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Mike Hammer #5
The Big Kill
The rain clawed at the windows of the bar. Hammer was angry and wanted to be left alone. But when he sees a desperate guy abandon his kid in a bar just to step outside and get blown away, Hammer's mood switches from bad to worse. By the time he reaches the dead body, he knows he will have to pound his way through a world of thugs and wiseguys to find out how a reformed ex-con got desperate enough to die like that. What Hammer doesn't know is how a beautiful woman will figure in--and how many bullets justice will take.
168 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1951
43 people are currently reading
474 people want to read
About the author
Mickey Spillane
316 books448 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 87 reviews
January 2, 2024
"The Big Kill" is the fifth Mike Hammer novel and in it Spillane returns to a smaller scale story than Hammer's battle against the Communist Party which was featured in "One Lonely Night," the fourth book. Hammer is having a drink on a rundown ginmill when a character with a bundle drops in.
Spillane describes this joint with incredible prose; "The place reeked of stale beer and soggy men with enough cheap perfume thrown in to make you sick. Two drunks with a nickel between them were arguing over what to play on the jukebox until a tomato in a dress that was too tight a year ago pushed the key that started off something noisy and hot. One of the drunks wanted to dance and she gave him a shove. So he danced with the other drunk." Wow! Spillane tells a whole story about a place in just a few sentences and his writing is as hardboiled as it can get.
The bundle turns out to be a one-year old and, after dropping off the bundle, the guy runs outside and is gunned down. Hammer is angry that someone went and left this kid an orphan and took the kid into his custody to be cared for by the retired nurse who lives downstairs. Meanwhile, Hammer tracks down the web of bad guys who contributed to the infant's father being shot down. As in the previous novels, you wonder how Hammer ever makes a living without a paying client, but he's busy being like a superhero fighting for truth and justice, not just earning a buck and not just doing what he's supposed to. "There's plenty who need killing bad and if I'm electing myself to do the job, you shouldn't kick."
This novel features the kind if sudden and devastating action Spillane is famous for: "My hand kept squeezing the trigger until there were only the flat echoes of the blasts that were drowned out by the noise of the Carr's exhaust and the futile gesture as the gun held opened, empty."
It barely features Hammer's new fiancé, Velda, who is sent off on a business trip while Hammer stays in town and beds the luscious babes that he comes across. For instance, "Ellen was beautiful as only a mature woman could be beautiful. She was lustful as only a mature woman could be lustful." He admits he is acting like a heel, but what of it.
With Spillane's incredible writing, you can't go wrong. However, this story is a bit more disjointed than some of the earlier Hammers.
The book repeats a number of themes found in the earlier Hammer novels such as Hammer's ongoing confrontations with the DA who wants to finally put Hammer behind bars, Pat's telling Hammer again that he can't always back Hammer's play, and the many tentacles of evil that Hammer does battle with.
Spillane describes this joint with incredible prose; "The place reeked of stale beer and soggy men with enough cheap perfume thrown in to make you sick. Two drunks with a nickel between them were arguing over what to play on the jukebox until a tomato in a dress that was too tight a year ago pushed the key that started off something noisy and hot. One of the drunks wanted to dance and she gave him a shove. So he danced with the other drunk." Wow! Spillane tells a whole story about a place in just a few sentences and his writing is as hardboiled as it can get.
The bundle turns out to be a one-year old and, after dropping off the bundle, the guy runs outside and is gunned down. Hammer is angry that someone went and left this kid an orphan and took the kid into his custody to be cared for by the retired nurse who lives downstairs. Meanwhile, Hammer tracks down the web of bad guys who contributed to the infant's father being shot down. As in the previous novels, you wonder how Hammer ever makes a living without a paying client, but he's busy being like a superhero fighting for truth and justice, not just earning a buck and not just doing what he's supposed to. "There's plenty who need killing bad and if I'm electing myself to do the job, you shouldn't kick."
This novel features the kind if sudden and devastating action Spillane is famous for: "My hand kept squeezing the trigger until there were only the flat echoes of the blasts that were drowned out by the noise of the Carr's exhaust and the futile gesture as the gun held opened, empty."
It barely features Hammer's new fiancé, Velda, who is sent off on a business trip while Hammer stays in town and beds the luscious babes that he comes across. For instance, "Ellen was beautiful as only a mature woman could be beautiful. She was lustful as only a mature woman could be lustful." He admits he is acting like a heel, but what of it.
With Spillane's incredible writing, you can't go wrong. However, this story is a bit more disjointed than some of the earlier Hammers.
The book repeats a number of themes found in the earlier Hammer novels such as Hammer's ongoing confrontations with the DA who wants to finally put Hammer behind bars, Pat's telling Hammer again that he can't always back Hammer's play, and the many tentacles of evil that Hammer does battle with.
November 8, 2021
This is the Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer #5 book in his series. In his previous book, Mike takes on the communists, so this book is a step back in scale - in my view, a welcome one.
In this book we mix with loan sharks, reformed safe crackers, ex-film starlets, gangsters and racketeers. For what is a fairly small scale story, the body count in this one is high, and for a change the various love interests of Hammer are not in the victim list!
Hammer seems a little out of character, showing a soft side when, at the beginning of our story, he witnesses a man kissing his baby son goodbye then walks out of a dive bar knowing it is the end of his days. After hammer fails to prevent the man's murder, he leaves the bar with the baby, and sets about avenging the orphan. Luckily, he has a retired nurse in his building who looks after the boy until the adoption services can get their placement sorted out.
While there are some good twists, and we get to witness Hammer struggling to piece all the moving parts together, there are unfortunately some parts to this book which test the readers ability to believe. In particular the end is just ludicrous! We still get to see Hammer test his friendship with the cop, Pat Chambers, and we get to see him wind up the DA and avoid jail time through the deals he makes with him.
Having said that, there is still more than enough in this book to keep the hard-boiled noir fan entertained. There are another ten Mickey Spillane books in my shelf (only some of them are Mike Hammer), and I expect to work through them all eventually.
This one, three stars.
In this book we mix with loan sharks, reformed safe crackers, ex-film starlets, gangsters and racketeers. For what is a fairly small scale story, the body count in this one is high, and for a change the various love interests of Hammer are not in the victim list!
Hammer seems a little out of character, showing a soft side when, at the beginning of our story, he witnesses a man kissing his baby son goodbye then walks out of a dive bar knowing it is the end of his days. After hammer fails to prevent the man's murder, he leaves the bar with the baby, and sets about avenging the orphan. Luckily, he has a retired nurse in his building who looks after the boy until the adoption services can get their placement sorted out.
While there are some good twists, and we get to witness Hammer struggling to piece all the moving parts together, there are unfortunately some parts to this book which test the readers ability to believe. In particular the end is just ludicrous! We still get to see Hammer test his friendship with the cop, Pat Chambers, and we get to see him wind up the DA and avoid jail time through the deals he makes with him.
Having said that, there is still more than enough in this book to keep the hard-boiled noir fan entertained. There are another ten Mickey Spillane books in my shelf (only some of them are Mike Hammer), and I expect to work through them all eventually.
This one, three stars.
December 10, 2018
Spillaine opens with an oddly gentle scene, but roars into his trademark action and romance, building to a finish that doesn't disappoint.
