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Kill Me If You Can
Mike Hammer hits his 75th anniversary hard, after the disappearance of Velda, in this brand new case between Kiss Me, Deadly and The Girl Hunters, drawn from Mickey Spillane’s archives.
Mike Hammer is on the case, this time hunting the murderer of his old friend and bootlegger-turned-legit-businessman Edward G. Robinson. Already torn up buy the disappearance of Velda, his beloved secretary, Mike Hammer carves a brutal path for vengeance. Drinking heavily, his relationships fraying, his behaviour self-desctructive, Hammer has to track down Robinson’s black book, with the names of every corrupt official in town. With deception everywhere, and a whole host of reasons to want the ledger, Hammer has to pull himself together and solve the case before all hell breaks loose.
Mike Hammer is on the case, this time hunting the murderer of his old friend and bootlegger-turned-legit-businessman Edward G. Robinson. Already torn up buy the disappearance of Velda, his beloved secretary, Mike Hammer carves a brutal path for vengeance. Drinking heavily, his relationships fraying, his behaviour self-desctructive, Hammer has to track down Robinson’s black book, with the names of every corrupt official in town. With deception everywhere, and a whole host of reasons to want the ledger, Hammer has to pull himself together and solve the case before all hell breaks loose.
253 pages, Hardcover
Published August 23, 2022
23 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Max Allan Collins
820 books1,336 followersReceived the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 2006.
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 15, 2024
Kill Me if you Can was just published in 2022. Yet it fills in a gap in the Mike Hammer chronology between Kiss Me Deadly (1952) and The Girl Hunters (1962), starting with Velda’s disappearance and Mike’s seven year bender when he nearly drinks himself to death with guilt.
Culled from Spillane’s unfinished drafts and outlines, the story has Mike out of his mind trying to figure out how highly trained Velda disappeared from a gala event where she was playing bodyguard. Mike is going through every bar in Manhattan trying to draw out information on who is running the high-stakes jewelry robbery crew that hit Velda. But all it’s gotten him is drunk and sick.
When Mike died take on a security job in a hunch, he ends up turning it into a vicious bloody mess as well.
Much of the story has Mike in a romance with a torch singer who is a stand-in for Velda, but getting no closer to a solution.
This 26th Mike Hammer novel (although perhaps seventh chronologically) is filled with Spillane’s patented brand of comic book violence, Hammer’s bravado, and a searing sense of right and wrong. There are no fuzzy lines in Mike Hammer’s world and very little mercy fir the bad guys either.
Culled from Spillane’s unfinished drafts and outlines, the story has Mike out of his mind trying to figure out how highly trained Velda disappeared from a gala event where she was playing bodyguard. Mike is going through every bar in Manhattan trying to draw out information on who is running the high-stakes jewelry robbery crew that hit Velda. But all it’s gotten him is drunk and sick.
When Mike died take on a security job in a hunch, he ends up turning it into a vicious bloody mess as well.
Much of the story has Mike in a romance with a torch singer who is a stand-in for Velda, but getting no closer to a solution.
This 26th Mike Hammer novel (although perhaps seventh chronologically) is filled with Spillane’s patented brand of comic book violence, Hammer’s bravado, and a searing sense of right and wrong. There are no fuzzy lines in Mike Hammer’s world and very little mercy fir the bad guys either.
September 30, 2022
This story takes place during the 7 years that Mickey Spillane stopped writing Mike Hammer. We're told what happened to Mike in his return in the book The Girl Hunters, but this goes into greater detail.
Velda is kidnapped while bodyguarding a parvenu. Mike looks for her while going to pieces, drinking too much, and eating and sleeping too little.
Then his friend, Packy, is killed. This gives Mike something to do, so he jumps on the case and finds a whole lot of trouble.
Also included are some short stories. Two of which do not feature Mike Hammer at all, and two which do. They're all pretty good.
A curiosity, but a darned good one.
Velda is kidnapped while bodyguarding a parvenu. Mike looks for her while going to pieces, drinking too much, and eating and sleeping too little.
Then his friend, Packy, is killed. This gives Mike something to do, so he jumps on the case and finds a whole lot of trouble.
Also included are some short stories. Two of which do not feature Mike Hammer at all, and two which do. They're all pretty good.
A curiosity, but a darned good one.
