-in for Mike Hammer as could be, even if he is of different type, a type much like Mickey Spillane. Gillian's friends, the bad guys, the WWII plane, the treasure, or treasures, and the culture clash that isn't. And THE woman - hoo boy. Strong character there, and a bombshell of a good-looker, with brains to match. The story plays out with plenty of tension to keep it going, and we care deeply about the fate of every single character. The way Spillane handles each one is carefully brilliant.
The Last Stand" is a great story! Spillane did his due diligence on this one. Fine details on every aspect, every Mcguffin, and every character. There's a sense that he knew first-hand about everything he wrote. Again, there's no Mike Hammer, but there is Joe Gillian, as fine a stand-in for Mike Hammer as could be, even if he is of different type, a type much like Mickey Spillane. Gillian's friends, the bad guys, the WWII plane, the treasure, or treasures, and the culture clash that isn't. And THE woman - hoo boy. Strong character there, and a bombshell of a good-looker, with brains to match. The story plays out with plenty of tension to keep it going, and we care deeply about the fate of every single character. The way Spillane handles each one is carefully brilliant.
June 1, 2025
The book is actually two stories which threw me for a loop as I thought it was one. The two stories provide and interesting look at the moral change of Spillanes writing from the start of his career vs the end. The first story is a not quite finished one from the start of his career that Collins polished up for publication. The latter is all Spillane and finished shortly before his death. I personally like the violent sexual grittiness of his early writing but the latter story shows that Spillane had not lost his touch as a writer. It is written in a ramshackle dialogue style that is to hard boiled to be called quirky, though that is the best word I can think of. The writing is unique and creative. A fitting tribute to a master who, if not right out invented (as some say) the hard boiled detective genre, was at least a major architect of it.
January 13, 2023
Book consists of two short stories first one was written by Mickey Spillane but heavily edited rewritten by a friend of his Max Allan Collins Bullet For Satisfaction.
This story was pretty bland and basic Collins says he had to edit out a communist subplot element in his introduction and it just didn't work for me .
Second story is written by Spillane himself The Last Stand in the later years of his life have to say enjoyed this one and with a little work would make a good film reads more like an adventure story .
One thing I did not like about the book as has been mentioned before by others the cover art dosent reflect any aspect in any of the stories .
I would read the last stand again but not A bullet for satisfaction.
This story was pretty bland and basic Collins says he had to edit out a communist subplot element in his introduction and it just didn't work for me .
Second story is written by Spillane himself The Last Stand in the later years of his life have to say enjoyed this one and with a little work would make a good film reads more like an adventure story .
One thing I did not like about the book as has been mentioned before by others the cover art dosent reflect any aspect in any of the stories .
I would read the last stand again but not A bullet for satisfaction.
June 27, 2024
story one: A Bullet for Satisfaction was almost all Mickey Spillane. As Max Allan Collins commented, he only had to clean up a few things in the old manuscript and it was vintage sex - blood - mayhem Spillane. The story is of revenge and lust with some redemption at the end.
story two: The Last Stand was a complete tale from Spillane but with a difference. The violence was muted. The sex was really just romance in development. And the action was more Jack Reacher. The last complete Spillane story and it needed minor editing for the usual spelling and such by estate executor Collins. On the 100th birthday of Mickey it gives a fuller and more contemporary hero than the veteran hard case Hammer from his main works. This story alone is 4 stars.
story two: The Last Stand was a complete tale from Spillane but with a difference. The violence was muted. The sex was really just romance in development. And the action was more Jack Reacher. The last complete Spillane story and it needed minor editing for the usual spelling and such by estate executor Collins. On the 100th birthday of Mickey it gives a fuller and more contemporary hero than the veteran hard case Hammer from his main works. This story alone is 4 stars.
April 21, 2018
I wouldn't say it is 2 Spillane stories in 1 book. I would actually consider it 3.
Max Allan Collins delivers a tearjerker of an introduction bound to make any Spillane fan shed a tear.
"A Bullet For Satisfaction" is the first fictional story in this book. It is a classic Spillane story as we follow Captain Dexter as he hunts for the killer of a high powered politician. It is written in the 1st person, making it classic Spillane.
The 2nd story "The Last Stand" is a western written in the 3rd person, which wasn't Mickey's traditional style of story-telling. Still, it is a good one and worth reading.
Max Allan Collins delivers a tearjerker of an introduction bound to make any Spillane fan shed a tear.
"A Bullet For Satisfaction" is the first fictional story in this book. It is a classic Spillane story as we follow Captain Dexter as he hunts for the killer of a high powered politician. It is written in the 1st person, making it classic Spillane.
The 2nd story "The Last Stand" is a western written in the 3rd person, which wasn't Mickey's traditional style of story-telling. Still, it is a good one and worth reading.
November 11, 2018
It was ok, but not great. First, it was two novellas instead of one book. The first novella was about a Spillane type character, but definitely not a Mike Hammer type. This didn't really go anywhere for me. It's been probably 40 years since I've read a Mickey Spillane and this one doesn't seem to be up to the standards I remember. Yeah, he shot people, had a fling with a girl or two, and wound up ahead and the bad guy(s) behind. The second novella was kind of fun. Ok plot, fun character development, but really a piece of fluff. Had absolutely nothing to do with anything else Spillane has ever written.
December 9, 2020
Rating between 3.5 & 4
These 2 novellas were both very good I thought.
The first story ‘a bullet for satisfaction’ was clearly a typical 1950’s pulp/noir story and all the more enjoyable for being of that vintage.
The second story ‘the last stand’ didn’t feel like a mickey Spillane novella. It was an entertaining adventure story that could have been written by any writer I thought. That’s didn’t detract from my enjoyment though.
Oddly when I thought about these 2 novellas I imagined them as movies or limited tv series, the stories and the associated imagery were very strong in my mind. That doesn’t happen very often to me.
Overall then a solid recommendation.
These 2 novellas were both very good I thought.
The first story ‘a bullet for satisfaction’ was clearly a typical 1950’s pulp/noir story and all the more enjoyable for being of that vintage.
The second story ‘the last stand’ didn’t feel like a mickey Spillane novella. It was an entertaining adventure story that could have been written by any writer I thought. That’s didn’t detract from my enjoyment though.
Oddly when I thought about these 2 novellas I imagined them as movies or limited tv series, the stories and the associated imagery were very strong in my mind. That doesn’t happen very often to me.
Overall then a solid recommendation.
August 28, 2024
Always loved Mickey Spillane for his colorful language, characters and descriptions. These two novellas are up to par at least.
Surprise! One is kind of a modern Western pairing the tough guy hero with a Native American in the desert surrounding the reservation. It's an ancient gold-hunting theme with historical roots in mystery and a surprise discovery of a mythical element which has the power to change warfare and energy production.
plus, he's a pilot who knows how to fly the old ones - but not how to fix them. luckily for him his new pal has a sister who can fix anything and does. Bad guys of different types intervene and, of course, are given their comeuppance. Good stuff.
Surprise! One is kind of a modern Western pairing the tough guy hero with a Native American in the desert surrounding the reservation. It's an ancient gold-hunting theme with historical roots in mystery and a surprise discovery of a mythical element which has the power to change warfare and energy production.
plus, he's a pilot who knows how to fly the old ones - but not how to fix them. luckily for him his new pal has a sister who can fix anything and does. Bad guys of different types intervene and, of course, are given their comeuppance. Good stuff.
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