January 20, 2020
A Mike Hammer story is fast paced, brutal and action filled. There is no time for niceties in Mike Hammer’s world. Nice quick and entertaining read. Recommended
July 13, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 106 (of 250)
HOOK 4 stars: "It was one of those nights when the sky came down and wrapped itself around the world." This is my favorite 'weather report opening'. It's different and it's directly related to the end of the first chapter, as by that time Hammer has shown a surprisingly gentle side by leaving a bar, not battered, shot, drunk, or with a criminal, but carrying an infant left there by a man who has just been shot and killed.
PACE 3: Spillane is never one to have extended 'thought/analysis' scenes. This is no thunderous "I, The Jury", but it moves along steadily.
PLOT- 3: Thieves break into the apartment of Marsha Lee, once a well-known entertainer. But William Decker leaves having only about $300 and a necklace worth little. Those planning and participating in the robbery think he's holding out on them: they kill him. The question is: did he have more, and what, exactly, could it be other than money? Once that is identified about half way through the book, a chase is on by a number of people, a chase that leaves many dead bodies in its wake.
CAST - 3: Hammer is his usual, violent, revengeful self but has a soft side as far as the infant and ensuring his safety. Decker is a good guy and he's just borrowed $3,000 for an operation for his wife. But those in the know say he paid the money back and never needed to participate in the robbery. Why did he. Marsha Lee feels like a side character at first, just the victim of a robbery, but she knows more than at a first questioning. And there's a team of bad guys: Toady Link and his 2 boys Arthur Cole and Glen Fisher. Charlie Fallon has been dead for years, but he keeps popping up all through the story. Then there is the super villian, Ed Teen, ready to use any method of torture. And the girl used to be known as Dolly Smith, Fallon's girl. Where is she now? Plus a pile of dead bodies along the way. Other than Hammer, though, you may remember no one else once turning the final page.
ATMOSPHERE - 4: Marsha becomes attracted to Hammer (of course, he's big and handsome and fearless and protects infants). When Hammer says, "Why me?" she takes the scene into the bedroom and Spillane writes: "...and she was there in my hands now, and invisible, naked dream throwing a mantle of desire around us both that had too great a strength to break..." I like the way Spillane authors sex scenes: you know specifically what and when and it's steamy hot, but its 1951 and Spillane uses very reserved wording and I think that's one reason Spillane had 7 of the top 10 bestsellers in the history of publishing in the USA: there would be lovin', but told in a way so as not to offend anyone. If you're a person never involved in crimes (most of us, I'd think), Spillane has it everywhere, as if all of our neighbors are up to no good. Here, the question of who is good and who isn't is every place, with Hammer always playing the balancing act. Oddly, Hammer could be the bad guy in all his books if told from someone else's voice and in fact finds himself jailed twice in this story.
SUMMARY: 3.4. This is one of Hammer's lesser adventures, but still, I liked it.
BOOK 106 (of 250)
HOOK 4 stars: "It was one of those nights when the sky came down and wrapped itself around the world." This is my favorite 'weather report opening'. It's different and it's directly related to the end of the first chapter, as by that time Hammer has shown a surprisingly gentle side by leaving a bar, not battered, shot, drunk, or with a criminal, but carrying an infant left there by a man who has just been shot and killed.
PACE 3: Spillane is never one to have extended 'thought/analysis' scenes. This is no thunderous "I, The Jury", but it moves along steadily.
PLOT- 3: Thieves break into the apartment of Marsha Lee, once a well-known entertainer. But William Decker leaves having only about $300 and a necklace worth little. Those planning and participating in the robbery think he's holding out on them: they kill him. The question is: did he have more, and what, exactly, could it be other than money? Once that is identified about half way through the book, a chase is on by a number of people, a chase that leaves many dead bodies in its wake.
CAST - 3: Hammer is his usual, violent, revengeful self but has a soft side as far as the infant and ensuring his safety. Decker is a good guy and he's just borrowed $3,000 for an operation for his wife. But those in the know say he paid the money back and never needed to participate in the robbery. Why did he. Marsha Lee feels like a side character at first, just the victim of a robbery, but she knows more than at a first questioning. And there's a team of bad guys: Toady Link and his 2 boys Arthur Cole and Glen Fisher. Charlie Fallon has been dead for years, but he keeps popping up all through the story. Then there is the super villian, Ed Teen, ready to use any method of torture. And the girl used to be known as Dolly Smith, Fallon's girl. Where is she now? Plus a pile of dead bodies along the way. Other than Hammer, though, you may remember no one else once turning the final page.
ATMOSPHERE - 4: Marsha becomes attracted to Hammer (of course, he's big and handsome and fearless and protects infants). When Hammer says, "Why me?" she takes the scene into the bedroom and Spillane writes: "...and she was there in my hands now, and invisible, naked dream throwing a mantle of desire around us both that had too great a strength to break..." I like the way Spillane authors sex scenes: you know specifically what and when and it's steamy hot, but its 1951 and Spillane uses very reserved wording and I think that's one reason Spillane had 7 of the top 10 bestsellers in the history of publishing in the USA: there would be lovin', but told in a way so as not to offend anyone. If you're a person never involved in crimes (most of us, I'd think), Spillane has it everywhere, as if all of our neighbors are up to no good. Here, the question of who is good and who isn't is every place, with Hammer always playing the balancing act. Oddly, Hammer could be the bad guy in all his books if told from someone else's voice and in fact finds himself jailed twice in this story.
SUMMARY: 3.4. This is one of Hammer's lesser adventures, but still, I liked it.
January 21, 2023
Spillane writing completely straight-faced about Mike being saved by a gun-toting baby is the batshit insane kind of things that I love about this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2024
Dark and atmospheric American noir. The Big Kill published originally in 1951 was the fifth Mike Hammer thriller set in New York. I am returning to this series to understand this literary heritage from Raymond Chandler to Lawrence Block. Mickey Spillane was much more relevant to me over 40 years ago, I the Jury, was made into a film in 1953 and most tellingly remade successfully in 1982.
Mike Hammer became a hit TV show in the eighties here.
Now, you have to read it mindful of the era it was written in. Otherwise, the language, misogyny reflected of the time and general sexual portrait of women will leave you wading through a sinking sand of political correctness.
I found it difficult to read in the light of these stereotypes and needed to remember the trends in male private eyes in books of the fifties and before.
If you can compartmentize things in your reading approach you may be able to appreciate the novel in its original timeframe. That said it is not an easy read at times and I found it best to just press on and get lost in the story.
I liked the why the weather played an import role in the story and how the mood was set. I also liked the redeeming characteristics within Hammer when he witnesses the original crime and the aftermath.
The story is similar to other episodes within this PI format, for Spillane it is a winning formula for Mike Hammer it is the detective procedural approach to getting to the truth. He works “within” the law but can go beyond police constraints. His main MO seems to be poke the hive with a stick and hope the bees don’t sting.
A dark mystery where the body count constantly rises and where Hammer finds his disregard for his own health impedes his ability to make lasting relationships Fortunately, he has one true friend within the police department and together they just about solve the case.
Mike Hammer became a hit TV show in the eighties here.
Now, you have to read it mindful of the era it was written in. Otherwise, the language, misogyny reflected of the time and general sexual portrait of women will leave you wading through a sinking sand of political correctness.
I found it difficult to read in the light of these stereotypes and needed to remember the trends in male private eyes in books of the fifties and before.
