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The Long Wait
A tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans!
186 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
17 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
Mickey Spillane
316 books447 followersMickey Spillane was one of the world's most popular mystery writers. His specialty was tight-fisted, sadistic revenge stories, often featuring his alcoholic gumshoe Mike Hammer and a cast of evildoers who launder money or spout the Communist Party line.
His writing style was characterized by short words, lightning transitions, gruff sex and violent endings. It was once tallied that he offed 58 people in six novels.
Starting with "I, the Jury," in 1947, Mr. Spillane sold hundreds of millions of books during his lifetime and garnered consistently scathing reviews. Even his father, a Brooklyn bartender, called them "crud."
Mr. Spillane was a struggling comic book publisher when he wrote "I, the Jury." He initially envisioned it as a comic book called "Mike Danger," and when that did not go over, he took a week to reconfigure it as a novel.
Even the editor in chief of E.P. Dutton and Co., Mr. Spillane's publisher, was skeptical of the book's literary merit but conceded it would probably be a smash with postwar readers looking for ready action. He was right. The book, in which Hammer pursues a murderous narcotics ring led by a curvaceous female psychiatrist, went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
Mr. Spillane spun out six novels in the next five years, among them "My Gun Is Quick," "The Big Kill," "One Lonely Night" and "Kiss Me, Deadly." Most concerned Hammer, his faithful sidekick, Velda, and the police homicide captain Pat Chambers, who acknowledges that Hammer's style of vigilante justice is often better suited than the law to dispatching criminals.
Mr. Spillane's success rankled other critics, who sometimes became very personal in their reviews. Malcolm Cowley called Mr. Spillane "a homicidal paranoiac," going on to note what he called his misogyny and vigilante tendencies.
His books were translated into many languages, and he proved so popular as a writer that he was able to transfer his thick-necked, barrel-chested personality across many media. With the charisma of a redwood, he played Hammer in "The Girl Hunters," a 1963 film adaptation of his novel.
Spillane also scripted several television shows and films and played a detective in the 1954 suspense film "Ring of Fear," set at a Clyde Beatty circus. He rewrote much of the film, too, refusing payment. In gratitude, the producer, John Wayne, surprised him one morning with a white Jaguar sportster wrapped in a red ribbon. The card read, "Thanks, Duke."
Done initially on a dare from his publisher, Mr. Spillane wrote a children's book, "The Day the Sea Rolled Back" (1979), about two boys who find a shipwreck loaded with treasure. This won a Junior Literary Guild award.
He also wrote another children's novel, "The Ship That Never Was," and then wrote his first Mike Hammer mystery in 20 years with "The Killing Man" (1989). "Black Alley" followed in 1996. In the last, a rapidly aging Hammer comes out of a gunshot-induced coma, then tracks down a friend's murderer and billions in mob loot. For the first time, he also confesses his love for Velda but, because of doctor's orders, cannot consummate the relationship.
Late in life, he received a career achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America and was named a grand master by the Mystery Writers of America.
In his private life, he neither smoked nor drank and was a house-to-house missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses. He expressed at times great disdain for what he saw as corrosive forces in American life, from antiwar protesters to the United Nations.
His marriages to Mary Ann Pearce and Sherri Malinou ended in divorce. His second wife, a model, posed nude for the dust jacket of his 1972 novel "The Erection Set."
Survivors include his third wife, Jane Rodgers Johnson, a former beauty queen 30 years his junior; and four children from the first marriage.
He also carried on a long epistolary flirtation with Ayn Rand, an admirer of his writing.
His writing style was characterized by short words, lightning transitions, gruff sex and violent endings. It was once tallied that he offed 58 people in six novels.
Starting with "I, the Jury," in 1947, Mr. Spillane sold hundreds of millions of books during his lifetime and garnered consistently scathing reviews. Even his father, a Brooklyn bartender, called them "crud."
Mr. Spillane was a struggling comic book publisher when he wrote "I, the Jury." He initially envisioned it as a comic book called "Mike Danger," and when that did not go over, he took a week to reconfigure it as a novel.
Even the editor in chief of E.P. Dutton and Co., Mr. Spillane's publisher, was skeptical of the book's literary merit but conceded it would probably be a smash with postwar readers looking for ready action. He was right. The book, in which Hammer pursues a murderous narcotics ring led by a curvaceous female psychiatrist, went on to sell more than 1 million copies.
Mr. Spillane spun out six novels in the next five years, among them "My Gun Is Quick," "The Big Kill," "One Lonely Night" and "Kiss Me, Deadly." Most concerned Hammer, his faithful sidekick, Velda, and the police homicide captain Pat Chambers, who acknowledges that Hammer's style of vigilante justice is often better suited than the law to dispatching criminals.
Mr. Spillane's success rankled other critics, who sometimes became very personal in their reviews. Malcolm Cowley called Mr. Spillane "a homicidal paranoiac," going on to note what he called his misogyny and vigilante tendencies.
His books were translated into many languages, and he proved so popular as a writer that he was able to transfer his thick-necked, barrel-chested personality across many media. With the charisma of a redwood, he played Hammer in "The Girl Hunters," a 1963 film adaptation of his novel.
Spillane also scripted several television shows and films and played a detective in the 1954 suspense film "Ring of Fear," set at a Clyde Beatty circus. He rewrote much of the film, too, refusing payment. In gratitude, the producer, John Wayne, surprised him one morning with a white Jaguar sportster wrapped in a red ribbon. The card read, "Thanks, Duke."
Done initially on a dare from his publisher, Mr. Spillane wrote a children's book, "The Day the Sea Rolled Back" (1979), about two boys who find a shipwreck loaded with treasure. This won a Junior Literary Guild award.
He also wrote another children's novel, "The Ship That Never Was," and then wrote his first Mike Hammer mystery in 20 years with "The Killing Man" (1989). "Black Alley" followed in 1996. In the last, a rapidly aging Hammer comes out of a gunshot-induced coma, then tracks down a friend's murderer and billions in mob loot. For the first time, he also confesses his love for Velda but, because of doctor's orders, cannot consummate the relationship.
Late in life, he received a career achievement award from the Private Eye Writers of America and was named a grand master by the Mystery Writers of America.
In his private life, he neither smoked nor drank and was a house-to-house missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses. He expressed at times great disdain for what he saw as corrosive forces in American life, from antiwar protesters to the United Nations.
His marriages to Mary Ann Pearce and Sherri Malinou ended in divorce. His second wife, a model, posed nude for the dust jacket of his 1972 novel "The Erection Set."
Survivors include his third wife, Jane Rodgers Johnson, a former beauty queen 30 years his junior; and four children from the first marriage.
He also carried on a long epistolary flirtation with Ayn Rand, an admirer of his writing.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 24, 2020
"The Long Wait" is Spillane's 1951 hardboiled masterpiece. It is a dark, gloomy tale filled with hoods and femme fatales. It is the story of Johnny McBride returning to his hometown after many years away, returning to find every cop and every hood wants him gone or dead and the rest of the town isn't too keen on him hanging around either. It is hardboiled goodness reminiscent of Ross MacDonald's "Blue City" and Jonathan Latimer's 1941 classic "Solomon's Vineyard." Don't open this book if you've got things to do.
This is filled with familiar plot devices of this genre: the man returning to his hometown after years away to clear his good name, the crooked cops, the hoods running every bar, poolhall, casino around, the madam with the heart of gold, the barber who knows all the gossip, the nosy reporter. It is a story of one man standing alone against an entire town. It is a story about a man hellbent on revenge against three people.
Most of all, it is filled with hardboiled goodness. The narrator doesn't scare easily because: "Anything that could ever scare me had already done it and now there wasn't anything left I'd let push me." Now he punches a guy and his face turns into a squashed ripe tomato. And he only goes down when someone splits his skull open. And it's real hard for him to talk when a real bottle-yellow blonde in a green dress steps up to the microphone. "She was a million bucks in a green dress under artificial lights and two million in bed. A dime a dozen in the daytime though."
This is simply great stuff and Spillane doesn't get nearly enough credit for the quality of his writing, but, amidst the car chases and gunfire and facing off with hoods, a solid, hard-edged, dark tale is told.
Highly recommended.
This is filled with familiar plot devices of this genre: the man returning to his hometown after years away to clear his good name, the crooked cops, the hoods running every bar, poolhall, casino around, the madam with the heart of gold, the barber who knows all the gossip, the nosy reporter. It is a story of one man standing alone against an entire town. It is a story about a man hellbent on revenge against three people.
Most of all, it is filled with hardboiled goodness. The narrator doesn't scare easily because: "Anything that could ever scare me had already done it and now there wasn't anything left I'd let push me." Now he punches a guy and his face turns into a squashed ripe tomato. And he only goes down when someone splits his skull open. And it's real hard for him to talk when a real bottle-yellow blonde in a green dress steps up to the microphone. "She was a million bucks in a green dress under artificial lights and two million in bed. A dime a dozen in the daytime though."
This is simply great stuff and Spillane doesn't get nearly enough credit for the quality of his writing, but, amidst the car chases and gunfire and facing off with hoods, a solid, hard-edged, dark tale is told.
Highly recommended.
July 4, 2023
Published in 1951 - the same year as Spillane published his Mike Hammer #4 & #5 - this must have been an opportunity to scratch a different itch. Johnny McBride is a different character to Mike Hammer - but not that different.
This was a cute story of identical strangers, who met up and revenge and the clearing of his name when one of these strangers died. There are, of course, some outrageous facts the reader must accept, and a number of characters who have to play their part to have the story roll out the way it does, but this is hard-boiled fiction, and that sort of comes with the territory, doesn't it?
There are other places to look for a dedicated plot outline, but basically Johnny McBride legs it from the town of Lyncastle after being implicated in embezzlement and the murder of a D.A. On the run, he meets up with an identical stranger - and they are involved in a deadly bus wreck where the stranger, George Wilson gets a head injury and loses his memory. Wilson lifts some red hot wreckage to save McBride, and injures his hands, conveniently removing his finger prints permanently. Some time later, while working together as scaffolders, Johnny McBride dies saving Wilson from a fall. Wilson takes on McBride's identity and returns to Lyncastle to clear his name.
Having been gone for only five years, McBride is known to many in town, especially those who set him up initially, and to the cops. The cops are either too dumb to see that he was stitched up, on on the payroll of those who set him up. Wilson (as McBride) has to unravel the tangle with only the basic knowledge he learned from McBride before he died - but initially has to determine who is friend and who is foe.
Despite attracting blows to the head that would render most hard men brain damaged, he avoids being killed a number of times when the outcome should have been otherwise - skills help, but luck plays its part, otherwise this could have been a short novel with an unsatisfactory ending!
There are dames a plenty, most in a state of undress. There are crooks and hard men, most who end up a corpses. There are scores to settle, beers to be drunk and butts to be smoked. McBride finds his police captain (vis a vis Mike Hammer and Pat Chambers) and after getting quickly on the wrong side of him, makes him see McBride was a fall guy.
I liked a couple of aspects. I liked that we were tortured for 40 pages with only hints of the backstory (although it is noted in the blurb), and I liked that the story wrapped up in the last 20 pages - and before that there were still moving parts. Maybe I have a bit of Mike Hammer fatigue, but I actually liked this one better than most of Spillane's books I have read to date.
4 stars
This was a cute story of identical strangers, who met up and revenge and the clearing of his name when one of these strangers died. There are, of course, some outrageous facts the reader must accept, and a number of characters who have to play their part to have the story roll out the way it does, but this is hard-boiled fiction, and that sort of comes with the territory, doesn't it?
There are other places to look for a dedicated plot outline, but basically Johnny McBride legs it from the town of Lyncastle after being implicated in embezzlement and the murder of a D.A. On the run, he meets up with an identical stranger - and they are involved in a deadly bus wreck where the stranger, George Wilson gets a head injury and loses his memory. Wilson lifts some red hot wreckage to save McBride, and injures his hands, conveniently removing his finger prints permanently. Some time later, while working together as scaffolders, Johnny McBride dies saving Wilson from a fall. Wilson takes on McBride's identity and returns to Lyncastle to clear his name.
Having been gone for only five years, McBride is known to many in town, especially those who set him up initially, and to the cops. The cops are either too dumb to see that he was stitched up, on on the payroll of those who set him up. Wilson (as McBride) has to unravel the tangle with only the basic knowledge he learned from McBride before he died - but initially has to determine who is friend and who is foe.
Despite attracting blows to the head that would render most hard men brain damaged, he avoids being killed a number of times when the outcome should have been otherwise - skills help, but luck plays its part, otherwise this could have been a short novel with an unsatisfactory ending!
There are dames a plenty, most in a state of undress. There are crooks and hard men, most who end up a corpses. There are scores to settle, beers to be drunk and butts to be smoked. McBride finds his police captain (vis a vis Mike Hammer and Pat Chambers) and after getting quickly on the wrong side of him, makes him see McBride was a fall guy.
I liked a couple of aspects. I liked that we were tortured for 40 pages with only hints of the backstory (although it is noted in the blurb), and I liked that the story wrapped up in the last 20 pages - and before that there were still moving parts. Maybe I have a bit of Mike Hammer fatigue, but I actually liked this one better than most of Spillane's books I have read to date.
4 stars
Want to read
August 24, 2020The cover of this book is much brighter than the picture indicates. There is no credit as to who painted the cover,
This is the first Signet printing May 1952.
This is the first Signet printing May 1952.
December 28, 2018
I must confess that this is the first Mickey Spillane novel that I have ever read and I rather enjoyed it. The book has all the elements that I would expect from a genre which has been the subject of parody and pastiche for many years. I suppose the closest I’ve come to the world of hard-boiled crime are the graphic novels of Frank Miller and the Sin City films.
The world that Spillane creates centres around the Middle Western town of Lyncastle, a town where alcohol and gambling are rife and lead to protection rackets and dishonest cops. Into this world steps Johnny McBride, who is accused of murdering the DA and embezzling two hundred thousand bucks. After five years away he comes home to clear his name.
The story isn’t about realism; Johnny will hit cops and not end up in jail, get whacked on the head with a variety of heavy metal objects, but still retain the ability to think quickly, figure out a plan and escape from a tight spot. Most of us would have concussion, blurred vision and a relentless need for sleep. But the plot is great and keeps on twisting right up to the final page.
I had a particular motive for reading this book. A few weeks ago, I read This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman, which recreates the true events in New Zealand history when Albert Black was hung for the murder of Alan Jacques. Most people at the time didn’t know Jacques by his real name, calling him Johnny McBride, the hard hitting, woman seducing criminal at the centre of this book. I was keen to find out about the fictional McBride, and know who Jacques took as a role model. Spillane’s McBride was a hard man who was always one step ahead, not afraid to dole out a good bashing to anyone he took a dislike to, happy to have a beer in various bars around town and sleep with several different women. He was ex-army, a highly trained fighter who could handle a gun or a knife and handle himself in any tense situation.
I was forming an impression of the sort of role-model he would make for an impressionable young man in the 1950s. McBride was a criminal who is accused of robbery and knows how to crack a safe. It is interesting that for all these bad qualities we remain on his side, the side of the underdog, throughout “The Long Wait’. The photograph I have seen of Alan Jacques shows a tall, well-built man who looks older than his nineteen years. He has a swagger about him that looks tough, and Fiona Kidman has him serving time in the military. He looks like a fighter, and it seems he picked on the smaller Albert Black, who carried a knife to protect himself. The killing of Alan Jacques became known as the ‘jukebox killing’, as he was leaning over a jukebox in a café when Black approached him from behind. Only a day or two before Jacques has beaten up Albert Black, and Black was still sore.
That a real person would take the name of Spillane’s ruthless killer speaks volumes to my simple view of events. Judge and jury in 1955 were not of the same mind and condemned Black to be hung. Modern justice might have treated him differently, but in those days, there was a fear of moral panic – youth culture was out of control and many blamed comics and books just like “The Long Wait’ for the glamourisation of violence and portrayal easy sex and poor morals. The New Zealand Government of the day published something called ‘The Mazengarb Report’ which among other things examined ‘objectionable publications’, including crime stories and comics, that excited ‘erotic feelings in children’. There was a call to change the laws which could only ban publications which were ‘indecent or obscene’. The report actually states that what we would today call a graphic novel ‘is basically designed for low-mentality adults.’ The report called for a ban on printed matter that might be harmful to children. It is worth noting that many of those involved in the Albert Black case, and similar ones at the time, were ages as young as fifteen and sixteen. It is interesting to be able to judge a book both by its content at the impact it had at the time of publication.
The world that Spillane creates centres around the Middle Western town of Lyncastle, a town where alcohol and gambling are rife and lead to protection rackets and dishonest cops. Into this world steps Johnny McBride, who is accused of murdering the DA and embezzling two hundred thousand bucks. After five years away he comes home to clear his name.
The story isn’t about realism; Johnny will hit cops and not end up in jail, get whacked on the head with a variety of heavy metal objects, but still retain the ability to think quickly, figure out a plan and escape from a tight spot. Most of us would have concussion, blurred vision and a relentless need for sleep. But the plot is great and keeps on twisting right up to the final page.
I had a particular motive for reading this book. A few weeks ago, I read This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman, which recreates the true events in New Zealand history when Albert Black was hung for the murder of Alan Jacques. Most people at the time didn’t know Jacques by his real name, calling him Johnny McBride, the hard hitting, woman seducing criminal at the centre of this book. I was keen to find out about the fictional McBride, and know who Jacques took as a role model. Spillane’s McBride was a hard man who was always one step ahead, not afraid to dole out a good bashing to anyone he took a dislike to, happy to have a beer in various bars around town and sleep with several different women. He was ex-army, a highly trained fighter who could handle a gun or a knife and handle himself in any tense situation.
I was forming an impression of the sort of role-model he would make for an impressionable young man in the 1950s. McBride was a criminal who is accused of robbery and knows how to crack a safe. It is interesting that for all these bad qualities we remain on his side, the side of the underdog, throughout “The Long Wait’. The photograph I have seen of Alan Jacques shows a tall, well-built man who looks older than his nineteen years. He has a swagger about him that looks tough, and Fiona Kidman has him serving time in the military. He looks like a fighter, and it seems he picked on the smaller Albert Black, who carried a knife to protect himself. The killing of Alan Jacques became known as the ‘jukebox killing’, as he was leaning over a jukebox in a café when Black approached him from behind. Only a day or two before Jacques has beaten up Albert Black, and Black was still sore.
That a real person would take the name of Spillane’s ruthless killer speaks volumes to my simple view of events. Judge and jury in 1955 were not of the same mind and condemned Black to be hung. Modern justice might have treated him differently, but in those days, there was a fear of moral panic – youth culture was out of control and many blamed comics and books just like “The Long Wait’ for the glamourisation of violence and portrayal easy sex and poor morals. The New Zealand Government of the day published something called ‘The Mazengarb Report’ which among other things examined ‘objectionable publications’, including crime stories and comics, that excited ‘erotic feelings in children’. There was a call to change the laws which could only ban publications which were ‘indecent or obscene’. The report actually states that what we would today call a graphic novel ‘is basically designed for low-mentality adults.’ The report called for a ban on printed matter that might be harmful to children. It is worth noting that many of those involved in the Albert Black case, and similar ones at the time, were ages as young as fifteen and sixteen. It is interesting to be able to judge a book both by its content at the impact it had at the time of publication.
December 31, 2018
Review to come.
September 6, 2020
The plot setup depends on a brazen deus ex machina. A fiery bus crash causes three far-fetched groaners: . Spillane confesses: "A coincidence that won’t happen again for another thousand years." He needs to tack-on a few more zeros. This at least 4x or 5x machina.
Mickey Spillane must have brass balls to try such a stunt. He is obviously taunting his many harsh critics. As he sneered: "The literary world is made of second rate writers writing about other second rate writers."
Spillane delivers the merchandise that his customers want: vixens that look like they were poured into their dresses, savage smooching, and skull-crushing violence. This book must set a record for head trauma.
Mickey Spillane must have brass balls to try such a stunt. He is obviously taunting his many harsh critics. As he sneered: "The literary world is made of second rate writers writing about other second rate writers."
Spillane delivers the merchandise that his customers want: vixens that look like they were poured into their dresses, savage smooching, and skull-crushing violence. This book must set a record for head trauma.
"It was eight-thirty-two by my watch, but by my head it was time to hole up someplace and die."
October 21, 2011
So "The Long Wait" is the first Mickey Spillane book I have actually read, which is a bit odd since I love this style of writing so much. For some reason I never thought Mike Hammer was such an interesting character, especially compared to Spade, Marlowe, the Continental Op, Harper, etc. That impression may be based on the bad Stacy Keach TV show and I should probably read an actual book before deciding. Anyway "The Long Wait" does not feature Hammer but it is a very fun, crazy and memorable noir. I was really impressed with the way Spillane writes, the story is quite complicated but moves very fast and there is a ton of action. You won't find the most enlightened view of women here but that's hardly a surprise. This is tough guy fiction of the old school and I enjoyed it a lot.
Read
January 12, 2023Ελληνικός τίτλος: Η μεγάλη αναμονή Εκδόσεις Ατλαντίς. Κλασικό hard boiled. Σκληροί άντρες, μοιραίες γυναίκες και πολύ ξύλο. Καλό!
February 14, 2020
It's been a while since I last read a novel by Mickey Spillane. I read a few back in college and I remember thinking I'd rather learn to write like Spillane than the authors whose flaccid short stories were included in the curricula of my creative writing classes.
The Long Wait features probably the most convoluted plot of any novel I've read. It was like a parody at times. I've read a couple of Spillane's Mike Hammer books, and Hammer's a tough guy, but Johnny McBride, the main character of this book, makes a bad guy faint just by grinning menacingly at him. The story is interesting, but kind of badly paced. There are a few too many action scenes and though Spillane writes them well, he can't escape the law of diminishing returns. It had my attention most of the way through, though I will admit I was getting a little bored around 2/3 of the way in so I looked ahead to the ending to see if it was one worth getting to.
The Long Wait features probably the most convoluted plot of any novel I've read. It was like a parody at times. I've read a couple of Spillane's Mike Hammer books, and Hammer's a tough guy, but Johnny McBride, the main character of this book, makes a bad guy faint just by grinning menacingly at him. The story is interesting, but kind of badly paced. There are a few too many action scenes and though Spillane writes them well, he can't escape the law of diminishing returns. It had my attention most of the way through, though I will admit I was getting a little bored around 2/3 of the way in so I looked ahead to the ending to see if it was one worth getting to.
June 28, 2012
Not a Mike Hammer story but the protagonist could be mistaken for him. It's a violent noir mystery which our leading character must unravel and it's a pretty entertaining read though I prefer Hammer stories.
August 10, 2012
You can tell Spillane started as a comic book author. His books have that over the top comic book feel to them. Also, overtly and comically sexual, especially for 1951.
January 31, 2019
Johan nyt yrmyiltiin ja oltiin niin synkkiä. Mutta kyllä tämä toimii, ihan joka tasolla.
On väkivaltaa, on mustaa ja on murjotusta. Spillane oivalsi, että kun panee paljon kliseitä nippuun ja oikeaan järjestykseen, siitä tulee loistavuutta. Tai sitten tämän kirjan julkaisuajankohtana ne eivät vielä olleet kliseitä vaan tuoreita ja uusia oivalluksia, mutta kyllä tämä toimii.
Ei täydellinen tämäkään, mutta todella hyvä.
On väkivaltaa, on mustaa ja on murjotusta. Spillane oivalsi, että kun panee paljon kliseitä nippuun ja oikeaan järjestykseen, siitä tulee loistavuutta. Tai sitten tämän kirjan julkaisuajankohtana ne eivät vielä olleet kliseitä vaan tuoreita ja uusia oivalluksia, mutta kyllä tämä toimii.
Ei täydellinen tämäkään, mutta todella hyvä.
June 27, 2020
La precisa ricetta di Spillane sforna sempre risultati gustosi, in campo hard boiled. Anche quando, come in questo caso, il protagonista non è quella canaglia di Mike Hammer. La narrazione in prima persona, i dialoghi crudi e i continui colpi di scena ti fanno rimanere incollato alla pagina e, dopo tante botte, sparatorie, sangue a profusione e donne meravigliose, si giunge velocemente al termine del romanzo. Lasciandoti la voglia di iniziarne subito un altro.
June 16, 2017
A book full of rich old language and a retro cast of characters. At first, it seemed cheesy but quickly reveals itself as the real thing. It comes from a forgotten era where a good twist and interesting, not-so-easy-to-pick plot was important. Mickey has actually thought the plot through and it all comes together in a dramatic 50s style denouement. I'll be reading the rest!
July 20, 2020
Nasty business revenge turns out to be. Crackling dialog, non stop action easily sum this classic up. Protagonist Johnny McBride/ George Wilson is as tough a gangster as any. Had a ball reading. From around 1950-51, "The Long Wait" is a five star read out of a possible five stars. Check it out !
November 1, 2021
Surprising a character with a brain injury memory loss can be hit over the head so many times!
July 5, 2024
Absolutely amazing story. Kept me in suspense the whole way through and closed with a perfect ending. Can’t wait to read more of his works.
September 30, 2024
My first Spillane. This is hard hitting, well written, and kept me (and the protagonist) guessing all the way to the end. Sure, it has a far-fetched premise but get over that and enjoy the ride.
March 13, 2015
Το τρίτο βιβλίο που διαβάζω από Μίκι Σπιλέιν, μετά το Εγώ, οι ένορκοι και το Αγάπη μου θα σε σκοτώσω, απόλυτα χορταστικό και διασκεδαστικό με τον τρόπο του και σίγουρα στο ίδιο καλό παλπ επίπεδο. Και είναι μόλις το πρώτο δικό του που διαβάζω που πρωταγωνιστής δεν είναι ο γνωστός Μάικ Χάμερ, αλλά κάποιος άλλος, που όμως είναι το ίδιο σκληρός και γόης. Αυτό δεν αλλάζει.
Λοιπόν, ο πρωταγωνιστής μας έχει αμνησία, αλλά γυρνάει σε μια μικρή πόλη πνιγμένη στην διαφθορά με σκοπό να εκδικηθεί τον θάνατο ενός φίλου του. Χωρίς να είναι σίγουρος για το ποιος είναι ακριβώς, ο ήρωας μας βρίσκεται μπλεγμένος σε έναν βίαιο κόσμο που αποτελείται από βίαιους εγκληματίες, διαβολικούς πλούσιους ανθρώπους, διεφθαρμένους αστυνομικούς, μικροεγκληματίες και φυσικά πανέμορφες και σέξι κοπέλες που έχουν και αρκετή πονηριά παράλληλα για να εκβιάζουν κόσμο και να κάνουν απάτες.
Οι χαρακτήρες του μικρού αυτού βιβλίου είναι πολλοί και χρειάζεται λίγη προσοχή για να μην ξεχάσεις πρόσωπα και καταστάσεις, η ιστορία εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρουσα και αρκετά περίπλοκη, με πολλές ανατροπές και εκπλήξεις στο τέλος, η δράση απόλυτα χορταστική, με πολλές σκηνές βίας και φυσικά πολύ, πολύ ξύλο από τον πρωταγωνιστή αλλά και από τους κακούς, οι φόνοι και αυτοί πάρα πολλοί, οι σκηνές με φιλιά και έρωτες αρκετές και αυτές, γενικά είναι ένα ανάγνωσμα που το ευχαριστιούνται κυρίως οι άντρες που θέλουν μπόλικη δράση και σκληρούς τύπους που να γ@μ@νε και να δέρνουν.
Η γραφή πολύ καλή, σκληρή με το γνωστό χιούμορ που έχουν οι σκληροί τύποι - πρωταγωνιστές των βιβλίων του Σπιλέιν, οι περιγραφές καταστάσεων και χαρακτήρων καλές και αστείες κατά κάποιον τρόπο, οι γυναίκες βέβαια είναι μες στην κλισαδούρα, περιγράφονται λίγο σεξιστικά, κάτι αναμενόμενο φυσικά για παλπ αστυνομικό, η ατμόσφαιρα πολύ ωραία, εννοείται πως έμεινα ευχαριστημένος.
Αλλά είναι θέμα γούστου, κάποιος άλλος μπορεί μόλις το πιάσει στα χέρια του και διαβάσει τις πρώτες σελίδες να το πετάξει στον απέναντι τοίχο αγανακτισμένος.
Όσον αφορά την ελληνική έκδοση, είναι περίπου του 1955 (!), η μετάφραση μου φάνηκε μια χαρά αλλά έδειχνε τα χρονάκια της και το βιβλίο είναι μικρό σε μέγεθος και χωράει παντού. Και η πλάκα είναι ότι ενώ είναι τόσο παλιό βιβλίο και απόκτημα από ένα παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο στο Μοναστηράκι στο οποίο τα περισσότερα βιβλία είναι "πεταμένα" από δω και από κει, το βρήκα σε εξαιρετική κατάσταση.
Λοιπόν, ο πρωταγωνιστής μας έχει αμνησία, αλλά γυρνάει σε μια μικρή πόλη πνιγμένη στην διαφθορά με σκοπό να εκδικηθεί τον θάνατο ενός φίλου του. Χωρίς να είναι σίγουρος για το ποιος είναι ακριβώς, ο ήρωας μας βρίσκεται μπλεγμένος σε έναν βίαιο κόσμο που αποτελείται από βίαιους εγκληματίες, διαβολικούς πλούσιους ανθρώπους, διεφθαρμένους αστυνομικούς, μικροεγκληματίες και φυσικά πανέμορφες και σέξι κοπέλες που έχουν και αρκετή πονηριά παράλληλα για να εκβιάζουν κόσμο και να κάνουν απάτες.
Οι χαρακτήρες του μικρού αυτού βιβλίου είναι πολλοί και χρειάζεται λίγη προσοχή για να μην ξεχάσεις πρόσωπα και καταστάσεις, η ιστορία εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρουσα και αρκετά περίπλοκη, με πολλές ανατροπές και εκπλήξεις στο τέλος, η δράση απόλυτα χορταστική, με πολλές σκηνές βίας και φυσικά πολύ, πολύ ξύλο από τον πρωταγωνιστή αλλά και από τους κακούς, οι φόνοι και αυτοί πάρα πολλοί, οι σκηνές με φιλιά και έρωτες αρκετές και αυτές, γενικά είναι ένα ανάγνωσμα που το ευχαριστιούνται κυρίως οι άντρες που θέλουν μπόλικη δράση και σκληρούς τύπους που να γ@μ@νε και να δέρνουν.
Η γραφή πολύ καλή, σκληρή με το γνωστό χιούμορ που έχουν οι σκληροί τύποι - πρωταγωνιστές των βιβλίων του Σπιλέιν, οι περιγραφές καταστάσεων και χαρακτήρων καλές και αστείες κατά κάποιον τρόπο, οι γυναίκες βέβαια είναι μες στην κλισαδούρα, περιγράφονται λίγο σεξιστικά, κάτι αναμενόμενο φυσικά για παλπ αστυνομικό, η ατμόσφαιρα πολύ ωραία, εννοείται πως έμεινα ευχαριστημένος.
Αλλά είναι θέμα γούστου, κάποιος άλλος μπορεί μόλις το πιάσει στα χέρια του και διαβάσει τις πρώτες σελίδες να το πετάξει στον απέναντι τοίχο αγανακτισμένος.
Όσον αφορά την ελληνική έκδοση, είναι περίπου του 1955 (!), η μετάφραση μου φάνηκε μια χαρά αλλά έδειχνε τα χρονάκια της και το βιβλίο είναι μικρό σε μέγεθος και χωράει παντού. Και η πλάκα είναι ότι ενώ είναι τόσο παλιό βιβλίο και απόκτημα από ένα παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο στο Μοναστηράκι στο οποίο τα περισσότερα βιβλία είναι "πεταμένα" από δω και από κει, το βρήκα σε εξαιρετική κατάσταση.
May 14, 2014
This is the second novel I ever read from detective noir maestro, Mickey Spillane. I read THE ERECTION SET beforehand, and had a good idea what I was in for. I wasn't disappointed, and was actually surprised how this thriller even followed a similar formula to the aforementioned. But don't let that create any preconceived notions in you. THE LONG WAIT has its fair share of surprises for the more timid readers out there...but if you're adventurous enough, you'll definitely enjoy this hard and steamy tale of explosive revenge!
Lyncastle is a small town that likes to be dirty...gin joints, gambling dens and cathouses ensure that more money comes into this town than, one character says, the state capitol. One night, a man named Johnny McBride returns, and NOBODY is happy about it. He supposedly ran from embezzling and murder charges five years ago -- he's believed to have killed no less than the town's district attorney, in fact. But Johnny isn't worried; in fact, he doesn't scare at all when he's rousted by angry cops or when harder men try to kill him. Johnny is back to clear his name and settle some scores, and he's making the forces controlling the town from its shadows nervous. In fact, he spells out exactly what he'll do to three very specific people:
"One was going to die. One was going to have both arms broken so he could never use them again. One was going to get a beating that would leave the marks of the lash striped across the skin for all the years left to live. That last one was a woman."
But this mission of revenge has a twist: Johnny *literally* isn't the man everyone thinks he is! It's too much to go into here, but it definitely distinguishes THE LONG WAIT from most potboilers like it. The twist also gives Johnny McBride a new dimension as a tough guy hero, but he has all the traits you'd expect from a protagonist in a Mickey Spillane thriller. Johnny's road to revenge isn't for the faint of heart, either: it gets crude, sexually charged and very violent...this is a crusade in which very few characters are left unscathed. If you're tough enough to stick with it, though, it won't take long at all to be rewarded by this read!
Lyncastle is a small town that likes to be dirty...gin joints, gambling dens and cathouses ensure that more money comes into this town than, one character says, the state capitol. One night, a man named Johnny McBride returns, and NOBODY is happy about it. He supposedly ran from embezzling and murder charges five years ago -- he's believed to have killed no less than the town's district attorney, in fact. But Johnny isn't worried; in fact, he doesn't scare at all when he's rousted by angry cops or when harder men try to kill him. Johnny is back to clear his name and settle some scores, and he's making the forces controlling the town from its shadows nervous. In fact, he spells out exactly what he'll do to three very specific people:
"One was going to die. One was going to have both arms broken so he could never use them again. One was going to get a beating that would leave the marks of the lash striped across the skin for all the years left to live. That last one was a woman."
But this mission of revenge has a twist: Johnny *literally* isn't the man everyone thinks he is! It's too much to go into here, but it definitely distinguishes THE LONG WAIT from most potboilers like it. The twist also gives Johnny McBride a new dimension as a tough guy hero, but he has all the traits you'd expect from a protagonist in a Mickey Spillane thriller. Johnny's road to revenge isn't for the faint of heart, either: it gets crude, sexually charged and very violent...this is a crusade in which very few characters are left unscathed. If you're tough enough to stick with it, though, it won't take long at all to be rewarded by this read!
October 16, 2015
1st read in the early 60s when Spillane paperbacks were ubiquitous. This was one of the roughest books I'd read at that point in my life. Although this is not a Mike Hammer novel, it still is in the original burst of sadistic and savage creativity which all Spillane's novels were saturated with, meaning the situations and people involved were violent and darkness pervaded the story. The main character is Johnny McBride who could just as well have been Mike Hammer since they are basically the same character although perhaps McBride is nastier. If this is your type thing, it's a good example.
August 2, 2015
Thriller - Johnny McBride returns to Lyncastle after 5 years where charges of embezzlement and murder of the DA await. But is it Johnny or look-alike George Wilson, also wanted for murder. Amnesia and burned off fingerprints complicate things, but the gangsters of Lyncastle are willing to kill him under any identity. Can the elusive Vera clarify matters?
April 15, 2017
I enjoyed the universe in which the story happens, the drawing lets you immerse in an other era, especially due to the black and white drawings. Quite a violent story, by I enjoyed it. It was a total discovery, and it made me want to read other comics or novels with similar topics!
Read
May 5, 2018a wee bit strange.
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