September 28, 2022
The year 2022 marks the 75th anniversary of the original publication of the very first Mike Hammer novel, I, the Jury, by Mickey Spillane way back in 1947. While a dozen more would follow, all penned by Spillane himself, he also left behind numerous unfinished manuscripts, summaries, radio scripts, ideas, etc. During his final week of life in 2006, Spillane asked his friend Max Allan Collins to continue the series and make good use of that material. MAC has been doing just that ever since and succeeding in fine style. This book is the thirteenth with both Spillane and Collins listed as authors, effectively doubling the original Spillane-only output and bringing the total to 26 Mike Hammer novels. Also of note, is the infamous 10-year gap in Spillane’s output, from 1952 to 1962. This novel, Kill Me If You Can falls chronologically between Kiss Me, Deadly and The Girl Hunters which bookend that decade-long gap.
The novel opens with Mike Hammer having been working a case for several weeks involving a high-end robbery crew. A month ago, they’d hit the “Civac reception” and gotten away with a lot of jewelry and other valuables. But we soon find out they had taken something much more valuable than jewels, something that boils Hammer’s blood and leads him on a desperate whirlwind of a chase.
Velda is missing.
Velda, Hammer’s secretary and PI partner, and much more than that if the ring he recently gave her is any indication. Has she been kidnapped? Murdered? To gain some more intel, Hammer turns to his old friend and mobster, Packy Paragon who is trying hard to go legit. The man has opened a nightclub which features his famous and beautiful wife Victoria as the star singing attraction. Hammer is not in a good place when this novel begins, his days filled with drinking and his nights failing to sleep. His cop buddy Pat Chambers, the chief of homicide has about had enough of him.
Max Allan Collins, once again does an excellent job of channeling Mickey Spillane and producing an excellent Mike Hammer novel. All the elements that you hope for are here including familiar and new characters, the hard-boiled driving plot, and the richly described atmosphere of the City. Always willing to use his gun to kill killers, Hammer never hesitates to hand out justice, even when temporarily without a permit or even a PI license. Not all plot points are resolved but many readers will already be familiar with what will happen because they are detailed in the follow-on novel, The Girl Hunters, published in 1962.
This is not a tremendously long novel but rather one that is tightly plotted and one that moves along at a nice clip. Happily, five additional short stories are also included in this volume including two Hammer tales. These are all good too and written in a style much like you might find in editions of Manhunt magazine or the like.
I’m not sure how much is left in the Spillane un-published material vault but I’m sure looking forward to anything MAC can coax out, collaborate on, write, polish and let loose on the world.
The novel opens with Mike Hammer having been working a case for several weeks involving a high-end robbery crew. A month ago, they’d hit the “Civac reception” and gotten away with a lot of jewelry and other valuables. But we soon find out they had taken something much more valuable than jewels, something that boils Hammer’s blood and leads him on a desperate whirlwind of a chase.
Velda is missing.
Velda, Hammer’s secretary and PI partner, and much more than that if the ring he recently gave her is any indication. Has she been kidnapped? Murdered? To gain some more intel, Hammer turns to his old friend and mobster, Packy Paragon who is trying hard to go legit. The man has opened a nightclub which features his famous and beautiful wife Victoria as the star singing attraction. Hammer is not in a good place when this novel begins, his days filled with drinking and his nights failing to sleep. His cop buddy Pat Chambers, the chief of homicide has about had enough of him.
Max Allan Collins, once again does an excellent job of channeling Mickey Spillane and producing an excellent Mike Hammer novel. All the elements that you hope for are here including familiar and new characters, the hard-boiled driving plot, and the richly described atmosphere of the City. Always willing to use his gun to kill killers, Hammer never hesitates to hand out justice, even when temporarily without a permit or even a PI license. Not all plot points are resolved but many readers will already be familiar with what will happen because they are detailed in the follow-on novel, The Girl Hunters, published in 1962.
This is not a tremendously long novel but rather one that is tightly plotted and one that moves along at a nice clip. Happily, five additional short stories are also included in this volume including two Hammer tales. These are all good too and written in a style much like you might find in editions of Manhunt magazine or the like.
I’m not sure how much is left in the Spillane un-published material vault but I’m sure looking forward to anything MAC can coax out, collaborate on, write, polish and let loose on the world.