If you can compartmentize things in your reading approach you may be able to appreciate the novel in its original timeframe. That said it is not an easy read at times and I found it best to just press on and get lost in the story.
I liked the why the weather played an import role in the story and how the mood was set. I also liked the redeeming characteristics within Hammer when he witnesses the original crime and the aftermath.
The story is similar to other episodes within this PI format, for Spillane it is a winning formula for Mike Hammer it is the detective procedural approach to getting to the truth. He works “within” the law but can go beyond police constraints. His main MO seems to be poke the hive with a stick and hope the bees don’t sting.
A dark mystery where the body count constantly rises and where Hammer finds his disregard for his own health impedes his ability to make lasting relationships Fortunately, he has one true friend within the police department and together they just about solve the case.
November 9, 2017
My 5th Mike Hammer and it's getting a bit stale. I'm sure thats not about to change further on in the series either. But I don't mind, cause it's a lot of fun. This 5th book was way better than the 4th anyway, which was way too angry and anti-communist.
basically, al you have to know is:
- Mike Hammer likes dames and will describe their bodies for you every chance he gets. He says his view on beauty is pretty sophisticated and he tries to talk about inner beauty aswell. But don't be fooled, he doesn't like ugly looking dames.
- He drinks a lot. Drunkness can get him in trouble, but he is seldom too far gone to handle himself.
- his gun is always quicker than the bad guy's. Kinda like Lucky Luke, I wonder if he read those. I see Luke is from '46, so it is certainly possible. His fists are quicker too.
- if he makes a mistake it's always because he has a dame on his mind and is not paying attention. Otherwise the bad guys don't have a chance, DUH!
- all bad guys deserve to be killed, no exception. Prison just isn't enough for justice.
- Police Detective Pat Chambers is his friend and will help him. He will however not hesitate to frame him for murder and arrest him, in every book.
- the most important one: after reading a few in the series you will most certainly pick out the killer before Hammer does. It's not that hard. Though, the plot devices for coming to the conclusion are incredibly far fetched, insane and semi-complicated.
So why is this fun? Cause his incredibly bleak, mostly rainy and dark as the night noir setting is spot on, the violence is awesome and the ladies are beautiful. That's all.
basically, al you have to know is:
- Mike Hammer likes dames and will describe their bodies for you every chance he gets. He says his view on beauty is pretty sophisticated and he tries to talk about inner beauty aswell. But don't be fooled, he doesn't like ugly looking dames.
- He drinks a lot. Drunkness can get him in trouble, but he is seldom too far gone to handle himself.
- his gun is always quicker than the bad guy's. Kinda like Lucky Luke, I wonder if he read those. I see Luke is from '46, so it is certainly possible. His fists are quicker too.
- if he makes a mistake it's always because he has a dame on his mind and is not paying attention. Otherwise the bad guys don't have a chance, DUH!
- all bad guys deserve to be killed, no exception. Prison just isn't enough for justice.
- Police Detective Pat Chambers is his friend and will help him. He will however not hesitate to frame him for murder and arrest him, in every book.
- the most important one: after reading a few in the series you will most certainly pick out the killer before Hammer does. It's not that hard. Though, the plot devices for coming to the conclusion are incredibly far fetched, insane and semi-complicated.
So why is this fun? Cause his incredibly bleak, mostly rainy and dark as the night noir setting is spot on, the violence is awesome and the ladies are beautiful. That's all.
October 16, 2017
This is my first Spillane now novel. I did enjoy it and thought the ending the most hilarious and implausible one I have read. I literally laughed out loud. The plot was generic but the characterizations by Spillane were excellent. Mike Hammer an alcoholic chain smoking private eye is an angry man. He gets angrier and survived getting the shit kicked out of him. He also appears a bad judge of women. I have read some reviews that he is formulaic but I have to say it was a unique ending.
December 15, 2015
Read this a long time ago. Long before Goodreads. And wanted to add it to my "Read" collection. Best I recall -- Loved it!
January 8, 2023
THE BIG KILL is the fifth Mike Hammer novel and an improvement over the incredibly silly ONE LONELY NIGHT. Mike Hammer witnesses a murder of a young boy's father and decides to spend his every waking hour tracking down the murderer even after it is revealed the man was a safe cracker. This gets him involved with a movie starlet who was badly beaten, a blackmail plot, gambling addictions, and the DA wanting Mike's head.
This book kind of falls down at the end as if Mickey Spillane didn't know how to wrap the story up properly but it's still pretty enjoyable. I do think that the "twist" at the end was basically telegraphed from the beginning. It also is something that he's already used in multiple books before.
Also, Mike's habitual cheating on Velda is not exactly an endearing character trait. Fine if she doesn't care but the book acts like she wouldn't figure it out.
This book kind of falls down at the end as if Mickey Spillane didn't know how to wrap the story up properly but it's still pretty enjoyable. I do think that the "twist" at the end was basically telegraphed from the beginning. It also is something that he's already used in multiple books before.
Also, Mike's habitual cheating on Velda is not exactly an endearing character trait. Fine if she doesn't care but the book acts like she wouldn't figure it out.
February 6, 2017
Mickey Spillane may not have invented the hardboiled detective genre, but he sure mastered it. Mike Hammer is all things gruff: a crime-hating, gun-toting, stiff-arming, shake-downing, seething, drinking loner out to right all the wrongs in this dirty, crazy world. But one thing he's never been is a babysitter.
This book is just plain fun.
4 stars out of 5.
(Read in 2017, the second book in my Alphabetical Reading Challenge)
This book is just plain fun.
4 stars out of 5.
(Read in 2017, the second book in my Alphabetical Reading Challenge)
February 15, 2018
I have a bias, I love the "noir" mysteries of the thirties, forties and early fifties and although Mickey Spillane may not measure up to some, his dialogue of the time brings back fond memories. This story is a typical Mike Hammer mystery overflowing with male hormones and macho cleverness that comes from some kind of séance. So if you would rather read Chris Matthews or Glen Beck don't even look at this one.
July 13, 2025
New York PI Mike Hammer is in a bar lamenting the state of the universe and his own life and sees a man enter with a small child, breaking down and crying to himself, and then says goodbye to the little one and walks out of the bar only to be murdered in the street. Hammer follows and guns down one of the perpetrators and, deeming this horrible event worthy of derision and retribution, takes on a duty of vengeance against the mob for this act of evil perpetrated on the youngster when they took his father from him.
Verdict: The fifth street vengeance noir caper in the Hammer series, "The Big Kill" (1951) falls well short of its great predecessors, in my opinion, but is still a fun cartoony street justice adventure set in 1951 NYC.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
Verdict: The fifth street vengeance noir caper in the Hammer series, "The Big Kill" (1951) falls well short of its great predecessors, in my opinion, but is still a fun cartoony street justice adventure set in 1951 NYC.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
July 3, 2023
I missed what it was all about. The hidden crook was again a woman and a woman who got very close to Mike Hammer. What is it with Mikes love life? It ain’t getting any better!!
I liked Mickeys bare prose at the end. I liked Mickeys ending here. To end it at that moment was a strange but very Mickey ending. If I could write I don’t think I would end it like that. I don’t think many writers or potential writers would end it like that!!
Marsha got the same as Lottie in book one. At least Mike didn’t kill her this time!! Some critics must see misogyny in Mickeys writing. What do you think?
I liked Mickeys bare prose at the end. I liked Mickeys ending here. To end it at that moment was a strange but very Mickey ending. If I could write I don’t think I would end it like that. I don’t think many writers or potential writers would end it like that!!
Marsha got the same as Lottie in book one. At least Mike didn’t kill her this time!! Some critics must see misogyny in Mickeys writing. What do you think?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2025
These are great fast reads with a fast pace. You will have to tolerate the attitude towards "dolls" , "babes", and "hot numbers" but remember these were written in 1950s. The plot is excellent.
September 4, 2023
Mickey Spillane’s 5th novel featuring private eye Mike Hammer, The Big Kill, delivers a tough punch just like the last 4 books.
Things have become so bad in New York City that a guy like Mike Hammer can’t even walk into a sleazy bar to have a quiet drink without ending up being a witness to a murder. This is a murder that really gets to Hammer. This guy walks into the bar with a little kid, only about a year old. The guy starts crying (and Mike finds that pretty disturbing) and then walks out the door, leaving the kid behind, and gets bumped off. Mike has the feeling that the guy knew he was about to die. Seeing a kid made into an orphan in front of his eyes does something to Mike. He even volunteers to look after the child until the proper agencies can be contacted. Then Mike sets out to find the killer.
At first it seems like it’s a case of the consequences of a burglary gone wrong. The problem with that is that the dead man had been a professional safe-cracker but he had gone straight and everybody who knew the guy assures Mike that he truly was a reformed character. Hammer is inclined to believe them, but the guy definitely did rob the apartment of one-time minor movie star Marsha Lee. But why? Captain Pat Chambers of the Homicide Squad has a theory but Mike thinks there’s something much bigger behind it.
This is classic Spillane, rough and tough and as hard-boiled as you could wish. And, as is so often the case in the Mike Hammer stories, it’s Hammer’s sensitive side that drives him on. He just keeps thinking about that orphaned kid. It’s Hammer’s sensitive side that drives him even when he’s pulling the trigger of his .45 and blowing away hoodlums. Hammer is ruthless but he has a highly developed sense of right and wrong.
He also has a tendency to take cases personally. Mostly he’s happy for the criminal justice system to take its course but there are times when he’d much prefer to be judge, jury and executioner. And in this case he really wants to pull the trigger on the guy that killed that kid’s father.
The Big Kill, written in the ‘hard-boiled’ style , critics regard this book as one of the better novels in the series. It has a simplicity and punchiness, brought about by very short sentences. The story is also written entirely in first person, keeping the reader right alongside Hammer, all the way. Hammer is an unthinking thug, even a psychopath. He lacks wit, charm or any real humanity, moving through the novel and towards its conclusion, by intimidating, beating and killing anyone who stands in his way. And then, there is Hammer’s relationship with women. Somehow, despite his total lack of charm, Hammer appears irresistible to them: waitresses wink at him; his secretary, Velda, is patiently in love with him.
This instalment of the series is grittier, seedier and completely overflowing with the typical brutality that can only exude from a Mike Hammer story. As a vigilante private investigator, Hammer’s attitude towards criminals is defined when he says, "They crack down on society and I crack down on them. I shoot them like the mad dogs they are and society drags me to court to explain the whys and wherefores of the extermination." Unlike any other protagonist Mike Hammer displays a vicious rage against any violent crime. He loves brutal violence. He is a ladies’ man. He chooses to take the law into his own hands. However, he does respect the police, especially his best friend, Captain Pat Chambers of the NYPD Homicide Department. Hammer is very patriotic and an anti-communist. It’s interesting to note that anti-communism was a very big thing during 1947 to capture the mass sentiment in the USA.
“The Big Kill” has delicious dollops of action, intelligence and sex being dished out to the reader at any given point of time. It’s a thrilling fast paced read with many poignant character moments. The 1920s-1950s produced many detective novels. But none of these detectives had Mike Hammer's unforgiving attitude. This novel is a tale of the times, and some parts overtly chauvinistic.
I am so glad to have started the Mike Hammer series. It’s not easy to come by this series and, thankfully, I managed to get hold of the entire collection. This is going to be one hell of a ride through “Hammer Time” in 40’s American crime literature
Things have become so bad in New York City that a guy like Mike Hammer can’t even walk into a sleazy bar to have a quiet drink without ending up being a witness to a murder. This is a murder that really gets to Hammer. This guy walks into the bar with a little kid, only about a year old. The guy starts crying (and Mike finds that pretty disturbing) and then walks out the door, leaving the kid behind, and gets bumped off. Mike has the feeling that the guy knew he was about to die. Seeing a kid made into an orphan in front of his eyes does something to Mike. He even volunteers to look after the child until the proper agencies can be contacted. Then Mike sets out to find the killer.
At first it seems like it’s a case of the consequences of a burglary gone wrong. The problem with that is that the dead man had been a professional safe-cracker but he had gone straight and everybody who knew the guy assures Mike that he truly was a reformed character. Hammer is inclined to believe them, but the guy definitely did rob the apartment of one-time minor movie star Marsha Lee. But why? Captain Pat Chambers of the Homicide Squad has a theory but Mike thinks there’s something much bigger behind it.
This is classic Spillane, rough and tough and as hard-boiled as you could wish. And, as is so often the case in the Mike Hammer stories, it’s Hammer’s sensitive side that drives him on. He just keeps thinking about that orphaned kid. It’s Hammer’s sensitive side that drives him even when he’s pulling the trigger of his .45 and blowing away hoodlums. Hammer is ruthless but he has a highly developed sense of right and wrong.
He also has a tendency to take cases personally. Mostly he’s happy for the criminal justice system to take its course but there are times when he’d much prefer to be judge, jury and executioner. And in this case he really wants to pull the trigger on the guy that killed that kid’s father.
The Big Kill, written in the ‘hard-boiled’ style , critics regard this book as one of the better novels in the series. It has a simplicity and punchiness, brought about by very short sentences. The story is also written entirely in first person, keeping the reader right alongside Hammer, all the way. Hammer is an unthinking thug, even a psychopath. He lacks wit, charm or any real humanity, moving through the novel and towards its conclusion, by intimidating, beating and killing anyone who stands in his way. And then, there is Hammer’s relationship with women. Somehow, despite his total lack of charm, Hammer appears irresistible to them: waitresses wink at him; his secretary, Velda, is patiently in love with him.
This instalment of the series is grittier, seedier and completely overflowing with the typical brutality that can only exude from a Mike Hammer story. As a vigilante private investigator, Hammer’s attitude towards criminals is defined when he says, "They crack down on society and I crack down on them. I shoot them like the mad dogs they are and society drags me to court to explain the whys and wherefores of the extermination." Unlike any other protagonist Mike Hammer displays a vicious rage against any violent crime. He loves brutal violence. He is a ladies’ man. He chooses to take the law into his own hands. However, he does respect the police, especially his best friend, Captain Pat Chambers of the NYPD Homicide Department. Hammer is very patriotic and an anti-communist. It’s interesting to note that anti-communism was a very big thing during 1947 to capture the mass sentiment in the USA.
“The Big Kill” has delicious dollops of action, intelligence and sex being dished out to the reader at any given point of time. It’s a thrilling fast paced read with many poignant character moments. The 1920s-1950s produced many detective novels. But none of these detectives had Mike Hammer's unforgiving attitude. This novel is a tale of the times, and some parts overtly chauvinistic.
I am so glad to have started the Mike Hammer series. It’s not easy to come by this series and, thankfully, I managed to get hold of the entire collection. This is going to be one hell of a ride through “Hammer Time” in 40’s American crime literature
July 25, 2021
The fifth book about Mike Hammer. What to say?
Somewhere in the book I must have phased out, I lost the plot line. Seemed to me that the original tough guy, Mike Hammer, knows more than he's letting on when he narrates himself and, during the reveal at the end (which was pretty good, btw), I, the reader, didn't have nearly everything all spelled out nor the dots connected. And as the death toll rises, the action not too bad a read, and the language that Spillaine wrote with in his earlier books somewhat muted in The Big Kill, Hammer goes from this place to that place, looking for clues and not quite revealing what the evidence could be.
Financial evidence, or at least fiscally geared evidence of illegal book making...something I don't understand at all. Book making? Never was one for understanding why people gamble in the first place. But then I'm a bear of no-math-brain. Ah well.
And apparently my writing sucks today, as well, but Spillaine's was good.
Plot and NPCs: As I said above, I got lost. A lot of names (well, not a LOT) and very little difference between the characters, they all blurred past in a run-on sentence as the plot progressed. Toady was the only guy who really stuck out to me. But are all the baddies supposed to have a noticeable characteristic in a book like this? Besides being "the size of a small house," does anything else really fit into this genre? The plot has to march on and maybe the gumshoe mystery has the reader tag along, waiting for the big reveal?
The plot was generic. The action: fact and brutal and conservative description. Still...
Prose: The reason I like Spillane's writing. Check this out: "The place reeked of stale beer and soggy men with enough cheap perfume thrown in to make you sick. Two drunks with a nickel between them were arguing over what to play on the jukebox until a tomato in a dress that was too tight a year ago pushed the key that started off something noisy and hot. One of the drunks wanted to dance and she gave him a shove. So he danced with the other drunk."
And this: "It was one of those nights when the sky came down and wrapped itself around the world." Now prose like this is why I love Spillane and the genre of noir.
Now, things I picked up: plot devices.
-the kid. Interesting use of the kid. Still, the psychological damage that the kid will recognize, maybe, in the kids future, be quite a bit. Not saying more, but the kid was pretty crucial and once his importance was recognized, I went "ohhh..." because I would have done the same thing as Spillaine had I figured out that an under-two-year-old could do what he did in the end. That part...hmm...very questionable.
And I think I read this one out of order.
Somewhere in the book I must have phased out, I lost the plot line. Seemed to me that the original tough guy, Mike Hammer, knows more than he's letting on when he narrates himself and, during the reveal at the end (which was pretty good, btw), I, the reader, didn't have nearly everything all spelled out nor the dots connected. And as the death toll rises, the action not too bad a read, and the language that Spillaine wrote with in his earlier books somewhat muted in The Big Kill, Hammer goes from this place to that place, looking for clues and not quite revealing what the evidence could be.
Financial evidence, or at least fiscally geared evidence of illegal book making...something I don't understand at all. Book making? Never was one for understanding why people gamble in the first place. But then I'm a bear of no-math-brain. Ah well.
And apparently my writing sucks today, as well, but Spillaine's was good.
Plot and NPCs: As I said above, I got lost. A lot of names (well, not a LOT) and very little difference between the characters, they all blurred past in a run-on sentence as the plot progressed. Toady was the only guy who really stuck out to me. But are all the baddies supposed to have a noticeable characteristic in a book like this? Besides being "the size of a small house," does anything else really fit into this genre? The plot has to march on and maybe the gumshoe mystery has the reader tag along, waiting for the big reveal?
The plot was generic. The action: fact and brutal and conservative description. Still...
Prose: The reason I like Spillane's writing. Check this out: "The place reeked of stale beer and soggy men with enough cheap perfume thrown in to make you sick. Two drunks with a nickel between them were arguing over what to play on the jukebox until a tomato in a dress that was too tight a year ago pushed the key that started off something noisy and hot. One of the drunks wanted to dance and she gave him a shove. So he danced with the other drunk."
And this: "It was one of those nights when the sky came down and wrapped itself around the world." Now prose like this is why I love Spillane and the genre of noir.
Now, things I picked up: plot devices.
-the kid. Interesting use of the kid. Still, the psychological damage that the kid will recognize, maybe, in the kids future, be quite a bit. Not saying more, but the kid was pretty crucial and once his importance was recognized, I went "ohhh..." because I would have done the same thing as Spillaine had I figured out that an under-two-year-old could do what he did in the end. That part...hmm...very questionable.
And I think I read this one out of order.
April 14, 2019
It was one of those paperbacks where the cover told its own story before you ever turned a page. It was a tale of being overlooked in jumble sales and too much time spent in the bargain bucket but there was more to it than hard luck, like the cheap lush bumming drinks at the bar she'd seen better days. Eager thumbs had brushed pages till they'd bruised the edges of their yellow pulp to a precarious friability. She'd known love, been savoured in her time but it was a furious hot passion unleashed upon her pages by the calloused mitts clutching at them. Burning with a fury that risked turning her fibre to tinder consumed in its rapacious fire...
Those rating stars, I generally award them to indicate how much I enjoyed a book or how much fun it was, there's little or no intended indication of 'merit'. The reason for that being, seriously -- what reason have I got to be rating a book on its merit or awarding points to authors like James Ellroy for how well I think they've done? I do occasionally comment on style or technique because that's what reviews are about but I do try and keep it real, so it's clear I'm being opinionated rather than definitive. Alas the same can't be said for the commentators in regard to the work of the author Mickey Spillane. He was pretty much vilified, pretty unfairly the whole of his career, which has had lasting effect on his reputation and coloured expectations about his work.
Spillane was a pretty decent, even excellent writer, his prose is -mostly- legible, spontaneous and highly evocative but he is working professionally so, as needs must, he acquiesces to the demands of his trade. Consequently there are a few hiccups in continuity in this novel and it's pretty much obvious from the context that they've arisen editorially. There is also one edit that stands out so badly that it had me backtracking through a page before I realise it had been censored. This particular aberration might be specific to the 1961 Corgi edition I was reading. Style wise I think I spotted the word -crescendo- sited somewhat incongruously, which might've been caught if the editor had done a better job and not been preoccupied with catching the saucy bits.
It's a great read, if you like guns, action, buts and dames, if you're a PC, approval obsessive chasing your next right-on fix... well you'll still have fun feeling oh so superior about it all.
Those rating stars, I generally award them to indicate how much I enjoyed a book or how much fun it was, there's little or no intended indication of 'merit'. The reason for that being, seriously -- what reason have I got to be rating a book on its merit or awarding points to authors like James Ellroy for how well I think they've done? I do occasionally comment on style or technique because that's what reviews are about but I do try and keep it real, so it's clear I'm being opinionated rather than definitive. Alas the same can't be said for the commentators in regard to the work of the author Mickey Spillane. He was pretty much vilified, pretty unfairly the whole of his career, which has had lasting effect on his reputation and coloured expectations about his work.
Spillane was a pretty decent, even excellent writer, his prose is -mostly- legible, spontaneous and highly evocative but he is working professionally so, as needs must, he acquiesces to the demands of his trade. Consequently there are a few hiccups in continuity in this novel and it's pretty much obvious from the context that they've arisen editorially. There is also one edit that stands out so badly that it had me backtracking through a page before I realise it had been censored. This particular aberration might be specific to the 1961 Corgi edition I was reading. Style wise I think I spotted the word -crescendo- sited somewhat incongruously, which might've been caught if the editor had done a better job and not been preoccupied with catching the saucy bits.
It's a great read, if you like guns, action, buts and dames, if you're a PC, approval obsessive chasing your next right-on fix... well you'll still have fun feeling oh so superior about it all.
February 21, 2019
Drinking his way out of a intense storm, Private Detective Mike Hammer sees a man enter, set his child on a stool, and then leave. Hammer follows him out of the bar, hoping to beat the man for abandoning his child, when he a car pulls up and shoots the guy in the back. Dedicated to finding the father's killer, Hammer plunges himself into the seedy world of loan sharking.
Man, this is one amazing Hammer novel. full of pondering about the evils of the city, and a lot of time spent analyzing the vigilante side of Mike Hammer. Of course, books like "I, the Jury" would show Hammer as a vigilante-ish figure. But most of those novels would focus on Hammer looking for revenge. Instead, in The Big Kill, Hammer is only looking for justice. He didn't know the person involved, he didn't care about them, but he still destroys multiple criminal enterprises because of it.
The action is rapid and the pace is quick, much quicker than in a lot of other Spillane novels, and, honestly, I liked most of this book more than the previous (and much more popular) entry into the Mike Hammer saga, "One Lonely Night".
The one problem with this book is the ending. Which comes off as pretty weak, although it has a very good setup, Hammer himself really doesn't do anything to the revealed villain. But instead he just waits around until someone else takes care of it for him. If it had an ending as possible as some of the other book sin this series, I would've given it 5 stars. Highly recommended.
Man, this is one amazing Hammer novel. full of pondering about the evils of the city, and a lot of time spent analyzing the vigilante side of Mike Hammer. Of course, books like "I, the Jury" would show Hammer as a vigilante-ish figure. But most of those novels would focus on Hammer looking for revenge. Instead, in The Big Kill, Hammer is only looking for justice. He didn't know the person involved, he didn't care about them, but he still destroys multiple criminal enterprises because of it.
The action is rapid and the pace is quick, much quicker than in a lot of other Spillane novels, and, honestly, I liked most of this book more than the previous (and much more popular) entry into the Mike Hammer saga, "One Lonely Night".
The one problem with this book is the ending. Which comes off as pretty weak, although it has a very good setup, Hammer himself really doesn't do anything to the revealed villain. But instead he just waits around until someone else takes care of it for him. If it had an ending as possible as some of the other book sin this series, I would've given it 5 stars. Highly recommended.
February 24, 2015
It’s very easy to argue that Spillane is an intensely conservative writer. Mike Hammer looks at modern life in a big city and feels nothing but rage for the brutality, dishonour and lack of values he sees around him. It’s his duty to clean it up by taking down the scum. But then Spillane is an incredibly misanthropic writer as well. There are rarely decent people whose values have to be upheld, just criminals and those guilty of stupidity and incompetence – which in Hammer’s world seem to be crimes as well. There is no idyll awaiting the virtuous, no changes to the system that will solve its ills, all we have is just the vicious law of the street and Hammer is its finest exponent. These books are angry about the world around them, though I’m not sure that’s actually the fault of the world around them, this narrative voice can do nothing but anger.
Once again Hammer goes on a kill quest. It’s the same formula as usual but one that works.
Once again Hammer goes on a kill quest. It’s the same formula as usual but one that works.
January 8, 2019
I've read a decent amount of private-eye-too-tough-to-give-up stories, but somehow Mike Hammer just doesn't resonate with me.
December 11, 2024
I had seen Stacy Keach as Mike Hammer in the 80s series. He’d been tough-ish, sure - but had none of the bloody pulp and guts of the real Hammer of Spillane’s novels. I had of course also seen the noir classic ‘Kiss Me Deadly’ with Ralph Meeker delivering an excellent Mike Hammer. And just now I’ve read ‘The Big Kill’ - a 1951 first edition paperback I’ve found on Ebay. Frankly? Pulp fiction at its best.
For Mike Hammer, there was justice (and he was judge and jury, as the law tended to be in his way) and it had to be fought for by any and all means necessary. He most certainly saw himself as the good guy, the kind of good guy needed in a world gone to seed. Hammer fought the bad guys on their turf, meeting everything they threw at him fists and bullets and unrelenting grit.
The Big Kill starts out on a rain-drenched night in dingy New York City bar. All Hammer wants is to be left alone … but then he sees a man walk into the bar. The man deposits a baby child in a booth and then, crying, he steps back out into the night. As soon as he’s out there, he is shot and killed. Hammer gets involved, shoots one of the assailants, then proceeds to take care of the baby boy and hunt down whoever is behind the murder with his singular fury. But just get the beginning - to me, it’s poetry:
“It was one of those nights when the sky came down and wrapped itself around the world. The rain clawed at the windows of the bar like an angry cat and tried to sneak in every time some drunk lurched in the door. The place reeked of stale beer and soggy men with enough cheap perfume thrown in to make you sick. Two drunks with a nickel between them were arguing over what to play on the juke box until a tomato in a dress that was too tight a year ago pushed the key that started off something noisy and hot. One of the drunks wanted to dance and she gave him a shove. So he danced with the other drunk. She saw me sitting there with my stool tipped back against the cigarette machine and change of a fin on the bar, decided I could afford a wet evening for two and walked over with her hips waving hello.”
Like I said, for me, Mike Hammer belongs into the pantheon of private dicks, right up there with Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, and I guess I’d include Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer, too. But while other classic private eyes could be just as cool and just as rough and tough - I don’t think any of them downright reveled in their own fury, in the bloodlust boiling up, in the sheer brutal vengeance that was Mike Hammer’s life force … I think below line from ‘My Gun is Quick’ nicely makes the point:
“He couldn't lose me now or ever. I was the guy with the cowl and scythe. I had a hundred and forty black horses under me and an hour-glass in my hand, laughing like crazy until the tears rolled down my cheeks.” (from My Gun is Quick)
So if you’ve up for a bit of legendary pulp noir, grab yourself one of the novels and enjoy your Hammer time!
For Mike Hammer, there was justice (and he was judge and jury, as the law tended to be in his way) and it had to be fought for by any and all means necessary. He most certainly saw himself as the good guy, the kind of good guy needed in a world gone to seed. Hammer fought the bad guys on their turf, meeting everything they threw at him fists and bullets and unrelenting grit.
The Big Kill starts out on a rain-drenched night in dingy New York City bar. All Hammer wants is to be left alone … but then he sees a man walk into the bar. The man deposits a baby child in a booth and then, crying, he steps back out into the night. As soon as he’s out there, he is shot and killed. Hammer gets involved, shoots one of the assailants, then proceeds to take care of the baby boy and hunt down whoever is behind the murder with his singular fury. But just get the beginning - to me, it’s poetry:
“It was one of those nights when the sky came down and wrapped itself around the world. The rain clawed at the windows of the bar like an angry cat and tried to sneak in every time some drunk lurched in the door. The place reeked of stale beer and soggy men with enough cheap perfume thrown in to make you sick. Two drunks with a nickel between them were arguing over what to play on the juke box until a tomato in a dress that was too tight a year ago pushed the key that started off something noisy and hot. One of the drunks wanted to dance and she gave him a shove. So he danced with the other drunk. She saw me sitting there with my stool tipped back against the cigarette machine and change of a fin on the bar, decided I could afford a wet evening for two and walked over with her hips waving hello.”
Like I said, for me, Mike Hammer belongs into the pantheon of private dicks, right up there with Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe and Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade, and I guess I’d include Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer, too. But while other classic private eyes could be just as cool and just as rough and tough - I don’t think any of them downright reveled in their own fury, in the bloodlust boiling up, in the sheer brutal vengeance that was Mike Hammer’s life force … I think below line from ‘My Gun is Quick’ nicely makes the point:
“He couldn't lose me now or ever. I was the guy with the cowl and scythe. I had a hundred and forty black horses under me and an hour-glass in my hand, laughing like crazy until the tears rolled down my cheeks.” (from My Gun is Quick)
So if you’ve up for a bit of legendary pulp noir, grab yourself one of the novels and enjoy your Hammer time!
February 19, 2021
Mike Hammer returns in a pulse-pounding noir novel, and this time, he’s out for revenge. Not for himself. He’s not getting paid to take this case. Instead, he’s trying to figure out why a man kissed his one-year old goodbye, and walked out in the street to take a bullet.
Over the course of the novel, he deals with loan sharks, racketeers, film starlets, gangsters, and a district attorney who’s just as heartless as the rest of them.
I did enjoy this novel, but I don’t believe it was better than the previous ones I’ve read. At times, the plot was quite confusing. There were many names thrown about, some characters that appeared to be main characters and were tossed out just a bit later, and a meandering storyline. It’s not Spillane’s best work, but it was still a fun read.
What I enjoyed most was the fact that it did endear me to Mike Hammer a bit. He began his whole vendetta to save a young boy. As a father of two small boys, this plot had an impact of me. I really wish it was resolved and we could see the child connect with the Catholic orphanage that was discussed earlier in the novel. Instead, the book ended quite abruptly with a scene that was as shocking as it was unbelievable. I can only image Spillane beating out those last sentences on his typewriter, taking a sip of his drink, cracking his knuckles, and smiling as he knew he was about to publish this.
There was quite a bit more violence in this novel than in previous Hammer novels. I know Spillane was known for his uncompromising violence, but I figured that, for a book written in 1951, it would have been toned down a bit. Mind you, it didn’t bother me in the slightest, but a word of warning for our more squeamish readers.
Overall, it was a fun read, but probably not one I’ll be coming back to. I picked up the second Mike Hammer collection as a sort of “mindless read” before I start my extensive Star Trek: Deep Space Nine relaunch. I probably should have picked something a little less explosive. Still, I’m having fun with it!
Over the course of the novel, he deals with loan sharks, racketeers, film starlets, gangsters, and a district attorney who’s just as heartless as the rest of them.
I did enjoy this novel, but I don’t believe it was better than the previous ones I’ve read. At times, the plot was quite confusing. There were many names thrown about, some characters that appeared to be main characters and were tossed out just a bit later, and a meandering storyline. It’s not Spillane’s best work, but it was still a fun read.
What I enjoyed most was the fact that it did endear me to Mike Hammer a bit. He began his whole vendetta to save a young boy. As a father of two small boys, this plot had an impact of me. I really wish it was resolved and we could see the child connect with the Catholic orphanage that was discussed earlier in the novel. Instead, the book ended quite abruptly with a scene that was as shocking as it was unbelievable. I can only image Spillane beating out those last sentences on his typewriter, taking a sip of his drink, cracking his knuckles, and smiling as he knew he was about to publish this.
There was quite a bit more violence in this novel than in previous Hammer novels. I know Spillane was known for his uncompromising violence, but I figured that, for a book written in 1951, it would have been toned down a bit. Mind you, it didn’t bother me in the slightest, but a word of warning for our more squeamish readers.
Overall, it was a fun read, but probably not one I’ll be coming back to. I picked up the second Mike Hammer collection as a sort of “mindless read” before I start my extensive Star Trek: Deep Space Nine relaunch. I probably should have picked something a little less explosive. Still, I’m having fun with it!
June 30, 2025
Mike Hammer insanlardan sıkılmış bir şekilde bir barda bira içerken bir adam çocuğuyla bara gelir. 2 içki içer, ağlarken çocuğounu öper ve çıkar. Bu durum ilgisini çektiği için Mike da dışarı çıkar ve ona yapılan saldırıyı görür. Adam Anton Basil adında başka bir adamla beraber ölmüştür. Olay yerine gelen polislere bilgi verir. Pat ile konuşur ve çocuğu alıp evine gider. Velda'yı bir iş için şehir dışına gönderir ve William Decker cinayeti soruşturmasına başlar. Eskiden hırsız olan Decker, karısı için para lazım olduğundan Marsha Lee adlı bir aktrisin evine girmiştir. Marsha ile konuşur ve o da bir üst dairede zengin bir adam olduğundan bahseder. Ama olaylar hızlıca gelişir. Decker'ın bir arkadaşı daha ölü bulunur. Bunların hepsinin Ed Teen, Charlie Hunton ile ilgisi vardır. Lou Grindle'ı sıkıştırır Mike. Toady Hill adlı adama gider. Ancak ertesi gün o da öldürülür. Marsha çok korkar. Savcının yardımcısı olan Ellen ile görüşüp Toady'nin dosyasını alır. Ama işe yarar bir şey bulamaz. Savcının binasından bilgi sızmaktadır. Burada Ellen yakalanır. Pat de Mike'ı tutuklama zorunda olduğunu söyler. Savcıya bilgi sızdıran adamı verir ve suçlamaları düşmesini sağlar. Ed Teen tarafından alınır ve büyük işkence görür. Ama Lou ve diğer adamları öldürüp kurtulur. Marsha'ya olanları anlatır. Gazeteci arkadaşı sayesinde Charlie'nin eski sevgilisine ulaşır. O da Toady'nin zamanında Charlie için bazı mikrofilmler hazırladığını söyler. Ed peşine düşer. Pat ise onları yakalar. Ama Mike eve gittiğinde çocuğa bakan hemşirenin öldüğünü görür. O mikrofilmler Marsha'dadır ve Decker onları çalmıştır. Doğru eve girmiştir. Adalet için çocuğu yetim bırakanı öldürecek olan Mike Marsha'ya ne yapacaktır? Bu işten sağ salim kurtulabilecek midir? Keyifle soluksuz okunan bir roman.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2022
On a cold dark rainy night, Mike Hammer is slumped in a dirty bar in a bad part of town, working on continuing the bender he’s had going for the past six months. Sure, in his last case, he wrapped up a big Communist conspiracy and got engaged to his Secretary, but the man needs his darkness and his drinking. Fate isn’t going to let him sulk forever, though.
A guy stumbles into his bar, teary eyed, carrying a bundle, then he stumbles out again. Now Mike doesn’t cotton to male bawling, but maybe this guy has reason. The bundle he leaves behind is a baby. Before Mike can hand the kid back, the guy is dead, victim of a hit and run. Mike now has a kid to take care of and an excuse to go on one of his kill crazy revenge quests. If the idea of toddlers and unguarded firearms bothers you, this isn’t your book.
I did this one as an audiobook, which was easier on me because I could yell at my phone when things got excessive, rather than slam down my book. If you have read any Spillane at all, you know who the real killer is long before Mike. Yes, Spillane is a better writer than his reputation and his mystery plot is pretty good. He knows how to tell his psychopathic tales of revenge. However, his Mike Hammer is a worse man-ho than James Bond, uses women, and cheats on his fiancée, all while spouting obviously insincere love talk. The saving grace is that Spillane, Mike’s creator, seems to know it. Hammer’s own retribution will come in the lengthy drunk he’ll go on once he’s dispatched all the guilty to Hell.
A guy stumbles into his bar, teary eyed, carrying a bundle, then he stumbles out again. Now Mike doesn’t cotton to male bawling, but maybe this guy has reason. The bundle he leaves behind is a baby. Before Mike can hand the kid back, the guy is dead, victim of a hit and run. Mike now has a kid to take care of and an excuse to go on one of his kill crazy revenge quests. If the idea of toddlers and unguarded firearms bothers you, this isn’t your book.
I did this one as an audiobook, which was easier on me because I could yell at my phone when things got excessive, rather than slam down my book. If you have read any Spillane at all, you know who the real killer is long before Mike. Yes, Spillane is a better writer than his reputation and his mystery plot is pretty good. He knows how to tell his psychopathic tales of revenge. However, his Mike Hammer is a worse man-ho than James Bond, uses women, and cheats on his fiancée, all while spouting obviously insincere love talk. The saving grace is that Spillane, Mike’s creator, seems to know it. Hammer’s own retribution will come in the lengthy drunk he’ll go on once he’s dispatched all the guilty to Hell.
August 21, 2022
Mickey Spillane may not have been the creator of the hard-boiled private eye genre, but her most certainly managed to navigate the genre to near perfection. Hammer is a flawed, but fantastic hero. His flaw isn't so much in his sense of justice or his readiness to use violence. His flaw is found in his treatment of the women he encounters. And while he normally does not go much further than a kiss and a hug, they almost always seem to be making themselves sexually available to him. They frequently appear in various stages of dress and undress.
The bad guys just as well be wearing black hats, though. Those characters speak in stereotypical gangster language, and they all seem to be cowards when facing the famous Mike Hammer. And Hammer's hat would need to be a grey or silver color because he isn't about law and order, despite his repeated speeches in this volume about the necessity of individuals standing up for justice and his willingness to do so. He dispenses his own brand of justice, but it often seems to be for no other purpose than to allow him the opportunity to kill a bad guy or two.
When Hammer is witness to a murder that leaves a baby as an orphan, he goes forth to exact vengeance. Along the way he finds a plot that is much deeper and convoluted than he first thinks. Spillane weaves a trail through the underworld, the bars and dives, and even the D.A.'s office in order to find the killer.
This is a fine entry in the Hammer stories and a very enjoyable mystery.
The bad guys just as well be wearing black hats, though. Those characters speak in stereotypical gangster language, and they all seem to be cowards when facing the famous Mike Hammer. And Hammer's hat would need to be a grey or silver color because he isn't about law and order, despite his repeated speeches in this volume about the necessity of individuals standing up for justice and his willingness to do so. He dispenses his own brand of justice, but it often seems to be for no other purpose than to allow him the opportunity to kill a bad guy or two.
When Hammer is witness to a murder that leaves a baby as an orphan, he goes forth to exact vengeance. Along the way he finds a plot that is much deeper and convoluted than he first thinks. Spillane weaves a trail through the underworld, the bars and dives, and even the D.A.'s office in order to find the killer.
This is a fine entry in the Hammer stories and a very enjoyable mystery.
June 19, 2023
Categories rated on a 10 point scale. Averaged and then translated into Star Rating. See CAWPILE by Book Roast.
I listened to an abridged version read by Stacy Keach, via my local library and the Hoopla app.
There's a reason I do not like abridged. It leaves out a lot of pertinent details relating to B-story and C-Story plot points, makes the story seem disjointed because exposition that helps the book feel like a cohesive story is completely missing, and essentially attempts to pare off the fat from the steak that makes it taste good but cuts off too much and makes it bland. If you stick around me long enough, you'll find that I equate everything to one of two things: Food and Naughty stuff. I'm choosing food this time around. Because Stacy Keach is a beefcake. Yes. I'm objectifying him. I watched him as Mike Hammer in the movies and the tv show and that's why I like the character when I shouldn't.
Anyway, found baby, trying to find the dad, it's a whole thing, Mike almost seems closer to finding a softer side that is unspoiled by his misogyny, but then he sleeps with a bunch of women after giving Velda a ring last book and making promises. Shame on you, Mike. Sheesh.
Characters: 6
Atmosphere: 5.4
Writing: 7.3
Plot: 7
Intrigue: 8.1
Logic: 6.5
Enjoyment: 9.4
Star Formula Says!: a Solid 4 Full Stars.
I listened to an abridged version read by Stacy Keach, via my local library and the Hoopla app.
There's a reason I do not like abridged. It leaves out a lot of pertinent details relating to B-story and C-Story plot points, makes the story seem disjointed because exposition that helps the book feel like a cohesive story is completely missing, and essentially attempts to pare off the fat from the steak that makes it taste good but cuts off too much and makes it bland. If you stick around me long enough, you'll find that I equate everything to one of two things: Food and Naughty stuff. I'm choosing food this time around. Because Stacy Keach is a beefcake. Yes. I'm objectifying him. I watched him as Mike Hammer in the movies and the tv show and that's why I like the character when I shouldn't.
Anyway, found baby, trying to find the dad, it's a whole thing, Mike almost seems closer to finding a softer side that is unspoiled by his misogyny, but then he sleeps with a bunch of women after giving Velda a ring last book and making promises. Shame on you, Mike. Sheesh.
Characters: 6
Atmosphere: 5.4
Writing: 7.3
Plot: 7
Intrigue: 8.1
Logic: 6.5
Enjoyment: 9.4
Star Formula Says!: a Solid 4 Full Stars.
February 10, 2018
В летний сезон дождей хочется отвлечься от серьезной литературы. Эта история тоже началась во время дождя, пытаясь укрыться от которого, частный детектив Майк Хаммер оказался в захудалом баре, став волей случая свидетелем убийства отца маленького мальчика. Отныне главным героем руководствует благородное чувство мщения. Однако в ходе расследования это убийство не окажется единичным, а поможет распутать куда более серьезные преступления. Главный герой, как метко заметила одна из дам в романе, собирательный образ техасского парня. Потому приготовьтесь к стрельбе, опасности и женщинам-соблазнительницам. Простая фабула, чёткое разделение героев на хороших и негодяев, немного юмора. Все в лучших традициях массовой литературы.
January 13, 2026
This was my first audiobook on the app audio. It was narrated by Stacey Keach. I really enjoyed his voice and the character of Mike Hammer for this wonderful Mike Hammer Mickey Spillane pulp Detective story besides the fact that the voice of the timber of his voice was just accurate and dead on they also had a wailing saxophone that would go intermittently throughout the book so you felt like you were actually walking down these main streets of New York City. A lot of people give Mickey Spillane a hard time about his writing but when you hear it and you actually see the images that he creates in your head you realize how good he is.
I’m very excited about hearing more of these books on audiobook form
I’m very excited about hearing more of these books on audiobook form
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