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Mike Hammer #1
I, the Jury
The first novel in Mickey Spillane's classic detective series starring hard-boiled private eye Mike Hammer.
I, the Jury is a double-strength shot of sex, violence, and action that is vintage Spillane all the way. It's a tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans.
I, the Jury is a double-strength shot of sex, violence, and action that is vintage Spillane all the way. It's a tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans.
177 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1947
339 people are currently reading
4308 people want to read
About the author
Mickey Spillane
320 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 - 30 of 622 reviews
July 21, 2017
I woke up to the alarm clock at 5 am and did 100 knuckle pushups on the sidewalk outside the apartment building. In the rain. There were some fancy boys “jogging” and I glared a contemptuous good morning to them.
Inside I had my usual breakfast: three raw eggs and three fingers of Kentucky bourbon. Quick shower and shave and I was on the pavement, hoofing it to my office on the lower east side.
Entering my building I saw old Mrs. Koleki sweeping the entrance. We glared a contemptuous good morning to each other and I went inside.
Standing outside my office door, I first saw the dame. I glared a contemptuous good morning to her and I touched my hat. She looked up and I could see the kid had been crying. I grimaced, and soaked up her weakness like a biscuit sopping up gravy.
“What kind of lily livered punk did this to you, kid?” I asked, flexing my corded guns under my trench coat, imagining the beating I’d give the guy that done this to her.
“No, “she said, sniffing, “It’s not like that, Joe, I read Mickey Spillane’s book and it got to me, that’s all.”
“Yeah, that’s all, I get it, “I said, and dropped and gave myself 100 knuckle pushups, in the rain.
“Have a shot, kid, let’s talk it over, “ as I poured her three fingers of cheap bourbon. While she sipped, I grilled a steak, rare, and did a few dozen chin-ups.
“I, the Jury” was … amazing! I, I just don’t have words,” she stammered and then broke down in wet, girly tears.
“That’s OK, kid, I know the score,” I said as I took off my jacket, “You look like you could use manly hug.” I glared at her contemptuously, and did some more knuckle pushups, downed a man-sized slug of the good stuff, and moved in.
Inside I had my usual breakfast: three raw eggs and three fingers of Kentucky bourbon. Quick shower and shave and I was on the pavement, hoofing it to my office on the lower east side.
Entering my building I saw old Mrs. Koleki sweeping the entrance. We glared a contemptuous good morning to each other and I went inside.
Standing outside my office door, I first saw the dame. I glared a contemptuous good morning to her and I touched my hat. She looked up and I could see the kid had been crying. I grimaced, and soaked up her weakness like a biscuit sopping up gravy.
“What kind of lily livered punk did this to you, kid?” I asked, flexing my corded guns under my trench coat, imagining the beating I’d give the guy that done this to her.
“No, “she said, sniffing, “It’s not like that, Joe, I read Mickey Spillane’s book and it got to me, that’s all.”
“Yeah, that’s all, I get it, “I said, and dropped and gave myself 100 knuckle pushups, in the rain.
“Have a shot, kid, let’s talk it over, “ as I poured her three fingers of cheap bourbon. While she sipped, I grilled a steak, rare, and did a few dozen chin-ups.
“I, the Jury” was … amazing! I, I just don’t have words,” she stammered and then broke down in wet, girly tears.
“That’s OK, kid, I know the score,” I said as I took off my jacket, “You look like you could use manly hug.” I glared at her contemptuously, and did some more knuckle pushups, downed a man-sized slug of the good stuff, and moved in.
June 14, 2025
LA VENDETTA È MIA
Assante e Barbara Carrera, generosa nei suoi momenti in déshabillée.
Doppio esordio (1947): per lo scrittore Spillane, e per la sua creatura letteraria preferita, protagonista di ben quattordici storie, Mike Hammer, detective irregolare ed eccessivo, violento e macho.
Spillane è l’hard boiled portato all’eccesso: tosto, duro, anzi, durissimo, e oltre. Oggi lo si direbbe sicuramente politically uncorrect.
La sintesi della trama spiega già bene: il migliore amico di Hammer è stato ucciso con un proiettile allo stomaco e poi lasciato morire dissanguato – il detective decide di vendicarlo e “fare giustizia” da solo – i cadaveri aumentano, si sommano, e sono tutti di gente in qualche modo legata a Jack, l’amico da vendicare – l’arma dei delitti è sempre la stessa – Hammer si sta vendicando in serie oppure…?
Il titolo originale, I, the Jury è esplicito: Hammer si erge a giudice, la sua vendetta è il modo di applicare la giustizia.
Hammer/Assante e la sua segretaria Velda.
Si percepisce la frequentazione di Spillane con il mondo delle sceneggiature, sia di film che di fumetti.
Ma soprattutto, leggendo la sua biografia, si capisce da dove venga l’adesione a quello spirito americano incarnato dal senatore McCarthy e dalle sue blacklist, la collaborazione con l’FBI, l’essere stato pilota di aerei bombardieri durante WWII…
Grande successo per Hammer, e per Spillane, entusiasta degli ingenti guadagni derivati dai suoi diritti d’autore.
Si capisce anche da dove nascano tanti epigoni. Ma, per mia conoscenza, nessuno più scorretto di lui.
Per cui, che dire: letto uno, letto questo primo, goduto, apprezzato, poi mai più ripreso in mano. Basta l’assaggio.
Momenti di commedia.
Il film arriva trentacinque dopo, nel 1982 (ma Hammer e Spillane già prima sono stati ampiamente saccheggiati dalla televisione): il cast è loffio, Hammer è interpretato da Armand Assante, che allora viveva il suo breve momento di gloria, e più che altro sembra un telefilm gonfiato per la sala. Ma quelle da spettacoli mattutini.
Ben meglio Kiss Me Deadly – Un bacio e una pistola del grande Robert Aldrich, bianco e nero tostissimo uscito nel 1955.
Assante e Barbara Carrera, generosa nei suoi momenti in déshabillée.
Doppio esordio (1947): per lo scrittore Spillane, e per la sua creatura letteraria preferita, protagonista di ben quattordici storie, Mike Hammer, detective irregolare ed eccessivo, violento e macho.
Spillane è l’hard boiled portato all’eccesso: tosto, duro, anzi, durissimo, e oltre. Oggi lo si direbbe sicuramente politically uncorrect.
La sintesi della trama spiega già bene: il migliore amico di Hammer è stato ucciso con un proiettile allo stomaco e poi lasciato morire dissanguato – il detective decide di vendicarlo e “fare giustizia” da solo – i cadaveri aumentano, si sommano, e sono tutti di gente in qualche modo legata a Jack, l’amico da vendicare – l’arma dei delitti è sempre la stessa – Hammer si sta vendicando in serie oppure…?
Il titolo originale, I, the Jury è esplicito: Hammer si erge a giudice, la sua vendetta è il modo di applicare la giustizia.
Hammer/Assante e la sua segretaria Velda.
Si percepisce la frequentazione di Spillane con il mondo delle sceneggiature, sia di film che di fumetti.
Ma soprattutto, leggendo la sua biografia, si capisce da dove venga l’adesione a quello spirito americano incarnato dal senatore McCarthy e dalle sue blacklist, la collaborazione con l’FBI, l’essere stato pilota di aerei bombardieri durante WWII…
Grande successo per Hammer, e per Spillane, entusiasta degli ingenti guadagni derivati dai suoi diritti d’autore.
Si capisce anche da dove nascano tanti epigoni. Ma, per mia conoscenza, nessuno più scorretto di lui.
Per cui, che dire: letto uno, letto questo primo, goduto, apprezzato, poi mai più ripreso in mano. Basta l’assaggio.
Momenti di commedia.
Il film arriva trentacinque dopo, nel 1982 (ma Hammer e Spillane già prima sono stati ampiamente saccheggiati dalla televisione): il cast è loffio, Hammer è interpretato da Armand Assante, che allora viveva il suo breve momento di gloria, e più che altro sembra un telefilm gonfiato per la sala. Ma quelle da spettacoli mattutini.
Ben meglio Kiss Me Deadly – Un bacio e una pistola del grande Robert Aldrich, bianco e nero tostissimo uscito nel 1955.
April 2, 2018
Spillane published “I, the Jury” in 1947. It drew on the hard-boiled ‘private investigator’ tradition pioneered by Black Mask magazine in the 1930s. By 1980, seven of the top 15 all-time bestselling fiction titles in America were written by Spillane.
Spillane flaunted his lack of authorial polish claiming he would never introduce characters with moustaches or who drank cognac because he didn't know how to spell the words. “I, the Jury” introduced the series hero Mike Hammer whose hard-drinking, tough-talking, woman-beating, whisky-swilling machismo answered the needs of the postwar "male action" market.
Hammer is less a detective than an ultra-violent vigilante. In the story, Hammer’s marine ‘buddy’ Jack, who lost an arm saving Hammer's life in the Pacific, is sadistically murdered. Hammer sets out to avenge him, skirting the niceties of the law, vowing to his friend's corpse: "I'm going to get the louse that killed you. He won't hang. He will die exactly as you died, with a .45 slug in the gut, just a little below the belly button."
Spillane regarded himself as a super-patriot, and was so regarded by others. John Wayne gave him a Jaguar XK140 for his anti-communism and Ayn Rand (author of Atlas Shrugged) publicly commended his prose style to her disciples. Spillane's patriotism was, however, always tinged with a pessimistic, quasi-religious sense of doom, and in the early 1960s he predicted a race war in America. As a pulp author, Spillane's guiding principle was that "violence will outsell sex every time".
Spillane flaunted his lack of authorial polish claiming he would never introduce characters with moustaches or who drank cognac because he didn't know how to spell the words. “I, the Jury” introduced the series hero Mike Hammer whose hard-drinking, tough-talking, woman-beating, whisky-swilling machismo answered the needs of the postwar "male action" market.
Hammer is less a detective than an ultra-violent vigilante. In the story, Hammer’s marine ‘buddy’ Jack, who lost an arm saving Hammer's life in the Pacific, is sadistically murdered. Hammer sets out to avenge him, skirting the niceties of the law, vowing to his friend's corpse: "I'm going to get the louse that killed you. He won't hang. He will die exactly as you died, with a .45 slug in the gut, just a little below the belly button."
Spillane regarded himself as a super-patriot, and was so regarded by others. John Wayne gave him a Jaguar XK140 for his anti-communism and Ayn Rand (author of Atlas Shrugged) publicly commended his prose style to her disciples. Spillane's patriotism was, however, always tinged with a pessimistic, quasi-religious sense of doom, and in the early 1960s he predicted a race war in America. As a pulp author, Spillane's guiding principle was that "violence will outsell sex every time".
August 1, 2023
The first of Spillane's Mike Hammer series, and my trial replacement for Raymond Chandler's Marlowe series (admittedly I still have a couple to go in that, but I worry for the future).
Hammer is a tough-guy who I remember from my childhood as Stacy Keach - despite me being slightly too young at the time to understand all that was going on on tv. I guess I liked him because my dad did, and Hammer had a bunch of good lines and always won out in the end. I enjoyed this book, and have a few more in the series, so can rest a little easy for the completion of Marlowe.
Spillane weaves a story with interesting and varied characters, rolls out a story as Hammer works his way through it, and the bodies pile up. At some level the murderer becomes more obvious as the story goes on, not because of the evidence becoming available, but due to the story line. I won't spoil it here, but if you have read it you will probably know where I am coming from.
This was written in 1947, so there will be objections to this book if you are unable to separate that time from now. Casual racism, obvious sexism, beatings to obtain information - did I mention sexism? Hammer is a ladies man, and he kisses the dames when he needs to (or wants to, or both, or because he can't seem to resist).
I enjoy these books as light relief reading - they work for me in short bursts, 20 minutes here 30 minutes there. You don't lose track, or have to go back for detail (unless you want to) and the story just rolls out. I don't feel obliged to solve the story - the reader isn't always provided with enough clues to do so correctly - although as above this one became clear.
4 stars
Hammer is a tough-guy who I remember from my childhood as Stacy Keach - despite me being slightly too young at the time to understand all that was going on on tv. I guess I liked him because my dad did, and Hammer had a bunch of good lines and always won out in the end. I enjoyed this book, and have a few more in the series, so can rest a little easy for the completion of Marlowe.
Spillane weaves a story with interesting and varied characters, rolls out a story as Hammer works his way through it, and the bodies pile up. At some level the murderer becomes more obvious as the story goes on, not because of the evidence becoming available, but due to the story line. I won't spoil it here, but if you have read it you will probably know where I am coming from.
This was written in 1947, so there will be objections to this book if you are unable to separate that time from now. Casual racism, obvious sexism, beatings to obtain information - did I mention sexism? Hammer is a ladies man, and he kisses the dames when he needs to (or wants to, or both, or because he can't seem to resist).
I enjoy these books as light relief reading - they work for me in short bursts, 20 minutes here 30 minutes there. You don't lose track, or have to go back for detail (unless you want to) and the story just rolls out. I don't feel obliged to solve the story - the reader isn't always provided with enough clues to do so correctly - although as above this one became clear.
4 stars
April 16, 2018
This title is one of April's reads for the Pulp Fiction group - https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/..., so I did a little research on the author to share with the members. Turns out, Spillane got his start writing for comic books. This could help explain why his character, Mike Hammer, is so much like a superhero.
Hammer seems to possess a photographic memory, recalling that he had seen a phone number once upon a time . . . and yes, he still remembers to whom the number belonged. Then, using his apparently superhuman strength, he manages to vanquish three bad guys at one time. Oh, and he's also absolutely irresistible to women; Hammer himself admits - they ALL want him. Sure. (Take it from this creature of the female persuasion - every gal dreams of bedding a sexist, racist, homophobe. Not.)
Spillane's writing is really pretty dreadful, at times laughably bad. Witness this little exchange that might embarrass even a Harlequin romance writer:
"Mike," she whispered, "I want you."
"No," I said.
"Yes. You must."
"No."
"But, Mike, why? Why?"
"No, darling, it's too beautiful to spoil. Not now. Our time will come, but it must be right."
Groan!
If you can cut through all this over-the-top B.S., there's a absorbing little mystery to be solved, but it's a pretty big IF. I'll tell you this - IF I hadn't been reading this for a group, I'd have quit a few pages in, and IF my used copy hadn't arrived signed by the author, this book would already be in the library donation box.
Join the group, and read along, if you like, though I'd recommend our other selection for this month, the far superior Black Wings Has My Angel.
Hammer seems to possess a photographic memory, recalling that he had seen a phone number once upon a time . . . and yes, he still remembers to whom the number belonged. Then, using his apparently superhuman strength, he manages to vanquish three bad guys at one time. Oh, and he's also absolutely irresistible to women; Hammer himself admits - they ALL want him. Sure. (Take it from this creature of the female persuasion - every gal dreams of bedding a sexist, racist, homophobe. Not.)
Spillane's writing is really pretty dreadful, at times laughably bad. Witness this little exchange that might embarrass even a Harlequin romance writer:
"Mike," she whispered, "I want you."
"No," I said.
"Yes. You must."
"No."
"But, Mike, why? Why?"
"No, darling, it's too beautiful to spoil. Not now. Our time will come, but it must be right."
Groan!
If you can cut through all this over-the-top B.S., there's a absorbing little mystery to be solved, but it's a pretty big IF. I'll tell you this - IF I hadn't been reading this for a group, I'd have quit a few pages in, and IF my used copy hadn't arrived signed by the author, this book would already be in the library donation box.
Join the group, and read along, if you like, though I'd recommend our other selection for this month, the far superior Black Wings Has My Angel.
April 4, 2023
When this book was first published in 1947, it caused something of a sensation because of the violence portrayed and because of the salacious (at least for the time) sex involved. Reading it seventy-six years later, it's significant, at last for this reader, for all the cringing it evokes.
The hero, private detective Mike Hammer, is a veteran of World War II. He's a tough P.I. with a reputation for having killed a number of people already, when his best friend from the war years, Jack Williams, is murdered by some sadist who shoots Williams in the stomach and then gleefully watches him die. Hammer vows revenge, promising the cops investigating the murder that he will find the killer first and execute the dirty rat himself. Rather than being dismayed by this announcement, the police invite Hammer into the investigation, share with him all the information they gather, and then generally let him take the lead in the investigation.
Hammer begins tracking down the few leads in the case which involves a number of suspicious characters as well as a bevy of beautiful, sexy women, virtually all of whom have only one goal in mind--getting Mike Hammer into the sack. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won't, and eventually Hammer will solve the crime, identifying the killer about eighty pages after the reader has already figured out who it is.
There are any number of hard-boiled detective novels from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, which are certainly dated in some respects but which remain excellent reads--think Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and others. This is not one of them, at least IMHO. The relentless macho bravado, the endless objectification of women, the blatant racism and homophobia in the novel all grew very old very quickly. Additionally, the plot is preposterous. In no real world would the police ever allow a civilian to be so deeply involved in an investigation, let alone take the lead in the investigation, especially after the civilian has promised the police that he will beat them to the killer and shoot the killer down like a dog.
Three stars only because this is something of a "classic" in the field, but no more than that because, at least for me, it is a book that has long outworn its welcome on my bookshelf.
The hero, private detective Mike Hammer, is a veteran of World War II. He's a tough P.I. with a reputation for having killed a number of people already, when his best friend from the war years, Jack Williams, is murdered by some sadist who shoots Williams in the stomach and then gleefully watches him die. Hammer vows revenge, promising the cops investigating the murder that he will find the killer first and execute the dirty rat himself. Rather than being dismayed by this announcement, the police invite Hammer into the investigation, share with him all the information they gather, and then generally let him take the lead in the investigation.
Hammer begins tracking down the few leads in the case which involves a number of suspicious characters as well as a bevy of beautiful, sexy women, virtually all of whom have only one goal in mind--getting Mike Hammer into the sack. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won't, and eventually Hammer will solve the crime, identifying the killer about eighty pages after the reader has already figured out who it is.
There are any number of hard-boiled detective novels from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, which are certainly dated in some respects but which remain excellent reads--think Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and others. This is not one of them, at least IMHO. The relentless macho bravado, the endless objectification of women, the blatant racism and homophobia in the novel all grew very old very quickly. Additionally, the plot is preposterous. In no real world would the police ever allow a civilian to be so deeply involved in an investigation, let alone take the lead in the investigation, especially after the civilian has promised the police that he will beat them to the killer and shoot the killer down like a dog.
Three stars only because this is something of a "classic" in the field, but no more than that because, at least for me, it is a book that has long outworn its welcome on my bookshelf.
December 29, 2018
Two-stars.
Pretty thin prose here. Staccato and simplistic. Racist. Misogynistic.
Pacing is good but this Book is almost a cartoon.
This reads almost like a laundry list. Not for me.
Giant infodump who-dunnit at the end.
Colt Police Positive
Full size image here
.
Pretty thin prose here. Staccato and simplistic. Racist. Misogynistic.
Pacing is good but this Book is almost a cartoon.
This reads almost like a laundry list. Not for me.
Giant infodump who-dunnit at the end.
Colt Police Positive
Full size image here
.
May 11, 2020
"I hate too hard and shoot too fast. That's why people say the things about me that they do."
Sigh. I wasn't expecting much from this hardboiled PI "classic". I get the low brow, macho appeal of the brutish, oversexed PI that's as two dimensional as a sheet of 8 x 11 paper, lacking all nuance or subtlety. The prose is rudimentary, the characterizations trite, the plot unnecessarily convoluted and the sex scenes and tough talk aplenty. To call this a "classic" is really an insult to the masters of hardboiled crime fiction who were contemporaries of Spillane or those who came before, some as early as the 1920's and 1930's. Think Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Ross Macdonald and Jim Thompson to name a few.
Sigh. I wasn't expecting much from this hardboiled PI "classic". I get the low brow, macho appeal of the brutish, oversexed PI that's as two dimensional as a sheet of 8 x 11 paper, lacking all nuance or subtlety. The prose is rudimentary, the characterizations trite, the plot unnecessarily convoluted and the sex scenes and tough talk aplenty. To call this a "classic" is really an insult to the masters of hardboiled crime fiction who were contemporaries of Spillane or those who came before, some as early as the 1920's and 1930's. Think Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Ross Macdonald and Jim Thompson to name a few.
July 9, 2022
Mike Hammer investigates the murder of a former cop and war buddy, Jack Williams, in what turns out to be a race against the law with one determined to bring the killer to justice, the other, hell bent on exacting his own form of vengeance.
Bullets reign supreme and bodies fall quicker than shell casings as the list of suspects dwindles and Hammer’s sight becomes blinded by a too good to be true vixen. Much like the pulps written in this era, the dames are plentiful, stunningly beautiful and willing. However, Spillane’s Hammer doesn’t conform to the playboy persona in the fullest, rather his constant refusal of sexual offers builds him as more than the stereotypical hardman womaniser. Spillane keeps his protagonist in check by way of Velda, Hammer’s secretary and seminal love interest.
Mike Hammer’s style is blunt, forceful and everything his polar opposite, Pat, is not. In I, THE JURY, Hammer comes up against prostitution, drugs, murder, and deceit as he narrows the suspects down to the killer. This was a solid re-read as I work my way through the Mike Hammer library.
This review is from I, THE JURY contained within the Mike Hammer Vol.1 Omnibus: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99...
Bullets reign supreme and bodies fall quicker than shell casings as the list of suspects dwindles and Hammer’s sight becomes blinded by a too good to be true vixen. Much like the pulps written in this era, the dames are plentiful, stunningly beautiful and willing. However, Spillane’s Hammer doesn’t conform to the playboy persona in the fullest, rather his constant refusal of sexual offers builds him as more than the stereotypical hardman womaniser. Spillane keeps his protagonist in check by way of Velda, Hammer’s secretary and seminal love interest.
Mike Hammer’s style is blunt, forceful and everything his polar opposite, Pat, is not. In I, THE JURY, Hammer comes up against prostitution, drugs, murder, and deceit as he narrows the suspects down to the killer. This was a solid re-read as I work my way through the Mike Hammer library.
This review is from I, THE JURY contained within the Mike Hammer Vol.1 Omnibus: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99...
January 18, 2025
Ένα από τα κλασικότερα αστυνομικά μυθιστορήματα νουάρ όλων των εποχών, και για πολλούς, κλασικό αριστούργημα και ΄διαμαντάκι' της αστυνομικής λογοτεχνίας.
Είναι το βιβλίο όπου ο Σπιλέιν γνωρίζει στο αναγνωστικό κοινό τον σκληροτράχηλο και ντόμπρο ιδιωτικό ντετέκτιβ, Μάικ Χάμερ, ο οποίος είναι ακαταμάχητος στις γυναίκες, και αδίστακτος διώκτης του εγκλήματος και της αδικίας.
Σε αυτό το 1ο βιβλίο, οι αναγνώστες, ίσως, αντιδράσουν στο απόλυτο και ιδιαίτερα αρρενωπό στυλ του Χάμερ, απορρίπτοντας το ως ξεπερασμένο και επιτηδευμένο. Ωστόσο, στη συγκεκριμένη ιστορία, ένας από τους καλύτερους του φίλους δολοφονείται, οπότε και ο ντετέκτιβ θέλει να πάρει εκδίκηση για το χαμό του, θίγοντας με αυτό τον τρόπο το νόημα της αληθινής φιλίας που δεν έχει βέβαια καμία σχέση με την αυτοδικία.
Ο Σπιλέιν, έξυπνα, υφαίνει έναν ιστό που στα δίχτυα του μπλέκονται πολλά ετερόκλητα άτομα από το χώρο του υποκόσμου, της τέχνης και του πνεύματος, σχολιάζοντας εμμέσως το πόσο λεπτά ήταν στην μεταπολεμική Αμερική τα όρια μεταξύ νόμιμης 'πρόσοψης' και ουσιαστικής παρανομίας. Οι χαρακτήρες ξετυλίγουν εύστοχα τις αδυναμίες τους, παράλληλα με το μυστήριο και το σασπένς που θυμίζει σε αρκετά σημεία τη συγγραφική δομή της Άγκαθα Κρίστι.
Στο 2ο μέρος, υπάρχει μια ξεκάθαρα hard-boiled στροφή στο ύφος, ενώ εντυπωσιάζουν οι αναφορές σε τρόπους που παρασκευάζονται κάποια ναρκωτικά, όπως και στη χειριστικό μέθοδο, την οποίαν κάποιοι ψυχοθεραπευτές χρησιμοποιούν για να ελέγχουν τη συμπεριφορά και τις αντιδράσεις των ασθενών τους.
Το μυθιστόρημα περιέχει αρκετές δόσεις ερωτισμού και αισθησιασμού, ενώ 'κατακεραυνώνει' το επικίνδυνο μονοπάτι της ανθρώπινης απληστίας, και την έλλειψη ξεκάθαρου στόχου για την μεταπολεμική εξέλιξη των Η.Π.Α.
Το 1982 το μυθιστόρημα έγινε και ταινία με ανάμεικτες κριτικές, ενώ το 1984 γυρίστηκε και μια αρκετά επιτυχημένη τηλεοπτική σειρά, βασισμένη στα βιβλία του Σπιλέιν με βασικό ήρωα τον ντετέκτιβ Μάικ Χάμερ, τον οποίον υποδυόταν ο Στέισι Κιτς. Η σειρά προβλήθηκε και στην Ελλάδα από το Mega.
Bαθμολογία: 4/5 ή 8/10 (θα έβαζα παραπάνω, αλλά, από τη μέση του βιβλίου και μετά, μπορείς να υποψιαστείς τον δολοφόνο).
Είναι το βιβλίο όπου ο Σπιλέιν γνωρίζει στο αναγνωστικό κοινό τον σκληροτράχηλο και ντόμπρο ιδιωτικό ντετέκτιβ, Μάικ Χάμερ, ο οποίος είναι ακαταμάχητος στις γυναίκες, και αδίστακτος διώκτης του εγκλήματος και της αδικίας.
Σε αυτό το 1ο βιβλίο, οι αναγνώστες, ίσως, αντιδράσουν στο απόλυτο και ιδιαίτερα αρρενωπό στυλ του Χάμερ, απορρίπτοντας το ως ξεπερασμένο και επιτηδευμένο. Ωστόσο, στη συγκεκριμένη ιστορία, ένας από τους καλύτερους του φίλους δολοφονείται, οπότε και ο ντετέκτιβ θέλει να πάρει εκδίκηση για το χαμό του, θίγοντας με αυτό τον τρόπο το νόημα της αληθινής φιλίας που δεν έχει βέβαια καμία σχέση με την αυτοδικία.
Ο Σπιλέιν, έξυπνα, υφαίνει έναν ιστό που στα δίχτυα του μπλέκονται πολλά ετερόκλητα άτομα από το χώρο του υποκόσμου, της τέχνης και του πνεύματος, σχολιάζοντας εμμέσως το πόσο λεπτά ήταν στην μεταπολεμική Αμερική τα όρια μεταξύ νόμιμης 'πρόσοψης' και ουσιαστικής παρανομίας. Οι χαρακτήρες ξετυλίγουν εύστοχα τις αδυναμίες τους, παράλληλα με το μυστήριο και το σασπένς που θυμίζει σε αρκετά σημεία τη συγγραφική δομή της Άγκαθα Κρίστι.
Στο 2ο μέρος, υπάρχει μια ξεκάθαρα hard-boiled στροφή στο ύφος, ενώ εντυπωσιάζουν οι αναφορές σε τρόπους που παρασκευάζονται κάποια ναρκωτικά, όπως και στη χειριστικό μέθοδο, την οποίαν κάποιοι ψυχοθεραπευτές χρησιμοποιούν για να ελέγχουν τη συμπεριφορά και τις αντιδράσεις των ασθενών τους.
Το μυθιστόρημα περιέχει αρκετές δόσεις ερωτισμού και αισθησιασμού, ενώ 'κατακεραυνώνει' το επικίνδυνο μονοπάτι της ανθρώπινης απληστίας, και την έλλειψη ξεκάθαρου στόχου για την μεταπολεμική εξέλιξη των Η.Π.Α.
Το 1982 το μυθιστόρημα έγινε και ταινία με ανάμεικτες κριτικές, ενώ το 1984 γυρίστηκε και μια αρκετά επιτυχημένη τηλεοπτική σειρά, βασισμένη στα βιβλία του Σπιλέιν με βασικό ήρωα τον ντετέκτιβ Μάικ Χάμερ, τον οποίον υποδυόταν ο Στέισι Κιτς. Η σειρά προβλήθηκε και στην Ελλάδα από το Mega.
Bαθμολογία: 4/5 ή 8/10 (θα έβαζα παραπάνω, αλλά, από τη μέση του βιβλίου και μετά, μπορείς να υποψιαστείς τον δολοφόνο).
September 25, 2014
One of the original hard-boiled detective stories, and it is seriously hard-boiled. It's pretty short - it was allegedly written in just nineteen days - and it's a tale of vengeance. A lot of people get murdered, Mike Hammer gets propositioned by a string of glamorous women, cracks some heads and finally tumbles to the killer's identity in time to make good on his pledge. It's not a story about saving anyone. It's not about law or even about doing the right thing. It's bleak as you like, surprisingly explicit about sex and moderately ugly (in line with its vintage) in its treatment of female and non-white characters, though it doesn't have the actual malevolence in those directions that you find elsewhere. It's unredeemed, gritty, and it is a classic of the genre. (Somewhat oddly, it's dedicated to Spillane's wife. I can't imagine what she thought about it.)
I found it... gripping, certainly, and professionally educative into the bargain.
I found it... gripping, certainly, and professionally educative into the bargain.
June 28, 2019
Meet Mike Hammer: tough-talking, dame-loving, feisty wise-guy-punching private eye. The wise-cracking first-person narrative was greatly informed by author Spillane's work writing superhero funny books in the 1940s and it fits perfectly since Hammer himself is a larger-than-life, over-the-top caricature who loves to rough up the baddies and tweak the nose of uptight authority figures. The heart of the story is an overly-convoluted mystery with an improbable ending but if you can look past the regrettable stereotypes and slurs that were probably eye-raising even 70+ years ago, there's lots of pulpy fun to be had.
May 21, 2025
“I, The Jury,” published in 1947, was the first Mike Hammer novel by Spillane. You would think that at such an early stage it would be rough and tenative and that it would have taken a few books to develop Hammer, Velda, and Pat Chambers as characters. Nope. From page one, it is evident why Spillane was one of the best selling authors of the twentieth century. This is top-notch hardboiled paradise. Myrna’s body is racking with dry sobs as Jack’s body is uncovered. “The bullet came in clean, but where it came out left a hole big enough to cram a fist into.” Who else wrote like this back then?
Hammer is painted as the grim avenger from the first chapter where he explains to Pat that he is a private op, so unlike Pat, he is not tied down by rules and regulations. “I hate hard, Pat. When I latch on to the one behind this they’re going to wish they hadn’t started it. Some day, before long, I’m going to have my rod in my mitt and the killer in front of me. I’m going to watch the killer’s face. I’m going to plunk one right in his gut, and when he’s dying on the floor I may kick his teeth out.” Who talks like this? Who thinks like this? This is the toughest, meanest, angriest private op ever. Spillane invented this figure who talks and acts like a hood, but he’s one of the good guys and he is sick and tired of seeing the bad guys get away with it and sick and tired of tricky defense lawyers getting killers off on technicalities. He doesn’t trust impartial juries because they will go all soft when they hear a defense attorney’s sob story about their client’s excuses. It is unbelievable that this kind of character out of the old west (but set in NYC) was created in the 40’s before the system got soft in the late fifties, early sixties with all kinds of rights for the accused and none for the victims.
But Hammer, as anyone familiar with him, knows has a soft spot for his secretary Velda: “She had million-dollar legs, that girl, and she didn’t mind showing them off. For a secretary she was an awful distraction. She kept her coal-black hair long in a page-boy cut and wore tight-fitting dresses that made me think of the curves in the Pennsylvannia highway every time I looked at her. Don’t get the idea she was easy though. I’ve seen her give a few punks the brush off the hard way. When it came to quick action she could whip off a shoe and crack a skull before you could bat an eye.” What a description! Spillane could write as well as anyone out there and has seldom been given enough credit for his tight, descriptive phrases.
You might not think early Hammer would be this good, but it is. And, this book is clearly worth reading over and over again. It is that good. Highly recommended.
Hammer is painted as the grim avenger from the first chapter where he explains to Pat that he is a private op, so unlike Pat, he is not tied down by rules and regulations. “I hate hard, Pat. When I latch on to the one behind this they’re going to wish they hadn’t started it. Some day, before long, I’m going to have my rod in my mitt and the killer in front of me. I’m going to watch the killer’s face. I’m going to plunk one right in his gut, and when he’s dying on the floor I may kick his teeth out.” Who talks like this? Who thinks like this? This is the toughest, meanest, angriest private op ever. Spillane invented this figure who talks and acts like a hood, but he’s one of the good guys and he is sick and tired of seeing the bad guys get away with it and sick and tired of tricky defense lawyers getting killers off on technicalities. He doesn’t trust impartial juries because they will go all soft when they hear a defense attorney’s sob story about their client’s excuses. It is unbelievable that this kind of character out of the old west (but set in NYC) was created in the 40’s before the system got soft in the late fifties, early sixties with all kinds of rights for the accused and none for the victims.
But Hammer, as anyone familiar with him, knows has a soft spot for his secretary Velda: “She had million-dollar legs, that girl, and she didn’t mind showing them off. For a secretary she was an awful distraction. She kept her coal-black hair long in a page-boy cut and wore tight-fitting dresses that made me think of the curves in the Pennsylvannia highway every time I looked at her. Don’t get the idea she was easy though. I’ve seen her give a few punks the brush off the hard way. When it came to quick action she could whip off a shoe and crack a skull before you could bat an eye.” What a description! Spillane could write as well as anyone out there and has seldom been given enough credit for his tight, descriptive phrases.
You might not think early Hammer would be this good, but it is. And, this book is clearly worth reading over and over again. It is that good. Highly recommended.
January 25, 2012
I, The Jury is the first Mickey Spillane book I’ve read and, despite being a fan of the hardboiled detective genre, and enjoying this book, it will probably be the last.
All the elements for a good murder mystery are in place here. A murder starts things off and a cast of players is introduced and our hardboiled hero goes about solving the whodunit, taking us through a fast-paced story heavy on sex and violence. And make no mistake about it, Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer is hardboiled. In fact, Hammer might be the epitome of hardboiled. Mike Hammer has a definition of justice and an idea of how things should be done and he sets about solving the crime with singled-minded determination. There's nothing suave or soft-spoken with Mike Hammer, just bull-headed tenacity and cold-blooded resolve, and if you get in his way you just might wind up with a bullet in your gut, regardless of which side of the law you're on. When the reveal was finally disclosed on the book’s final pages, I was left with a good feeling and a smile on my face.
Sadly, as good as I, The Jury is, the story is dated and tame by today’s standards. While the 1940’s slang is enjoyable, parts of the story, for example every woman Hammer encounters wanting to take him to bed immediately, are comical when they shouldn’t be. Worse, the viewpoints and language are offensive and it's difficult reading and accepting the character's frequent sexism and racism. I know the book has to be taken as a product of its time, and I do, but I still don’t enjoy the language. While those disturbing attitudes may have been inherent to Mike Hammer, the language used wasn't relevant to the story and I'm confused as to why Spillane chose to include it, especially since it didn't add to the charm, or myth, or valor, of his hero.
All the elements for a good murder mystery are in place here. A murder starts things off and a cast of players is introduced and our hardboiled hero goes about solving the whodunit, taking us through a fast-paced story heavy on sex and violence. And make no mistake about it, Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer is hardboiled. In fact, Hammer might be the epitome of hardboiled. Mike Hammer has a definition of justice and an idea of how things should be done and he sets about solving the crime with singled-minded determination. There's nothing suave or soft-spoken with Mike Hammer, just bull-headed tenacity and cold-blooded resolve, and if you get in his way you just might wind up with a bullet in your gut, regardless of which side of the law you're on. When the reveal was finally disclosed on the book’s final pages, I was left with a good feeling and a smile on my face.
Sadly, as good as I, The Jury is, the story is dated and tame by today’s standards. While the 1940’s slang is enjoyable, parts of the story, for example every woman Hammer encounters wanting to take him to bed immediately, are comical when they shouldn’t be. Worse, the viewpoints and language are offensive and it's difficult reading and accepting the character's frequent sexism and racism. I know the book has to be taken as a product of its time, and I do, but I still don’t enjoy the language. While those disturbing attitudes may have been inherent to Mike Hammer, the language used wasn't relevant to the story and I'm confused as to why Spillane chose to include it, especially since it didn't add to the charm, or myth, or valor, of his hero.
May 8, 2018
Okay, so Mickey Spillane’s detective/vigilante, Mike Hammer, comes across as a misogynist, homophobic, racist. Now that I got that out of the way, I really did enjoy this book. Yes, it’s dated with it’s ideals and perception of society, but this was the 50s and the mindset of America was a completely different one (although tRump is determined to set the clocks back to this period of time which we need not revisit, but that’s an altogether different matter). That being said, I enjoyed the grit and pulp of I, The Jury and it’s realistic dialogue of an era one can only find in film noir. It’s a quick, slim read, and if you can wince past some of the dated references, Spillane’s world of dames, .45s, and street smart criminals is worth a try.
August 14, 2019
“I want you to hear every word I say. I want you to tell it to everyone you know. And when you tell it, tell it strong, because I mean every word of it. There are ten thousand mugs that hate me and you know it. They hate me because if they mess with me I shoot their damn heads off. I’ve done it and I’ll do it again.”
Mike Hammer, hard-hitting, tough-talking private eye has been around the block a few times and has earned a certain reputation. A reputation for taking care of business using lethal force if needed. When his best friend is found dead, the same best friend who had literally given an arm for him during the war, Hammer is out for blood, and a promise to kill the bastard that did it.
About time I started the Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane. I’ve sort of been avoiding it because I have an awful lot of series going right now and, as usual, I was worried I would start this one and get drawn into a bunch more must-reads. But I am also reading a collection of short stories right now and the next one happens to be one of the Mickey Spillane/Max Alan Collins stories that is continuing the Mike Hammer series. And I wanted to be sure I had read the first Hammer book in case it was in any way an origin story.
It wasn’t. Not really. Mike Hammer is introduced in mid-career with many a case behind him already. I understand there is a chronology to the books and short stories but I’m not sure at this point if any of them really need to be read in order. Nevertheless, I’m glad to have finally gotten to this classic of the hard-boiled genre. Besides Hammer, himself, we also get to meet the ongoing characters of his secretary Velda and his friend Pat Chambers, Captain of Homicide NYPD. The story itself was nicely absorbing, filled with the expected violent action and dangerous dames. I figured out the culprit fairly early on but not necessarily the how and the why.
So, here I am, with a newly stoked need to read another 20-plus novels. Bummer.
Mike Hammer, hard-hitting, tough-talking private eye has been around the block a few times and has earned a certain reputation. A reputation for taking care of business using lethal force if needed. When his best friend is found dead, the same best friend who had literally given an arm for him during the war, Hammer is out for blood, and a promise to kill the bastard that did it.
About time I started the Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane. I’ve sort of been avoiding it because I have an awful lot of series going right now and, as usual, I was worried I would start this one and get drawn into a bunch more must-reads. But I am also reading a collection of short stories right now and the next one happens to be one of the Mickey Spillane/Max Alan Collins stories that is continuing the Mike Hammer series. And I wanted to be sure I had read the first Hammer book in case it was in any way an origin story.
It wasn’t. Not really. Mike Hammer is introduced in mid-career with many a case behind him already. I understand there is a chronology to the books and short stories but I’m not sure at this point if any of them really need to be read in order. Nevertheless, I’m glad to have finally gotten to this classic of the hard-boiled genre. Besides Hammer, himself, we also get to meet the ongoing characters of his secretary Velda and his friend Pat Chambers, Captain of Homicide NYPD. The story itself was nicely absorbing, filled with the expected violent action and dangerous dames. I figured out the culprit fairly early on but not necessarily the how and the why.
So, here I am, with a newly stoked need to read another 20-plus novels. Bummer.
November 16, 2017
Been a long, long time since I've read a Hammer, and I have to say, just as in that long ago time I don't feel the desire to read more. This is quite the opposite of how I feel when reading a McGee, Scudder, Parker, or Hap and Leonard series book. The first book in all those series made me want to go on to the next. I thought I, the Jury started better than I remembered, but the rest of the book was pretty boring despite a quick pace. I think that's because, unlike all those other series protagonists, Mike Hammer is boring. I can imagine, post WWII, how an alpha-male, silent-type, might be popular, just don't get how Spillane's style got to the top of the heap.
As for the plot, the biggest disappointment for me was knowing from very early on who the killer was and than having that turn out to be right. I won't spoil it, but that killer pretty much had to be the killer. The summary explanation by Hammer, just before he delivers his verdict and sentence, runs several pages in classic mystery convention and had me thinking, really, Spillane, that's the best you can come up with? Thin gruel, for sure. Oh, and Hammer actually would have been one of the first people this killer would have taken out and had ample opportunity to do so. Less believable and disappointing ending.
As for the plot, the biggest disappointment for me was knowing from very early on who the killer was and than having that turn out to be right. I won't spoil it, but that killer pretty much had to be the killer. The summary explanation by Hammer, just before he delivers his verdict and sentence, runs several pages in classic mystery convention and had me thinking, really, Spillane, that's the best you can come up with? Thin gruel, for sure. Oh, and Hammer actually would have been one of the first people this killer would have taken out and had ample opportunity to do so. Less believable and disappointing ending.
October 2, 2022
My first Spillane and it reads like a male’s testosterone-filled wet dream. Fascinating and hilarious in an audio book. Stacey Keach did his best with some pretty melodramatic lines.
April 14, 2018
April2018 Reading with the Pulp Fiction group.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I was really looking forward to it as it's been some time since I read this early classic. Spillane was an early favorite of mine, although I never cared for the Mike Hammer series as much as some of his other works. Hammer makes a lot of bombastic speeches which works better for me on screen or in Spillane's western, The Big Showdown, which was written for The Duke. I could practically see that as a movie when I read it. I hadn't realized how much it bothered me until today, though. It didn't help that I'd just finished a Matt Helm novel. Well, I can skim them.
The plot is twisty & filled with a lot of he-man scenes as Hammer investigates by running around like a loose cannon which makes everyone too nervous. It was a better book when I was 13, but I'm afraid it's lost its luster.
Most of my favorites are his short stories & standalone books. The Tough Guys has 3 good short stories, the last of which is "The Bastard Bannerman" which he later turned into The Erection Set, one of my favorite standalone novels. The Deep & The Delta Factor are 2 others.
The Tiger Mann series is awful as is his YA novel, The Ship That Never Was.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I was really looking forward to it as it's been some time since I read this early classic. Spillane was an early favorite of mine, although I never cared for the Mike Hammer series as much as some of his other works. Hammer makes a lot of bombastic speeches which works better for me on screen or in Spillane's western, The Big Showdown, which was written for The Duke. I could practically see that as a movie when I read it. I hadn't realized how much it bothered me until today, though. It didn't help that I'd just finished a Matt Helm novel. Well, I can skim them.
The plot is twisty & filled with a lot of he-man scenes as Hammer investigates by running around like a loose cannon which makes everyone too nervous. It was a better book when I was 13, but I'm afraid it's lost its luster.
Most of my favorites are his short stories & standalone books. The Tough Guys has 3 good short stories, the last of which is "The Bastard Bannerman" which he later turned into The Erection Set, one of my favorite standalone novels. The Deep & The Delta Factor are 2 others.
The Tiger Mann series is awful as is his YA novel, The Ship That Never Was.
September 9, 2012
I almost feel like I need a 'misogynist' shelf just so I can put this one on it. Chandler and Hammett can be bad enough, but this is -- whoa. It's written slickly enough, and Hammer is almost ridiculously, hilariously hard-boiled -- with a sticky, too-sweet centre that doesn't taste right. He was better than I thought he was, morally, in that he didn't know all along who did it and string them along just to get the proof, but the fact that I thought him capable of that doesn't bode well. He's not exactly Chandler's "shop-soiled Galahad" -- heck, not even a Lancelot.
It was really hard to enjoy that for those reasons, and because I guessed the killer well in advance. It's enjoyable enough as a trashy read, but I hope to god no one takes it seriously.
I was going to strike the other two books off my list, but apparently Hammer gets a little less offensive and Spillane's plot gets a bit tighter, so I'll try them. I'll probably skim, though.
It was really hard to enjoy that for those reasons, and because I guessed the killer well in advance. It's enjoyable enough as a trashy read, but I hope to god no one takes it seriously.
I was going to strike the other two books off my list, but apparently Hammer gets a little less offensive and Spillane's plot gets a bit tighter, so I'll try them. I'll probably skim, though.
November 4, 2016
I like to think I’m pretty broad minded when it comes to reading older books. I’ve read a lot of hard boiled and soft boiled detective novels, but never read a Mickey Spillane book. I, the Jury was written in 1948 (I think) so I expected racist, sexist and misogynistic language and attitudes.
It’s probably not fair judging yesterday’s standards by today’s, but my biggest issue with the book was being constantly pulled out of the narrative by racist Stepin Fetchit dialogue. Something about Mike Hammer’s smirking and smug “I’m top of the food chain” outlook was off putting and made me want to smack him with his own Colt .45. Except he’d probably punch me in the gut until I vomited, something that happens often in his books.
All women find him irresistible, which I found more amusing than troubling. He acts as though he has it coming because he’s, well, Mike Hammer. The cops accommodate his intrusive behavior and seek out his advice ‘cause he’s so smart, and they look the other way when he’s naughty. When Mike explains that he’s going to shoot the bad guy dead, the cops sort of suggest he shouldn’t, but you get the sense they’ll overlook the faux pas if he does.
Mike is troubled by the legal process. It’s slow and if you’ve got lots of money you’ll get off. Better to just shoot the bad guy in the belly and watch him bleed. Mike won’t lose any sleep over it.
The book was an interesting snapshot of another time and is probably worth a read for this reason alone. Think of him as Dirty Harry before political correctness kicked into high gear. If that’s who you want in your cops, this is the man for you. He’s not a sympathetic character, not as witty as he thinks he is, and I don’t believe he’s especially bright, either. But if you want your PI hard boiled all the way through, he might be what you’re looking for. Me, not so much.
It’s probably not fair judging yesterday’s standards by today’s, but my biggest issue with the book was being constantly pulled out of the narrative by racist Stepin Fetchit dialogue. Something about Mike Hammer’s smirking and smug “I’m top of the food chain” outlook was off putting and made me want to smack him with his own Colt .45. Except he’d probably punch me in the gut until I vomited, something that happens often in his books.
All women find him irresistible, which I found more amusing than troubling. He acts as though he has it coming because he’s, well, Mike Hammer. The cops accommodate his intrusive behavior and seek out his advice ‘cause he’s so smart, and they look the other way when he’s naughty. When Mike explains that he’s going to shoot the bad guy dead, the cops sort of suggest he shouldn’t, but you get the sense they’ll overlook the faux pas if he does.
Mike is troubled by the legal process. It’s slow and if you’ve got lots of money you’ll get off. Better to just shoot the bad guy in the belly and watch him bleed. Mike won’t lose any sleep over it.
The book was an interesting snapshot of another time and is probably worth a read for this reason alone. Think of him as Dirty Harry before political correctness kicked into high gear. If that’s who you want in your cops, this is the man for you. He’s not a sympathetic character, not as witty as he thinks he is, and I don’t believe he’s especially bright, either. But if you want your PI hard boiled all the way through, he might be what you’re looking for. Me, not so much.
August 7, 2023
I think I read this book years ago. If I did it must have been before Goodreads. Parts seem familiar, parts not. Decided I should re-read it before reading the next Mike Hammer book, 'My Gun is Quick'. Spillane certainly is no Raymond Chandler, but it was a quick entertaining read. The book Hammer can be a little annoying, especially compared to my memories of Stacy Keach playing Hammer on television back in the mid 1980s.
November 27, 2011
Mickey Spillane is such a pleasure to read.
This first Mike Hammer story has all the hallmarks of the hardboiled detective novel but with the added bonus of the protagonist being a complete and unashamed misogynist, unafraid of offending anyone. How can you not love this stuff?
The story was a bit obvious but isn't that the point? You jump on and ride like the wind through intrigue, fist fights, witty dialogue, sexual encounters and the inevitable denouement.
Having said that I was left wondering right to the final line whether Hammer would keep the promise he makes at the start of the novel as Spillane skillfully demonstrates how to write a great hero and put him in a tough spot that people want to read about.
This first Mike Hammer story has all the hallmarks of the hardboiled detective novel but with the added bonus of the protagonist being a complete and unashamed misogynist, unafraid of offending anyone. How can you not love this stuff?
The story was a bit obvious but isn't that the point? You jump on and ride like the wind through intrigue, fist fights, witty dialogue, sexual encounters and the inevitable denouement.
Having said that I was left wondering right to the final line whether Hammer would keep the promise he makes at the start of the novel as Spillane skillfully demonstrates how to write a great hero and put him in a tough spot that people want to read about.
March 20, 2018
Great fun to read - love the "shoot/punch now, ask questions later" character of Mike Hammer.
Will definitely be reading more of this series.
Will definitely be reading more of this series.
February 5, 2024
A great mystery thriller with a hell of a third act. It's no wonder this remains a classic after all these years.
August 16, 2010
This is the first of the Mike Hammer books, and one of the founding fathers of noir/hardboiled Private Eye fiction. I figured if I wanted to write something mystery/noir, I should read the classics and let them infuse me. I'd also been warned that some of what I read in this book would feel trite and derivative, because so many people have emulated Spillane (and Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett) in modern mysteries that it's like watching the three stooges and wondering who ripped off whom. Fair enough. The novel is set in what I presume is New York (since the name of the city isn't mentioned, it's probably New York--ps. NYC writers, I hate that.) Mike Hammer, a private eye and war veteran, has just discovered that his war buddy Jack was brutally murdered. He vows to find the killer and do him in just like Jack was done, with a 45 slug in the gut. His cop friend Pat tries to dissuade him, but Mike is like a tank when he sets his mind on vengeance.
This novel was written in 1950, and boy has a lot changed in those sixty years. From language ("let me alone" instead of "leave me alone", and the author feeling he needed to explain the phrase "cold turkey") to clothing (Mike Hammer visits his tailor no fewer than three times in the first novel, and he always wears a hat), to science (the "expert psychoanalyst" sounded like a sophomoric dumbass when talking about psychology, and hypnotism works differently in the novel than in real life)
The starkest difference was sociological. There is, of course, rampant sexism. At one point the protagonist explains the antagonist's actions upon being a professional working woman instead of a housewife "You no longer had the social instinct of a woman--that of being dependent upon a man." There's plenty of racism too; you can tell who the black characters are because they're generally either servants or criminals, and they have apostrophe-laden speech. They also generally use more "sir", "massah" and "missus" in their speech. I did a doubletake when I heard of people losing their money in "the crash" and realizng it was the 1920s, or having him talk about fighting in the jungles in the war and adding up to realize it was WW2 and not Vietnam. I also had a shock when the self-described "big" progagonist revealed that he was 190 lbs. In what century was that a big man? Oh yeah, last century, that's right. So, this novel is a trip down memory lane for older readers, and a historical fiction for those of us born after the moon landing. But what a horrible, horrible time to live in! Sexism, racism, and even a bout of homophobia when Mike throws water on a couple of "fruits" who are fighting.
After thinking about it, I realized that this novel is a lot like a trashy romance, except it's written for men. After all, the "hero" is a violent, psychopathic alcoholic whose best friend is a crooked cop. He describes his cop friend Pat as one of the good ones, because he's not crooked, but if you're a cop and you stand by while your civilian friend beats the crap out of people for no good reason, while the victim pleads with you to help, you're not a good cop.
Mike Hammer beats first and asks questions later. He threatens with assault virtually every single man he questions, and some of them he beats up and/or threatens with a 45 even after they answer, if he doesn't like the answers he gets. He threatens people with violence if they refuse to break the law/betray their employer and let him into places he's not allowed to be. His secretary/partner, Velda, apparently has a thing for violent alcoholics, because she is in love with him and wants to marry him. His response to this is to jerk her around and pretend he's going to ask her to marry him. In the first chapter, he bets her a sandwich to a marriage license. If he lost, he'd marry her, if she lost, she'd buy him a sandwich. She lost. She responds to this emotional sadism by giving him the silent treatment, probably because she wasn't coldhearted enough to give him the shiv in the gut he deserved.
So we have this guy who basically bullies, threatens, and shoots his way through investigations, as if the life of a private detective in 1950s New York were like being the POV character in a rather gruesome first person shooter. He drinks heavily too, going into his favorite bar where he has a standing order for a "rye and soda every fifteen minutes." In 2010 we'd call that guy an alcoholic (or a college kid learning to be an alcoholic) but in 1950 I guess that just meant you were a manly man. Naturally, if you're an antisocial violent alcoholic, the men fear and respect you and the hot sexy women want to either make love to you or marry you or both. (The good girls want to marry him, the one who doesn't is just a nymphomaniac.)
So why is this like a trashy romance? Because trashy romances involve women who are a mess (can't keep her finances straight, shoe obsession, lost her keys, etc. etc.) who nonetheless gets everything she wants (a diamond ring from the 6'2" astrophysicist ball player duke who's also a rockstar) and has everyone adore her. Mike is a violent criminal who seems to be like catnip for every hot sexy young woman he meets. Because it's his story, he's the warrior hero instead of the psychopath who evades multiple assault and battery charges on account of his police connection. He's not admirable, but because his faults are writ so much larger (I hope) than the average reader, one can fantasize about being part of that world for a little while, and then go back to the (hopefully) less violent one.
I would have given this book two stars, because I can't say that I really liked it all that much, but I wasn't reading it to like it so much as to trace the origin of a genre back a ways.
This novel was written in 1950, and boy has a lot changed in those sixty years. From language ("let me alone" instead of "leave me alone", and the author feeling he needed to explain the phrase "cold turkey") to clothing (Mike Hammer visits his tailor no fewer than three times in the first novel, and he always wears a hat), to science (the "expert psychoanalyst" sounded like a sophomoric dumbass when talking about psychology, and hypnotism works differently in the novel than in real life)
The starkest difference was sociological. There is, of course, rampant sexism. At one point the protagonist explains the antagonist's actions upon being a professional working woman instead of a housewife "You no longer had the social instinct of a woman--that of being dependent upon a man." There's plenty of racism too; you can tell who the black characters are because they're generally either servants or criminals, and they have apostrophe-laden speech. They also generally use more "sir", "massah" and "missus" in their speech. I did a doubletake when I heard of people losing their money in "the crash" and realizng it was the 1920s, or having him talk about fighting in the jungles in the war and adding up to realize it was WW2 and not Vietnam. I also had a shock when the self-described "big" progagonist revealed that he was 190 lbs. In what century was that a big man? Oh yeah, last century, that's right. So, this novel is a trip down memory lane for older readers, and a historical fiction for those of us born after the moon landing. But what a horrible, horrible time to live in! Sexism, racism, and even a bout of homophobia when Mike throws water on a couple of "fruits" who are fighting.
After thinking about it, I realized that this novel is a lot like a trashy romance, except it's written for men. After all, the "hero" is a violent, psychopathic alcoholic whose best friend is a crooked cop. He describes his cop friend Pat as one of the good ones, because he's not crooked, but if you're a cop and you stand by while your civilian friend beats the crap out of people for no good reason, while the victim pleads with you to help, you're not a good cop.
Mike Hammer beats first and asks questions later. He threatens with assault virtually every single man he questions, and some of them he beats up and/or threatens with a 45 even after they answer, if he doesn't like the answers he gets. He threatens people with violence if they refuse to break the law/betray their employer and let him into places he's not allowed to be. His secretary/partner, Velda, apparently has a thing for violent alcoholics, because she is in love with him and wants to marry him. His response to this is to jerk her around and pretend he's going to ask her to marry him. In the first chapter, he bets her a sandwich to a marriage license. If he lost, he'd marry her, if she lost, she'd buy him a sandwich. She lost. She responds to this emotional sadism by giving him the silent treatment, probably because she wasn't coldhearted enough to give him the shiv in the gut he deserved.
So we have this guy who basically bullies, threatens, and shoots his way through investigations, as if the life of a private detective in 1950s New York were like being the POV character in a rather gruesome first person shooter. He drinks heavily too, going into his favorite bar where he has a standing order for a "rye and soda every fifteen minutes." In 2010 we'd call that guy an alcoholic (or a college kid learning to be an alcoholic) but in 1950 I guess that just meant you were a manly man. Naturally, if you're an antisocial violent alcoholic, the men fear and respect you and the hot sexy women want to either make love to you or marry you or both. (The good girls want to marry him, the one who doesn't is just a nymphomaniac.)
So why is this like a trashy romance? Because trashy romances involve women who are a mess (can't keep her finances straight, shoe obsession, lost her keys, etc. etc.) who nonetheless gets everything she wants (a diamond ring from the 6'2" astrophysicist ball player duke who's also a rockstar) and has everyone adore her. Mike is a violent criminal who seems to be like catnip for every hot sexy young woman he meets. Because it's his story, he's the warrior hero instead of the psychopath who evades multiple assault and battery charges on account of his police connection. He's not admirable, but because his faults are writ so much larger (I hope) than the average reader, one can fantasize about being part of that world for a little while, and then go back to the (hopefully) less violent one.
I would have given this book two stars, because I can't say that I really liked it all that much, but I wasn't reading it to like it so much as to trace the origin of a genre back a ways.
September 27, 2021
I first read this over 5 decades ago while serving Uncle Sam’s Army in Germany. We had little means of entertainment over there, nothing short of blowing our pay playing cards, boozing at the EM club, and of course going downtown to the local guest houses. I was introduced to reading by my roommate, whose taste in books included the likes of Donald Hamilton, J.D. MacDonald and Mickey Spillane. So when the money was about to run out we read. I probably read ever Mike Hammer, Matt Helm and Travis McGee written at the time along with any book with similar bad guys and women that we could get our hands own. I vaguely remember the details of “I, The Jury” but figured out who done it quickly (only because I had read most all of the Hammer books and had knowledge of his character). This was a fun read and reading it brought back memories of good times.
Thanks Mickey!
Listened this time. Like watching a movie without the watching. I think it’s really the third time I have read or listened but still enjoyed.
Thanks Mickey!
Listened this time. Like watching a movie without the watching. I think it’s really the third time I have read or listened but still enjoyed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2021
Mickey Spillane is an unashamedly pulpy writer. He is to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett what Robert E. Howard is to J.R.R. Tolkein. But the bombastic fantasy world Spillane creates is so much fun! This is a land of beautiful woman, and cold-hard killers, where the cops are all corrupt (except for when they're not), and there's a murderer lurking on every street corner.
I've been reading quite a few different detective authors recently (all of them classic, but new to me) - and Mickey Spillane is my favourite so far. I, the Jury is the first of the Mike Hammer novels. Mike Hammer must be the hard-boiledest of the hard-boiled PIs. He has no qualms about using violence to get information and he shouts casually about the murders he's going to commit. Mike Hammer trusts nobody, except for his friends, who he would kill for in a heartbeat. This novel doesn't even pretend to be like real life.
I think some of the criticisms of Spillane, as I understand them, stem from the mysteries being somewhat obvious. Which I guess is true. But I don't think the mystery itself is really the driving motor of this novel. Instead, it's the characters - each one of them larger than life - and each one of them just fun to read about. Sure, Bobo may be a stock character, and Charlotte too, and Pat, and even Mike himself. But I don't think Spillane cared. This novel is almost a cartoon. It's a lot of fun.
I've been reading quite a few different detective authors recently (all of them classic, but new to me) - and Mickey Spillane is my favourite so far. I, the Jury is the first of the Mike Hammer novels. Mike Hammer must be the hard-boiledest of the hard-boiled PIs. He has no qualms about using violence to get information and he shouts casually about the murders he's going to commit. Mike Hammer trusts nobody, except for his friends, who he would kill for in a heartbeat. This novel doesn't even pretend to be like real life.
I think some of the criticisms of Spillane, as I understand them, stem from the mysteries being somewhat obvious. Which I guess is true. But I don't think the mystery itself is really the driving motor of this novel. Instead, it's the characters - each one of them larger than life - and each one of them just fun to read about. Sure, Bobo may be a stock character, and Charlotte too, and Pat, and even Mike himself. But I don't think Spillane cared. This novel is almost a cartoon. It's a lot of fun.
April 20, 2018
Okay so I enjoyed my first taste of Spillane. Mike Hammer's a tough guy. A real tough guy and the ladies and the crooks just cannot leave him alone. On discovery of the body of a close friend Mike sets out to put a bullet in the killer.
What follows is pretty enjoyable, well managed P.I. Noir. The scenes and confrontations have just the right balance of tension and action and Mike's relationship with the Police is enjoyable.
Now I'm a guy, and Spillane appears to be writing just for guys. Now, to say that the female characters in I. The Jury are two dimensional would flatter the writer, and if I were a woman I would probably find the whole thing rather laughable. But as a dumb guy with a simple mind, I can read it, knowing it's flaky, and yet still not minding. After all I would quite like women to react to me the way they do to Mike Hammer. Is it bad to admit that? I think it's okay.
Anyway, the book had me right to the end but I did find the ending a disappointment. I had seen the twist coming, but still I didn't feel that Mike's epiphany was foreshadowed or signposted enough and that his evidence was pretty flimsy... In short I the ending was a bit s@$%.
A good read - but probably won't read another.
What follows is pretty enjoyable, well managed P.I. Noir. The scenes and confrontations have just the right balance of tension and action and Mike's relationship with the Police is enjoyable.
Now I'm a guy, and Spillane appears to be writing just for guys. Now, to say that the female characters in I. The Jury are two dimensional would flatter the writer, and if I were a woman I would probably find the whole thing rather laughable. But as a dumb guy with a simple mind, I can read it, knowing it's flaky, and yet still not minding. After all I would quite like women to react to me the way they do to Mike Hammer. Is it bad to admit that? I think it's okay.
Anyway, the book had me right to the end but I did find the ending a disappointment. I had seen the twist coming, but still I didn't feel that Mike's epiphany was foreshadowed or signposted enough and that his evidence was pretty flimsy... In short I the ending was a bit s@$%.
A good read - but probably won't read another.
January 1, 2012
If you want to read good pulp fiction, go back to the source. Mickey Spillane didn't invent the hard-boiled detective-noir genre, but he certainly played a big part in making it a uniquely fascinating and American one. Mike Hammer is the prototypical tough-guy private dick, and the world he inhabits is one where women are either dames or broads, guns are rods, and nobody is ever truly trustworthy. "I, the Jury" introduced the world to Mike Hammer. It's been filmed for the big screen at least three times that I can remember, but none of them have come close to the sheer brilliance and, well, shocking-ness (I'm an English teacher, I swear...) of Spillane's straightforward-as-a-bullet prose. He's Hemingway with a bigger dick. I even remember watching and enjoying the 80s TV show starring Stacy Keach. The problem with Keach was that he made Hammer seem almost too much of a teddy bear. Hammer isn't a nice guy, he's an asshole, and that's what makes him so damn lovable as a hero.
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