September 3, 2022
In the 75th Anniversary of Mike Hammer, Max Allan Collins fills in the time gap between Kiss Me, Deadly and The Girl Hunters with an excellent entry into the series. It contains within its pages everything that makes a good Mike Hammer tale: crime, a Femme Fatale, violence, booze and a case for the private detective to solve. The novel also features 5 short stories within, ranging in quality from very good to excellent. There is one in particular that I saw M.A.C. mention in several interviews as hinging all on one word that would make a world of difference and I expect that to be hyperbole but found myself being proven wrong and rightfully so.
Special Thanks to Titan Books and Edelweiss Plus for a digital ARC.
Special Thanks to Titan Books and Edelweiss Plus for a digital ARC.
October 3, 2022
I received Kill Me If You Can from the author in a giveaway in return for an honest review.
From the first sentence "I had nothing to keep me company but my .45 and an itch to use it." to the last sentence of five bonus short stories, this is a real treat! Max Allan Collins is Mickey Spillane literary executor and has extended the original 13 Mike Hammer novels to another 13.
This is a beautiful hardcover published on the75th anniversary of the publication of the first Hammer novel. The story takes place during Velda's 7 year absence. It's got everything you've come to expect from a Mike Hammer novel. There are 5 short stories and some editorial comments. I was surprised that there was new information that I never knew. If you want a summary of the book, check out Goodreads or Amazon.
Go and read this!
From the first sentence "I had nothing to keep me company but my .45 and an itch to use it." to the last sentence of five bonus short stories, this is a real treat! Max Allan Collins is Mickey Spillane literary executor and has extended the original 13 Mike Hammer novels to another 13.
This is a beautiful hardcover published on the75th anniversary of the publication of the first Hammer novel. The story takes place during Velda's 7 year absence. It's got everything you've come to expect from a Mike Hammer novel. There are 5 short stories and some editorial comments. I was surprised that there was new information that I never knew. If you want a summary of the book, check out Goodreads or Amazon.
Go and read this!
October 10, 2022
Nothing better than a new Mike Hammer novel plus five short stories to celebrate 75 years of The Hammer!
July 15, 2023
Always loved the Mike hammer stories.
September 29, 2022
"I had nothing to keep me company but my .45 and an itch to use it." That's the first sentence in this fast paced story of vengeance and pain, and it doesn't let up. Set in the time after Velda's disappearance and the beginning of Hammer's slide into a seven year drunk, Hammer must get it together to find the murderer of his friend Packy Paragon. Yes, once again, it's personal. Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the first appearance of Mike Hammer, five short stories are included as a bonus.
October 9, 2022
If tough guy Mike Hammer ever needed to be at the top of his game, now is the time. But he can’t seem to pull himself out of the bottle long enough to think straight. A giant serving of guilt is weighing on him. He’s kicking himself for not handling the shindig that Velda, his secretary-turned-partner-turned lover, covered for the agency. The one she disappeared from. It sounded like an easy gig, a job even a novice PI could handle, but something went wrong. Big time wrong. All clues about whodunnit point to a new group of home tossers in town.
At first, Hammer goes after the usual suspects, but it doesn’t take long to realize that the New York crime families want these guys almost as much as he does. Packy Paragon, Hammer’s mob friend --- ex-mob friend these days --- dials him in on what the word on the street currently is. So Hammer, armed with the address of the next supposed target and his .45, stakes it out. He hopes to kill two birds with one stone: catch the burglars and, more importantly, find Velda. Of course, it’s not as simple as that, especially if you consider the brain fog that has him woozy from the booze.
Then Packy’s place is hit, and the stakes soar even higher. It’s not just Velda now, although Hammer’s focus has always been on her. But Packy held a special, if not exactly fond, spot in his life. He owes it to Packy to put things right. And he owes it to Packy’s wife, Victoria Valance. She, too, deserves his help. Plus, there’s no overlooking that Victoria is a beautiful bird. He takes her under his wing, so to speak, telling himself he’s protecting her. With Hammer, it’s always complicated.
The cops think the robbers got away with a hundred G’s, but Hammer knows the real score was a ledger, a ledger that names names. And not just names of mob guys, but also politicians, cops, officials and influencers of every ilk, plus some extra special delectables about each of them. It’s a book that ups the ante. And ups the danger factor. A lot of people would kill to get their hands on it --- literally --- so it comes as no surprise when Hammer runs into someone who bashes him on the head, grabs him and tries to work him over. But, again, it’s not as simple as that.
Hammer is no stranger to violence. In fact, he thrives on it, drunk or sober. And he always goes out prepared. Still, by the wrap-up, he has acquired numerous new bruises and myriad scars as fodder for future stories, if he cares to tell them.
Max Allan Collins writes with a style that perfectly mimics Mickey Spillane. Readers will travel back in time to the middle of last century with KILL ME IF YOU CAN. Curl up and enjoy Mike Hammer at his best --- and, of course, worst. Climb out of that bottle, Mike! Velda needs you.
Reviewed by Kate Ayers
At first, Hammer goes after the usual suspects, but it doesn’t take long to realize that the New York crime families want these guys almost as much as he does. Packy Paragon, Hammer’s mob friend --- ex-mob friend these days --- dials him in on what the word on the street currently is. So Hammer, armed with the address of the next supposed target and his .45, stakes it out. He hopes to kill two birds with one stone: catch the burglars and, more importantly, find Velda. Of course, it’s not as simple as that, especially if you consider the brain fog that has him woozy from the booze.
Then Packy’s place is hit, and the stakes soar even higher. It’s not just Velda now, although Hammer’s focus has always been on her. But Packy held a special, if not exactly fond, spot in his life. He owes it to Packy to put things right. And he owes it to Packy’s wife, Victoria Valance. She, too, deserves his help. Plus, there’s no overlooking that Victoria is a beautiful bird. He takes her under his wing, so to speak, telling himself he’s protecting her. With Hammer, it’s always complicated.
The cops think the robbers got away with a hundred G’s, but Hammer knows the real score was a ledger, a ledger that names names. And not just names of mob guys, but also politicians, cops, officials and influencers of every ilk, plus some extra special delectables about each of them. It’s a book that ups the ante. And ups the danger factor. A lot of people would kill to get their hands on it --- literally --- so it comes as no surprise when Hammer runs into someone who bashes him on the head, grabs him and tries to work him over. But, again, it’s not as simple as that.
Hammer is no stranger to violence. In fact, he thrives on it, drunk or sober. And he always goes out prepared. Still, by the wrap-up, he has acquired numerous new bruises and myriad scars as fodder for future stories, if he cares to tell them.
Max Allan Collins writes with a style that perfectly mimics Mickey Spillane. Readers will travel back in time to the middle of last century with KILL ME IF YOU CAN. Curl up and enjoy Mike Hammer at his best --- and, of course, worst. Climb out of that bottle, Mike! Velda needs you.
Reviewed by Kate Ayers
October 12, 2022
Good old-fashioned Mike Hammer story. Unfortunately, Mike's secretary-turned-partner/lover goes missing early on, sending Mike into a tailspin with lots of booze riddled days and nights. He has to get his SH*% together though to try to find her, and to solve the issue of the new guys in town tossing all the houses. Then his friend gets whacked and he feels he owes it to the widow to take care of that, too. The wrapup is stunning.
October 21, 2022
Max Allan Collins has yet again delivered a fantastic Mike Hammer tale based on some unpublished work by Mickey Spillane. If you love Hammer from his early '50s heyday, you'll love this book. Collins has also included five short stories, two of which feature Hammer, as a bonus. Mickey Spillane would be proud.
January 4, 2026
It was okay. I liked the characters, but I think the plot threw me as this was in the middle of two other books. It was a full story, but I felt like I wasn't seeing all of it. When I looked it up it, it said it is a book between two books of the actual series.
October 14, 2022
Good story reminiscent of Spillane’s heyday! A real page tuner.
January 5, 2023
A nice collaboration between Spillane and Collins as if Mike Hammer never missed a beat. A good read if you like Spillane novels and/or old skool detective stories.
May 29, 2025
Collins does an excellent job of wedging this story into the Mike Hammer series. Rudnicki a different performance, but equal to Stacy Keach. I applaud the production crew.
November 1, 2025
Not as good as others by this author. The short stories were not as good. Things pertaining to Mike Hammer were ok, but others not so much.
April 20, 2023
I generally find Max Allan Collins' writing as dull as dishwater, but glimpses of the Mike Hammer that I know and love peek through on occasion here.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews