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A walk on the wild side! In this series of collections of gritty Noir and Hardboiled stories, you’ll find some of the best writers of the craft writing in their prime. The following stories are included in this first volume ofMasters of Noir:IDENTITY UNKNOWN by JONATHAN CRAIG, THE GIRL BEHIND THE HEDGE by MICKEY SPILLANE, CARRERA'S WOMAN by ED McBAIN writing as RICHARD MARSTEN, BUTCHER by RICHARD S. PRATHER, LOOK DEATH IN THE EYE by LAWRENCE BLOCK, ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON by GIL BREWER, FRAME by FRANK KANE, DOUBLE by BRUNO FISCHER, and AS I LIE DEAD by FLETCHER FLORA. ... Read more

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A tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans! ... Read more

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MIKE HAMMER AND OTHER ADVENTURES

Probably the most influential mystery writer to emerge after the Second World War and certainly the bestseller was Mickey Spillane and his tough P.I. Mike Hammer.I, the Jury, Kiss Me Deadly, and other novels introduced a tough, fast and violent hero who lived in a tough, fast, and violent world, but which he described with a rough poetry.

Byline: Mickey Spillane is a treasury of riches for Spillane fans.It includes in short-story form two Mike Hammer cases which later appeared as novels, a long lost Hammer story which was recovered by Lynn F. Myers, Jr., the transcript of a Mike Hammer playlet, three reproductions of rare comic books featuring Mike’s predecessors – Mike Lancer and Mike Danger – who were also created by Mickey Spillane, as well as fourteen articles by Mickey Spillane when he himself lived a life of adventure – diving for sunken treasure, racing sports cars, working in a circus, and chasing hot rod moonshiners.

Edited and with introduction by Spillane experts Max Allan Collins, and Lynn F. Myers, Jr., Byline: Mickey Spillane is an extraordinary collection by an extraordinary writer.The cover design is by Gail Cross. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not just your regular hardback book!!
Spillane died 07/11/2006...COLLECTORS!! Look for the first HARDCOVER edition. It is a special print run limited to only 250 numbered copies (signed hardcover first editions!).Each signed by Mickey Spillane and Editors Max Allan Collins and Lynn Myers. Included in this volume are two Mike Hammer short stories that later became novels, a long lost Hammer story, the transcript of a Hammer playlet, reproductions of 3 comic books featuring Hammer's predecessors Mike Danger and Mike Lancer and 14 articles written by Spillane of his own high adventures. ... Read more

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A tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans! ... Read more

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A tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans! ... Read more

Product Description
A tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans! ... Read more

Product Description
A tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans! ... Read more

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Reissued to coincide with the release of "The Killing Man", Spillane's first Mike Hammer novel in 20 years, this murder mystery takes place in New York City, where Hammer must smash an underground cult that rewards its money-loving members with murder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A MONEY MAKER FOR SPILLANE
"Crime novels are a good way to make money" Mickey Spillane is quoted as saying."Twisted Thing" which appeared in 1966 proved to be still another money maker for him.

"I, The Jury" (1947) was the beginning,the beginning of a round of thrillers bythen unknown Mickey Spillane.Mike Hammer, one of thrillerdom's ace protagonists was introduced, and the world couldn't read enough of his adventures.

Today Mickey Spillane is 85-years-old, and acclaimed around the globe for inventing the hard-hitting, hard-boiled protagonist who is a compelling mix of sex and sharp shooting.It's hard to believe this many years have gone by for the Brooklyn born Spillane.He's outlasted and out sold many of his contemporaries, and when last heard from was still hard at work.

Perhaps those of us who love to read don't take time to thank the writers who have given us so many hours of pleasure.I certainly fall into that category, so a big hats off to Mickey Spillane and gratitude for the wealth of reading pleasure he's given so many.

Excellent Fiction!
Mickey Spillane's finest bar-none, a real classic in the mystery-detective genre. I liked the 1980's cover of the last edition best and recommend this title if you can find one! ... Read more

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At one time, Mickey Spillane had authored seven of the top ten bestsellers in history, and may have been the most widely read author in the world. Spillane masterful storytelling grabs his readers with his first paragraph and leads them spellbound toward his climax. Along with Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald, he remains one of America's greatest mystery writers. This book is a convenient guide to his works. ... Read more

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Another bestselling Mike Hammer mystery, in which Hammer encounters a mob of international thugs on the prowl for military secrets, but before he deals with them he must first placate a spoiled socialite. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

You need to know something about the red scare of the early fifties to understand it
Hard-hitting is the phrase that most accurately describes the character of Mike Hammer, he is as tough as they come in the private investigating business. The setting of this novel is the early 1950's, at the height of the red scare. Therefore, if you have little knowledge about the frenzy over communist infiltration of American society, then you will have trouble understanding the context.
When the story opens, Mike has just been chastised by a judge for his tendency to kill people and he wanders to a bridge. A frightened woman comes towards him and she is followed by a menacing man with a gun. Mike kills the man and the woman is so terrified that she jumps off the bridge to her death.
This involves Mike in infiltrating a communist cell, working behind the scenes to aid a decent politician and openly getting engaged to his secretary Velda. The dialog is fervent anti- communist, Hammer repeatedly describes them as vile, vicious and vermin to be killed without remorse. He succeeds in that mission, avenging many wrongs and using the combination of many wrongs to construct a major right.
It takes a specific kind of mentality or approach to enjoy the Mike Hammer stories authored by Mickey Spillane. If you find it difficult to absorb brutal killing and the toughest of tough guy dialog, then you will find this difficult reading. It is not spellbinding reading by any means, it is just about a hard man managing in a hard world.

Hammer and Spade Covered Our Coasts [46]
Mickey Spillane writes like Dashiell Hammett,his character Mike Hammer is like Hammett's Sam Spade, and the gloom and doom of their P.I.'s cases are similar. But, in some uncommon and difficult-to-explain way, the books of each are decidedly different.

First, the issues of "One Lonely Night" involve more thangreed - the impetus for murder and mayhem in Hammett's "The Maltese Falcon." This book involves stolen documents containing "information of destruction." Papers of mass destruction. Microfiche.

And, this book involves speeches, news alerts and fears about the Commies. The political hero tells the, ". . . nation of the calamity that had befallen it."Americans were warned ". . . with a special bulletin that told of all ports being watched, the roundup of suspected aliens . . . The world was in an uproar when the stuff was safe as hell . . . " Written in 1951, it may seem dated, but recent events are making it retro.

The fear mongers in this fictional account mirror those that administer our union today. Each has an agenda, each has a cause for its igniting a match to fear's kindling.But, in order to prevent ruining this novel - I tell you that the underlying reasons for the fear mongers of this book are hopefully different than those reasons of our political leaders. Oh, how I hope it is so.

Hammer is cool. He gets in on with women, he smokes Lucky Strikes, he measures his drinking by the bottle - not the glass, and he kills a lot of people. And, each of those people deserve death. Torturous death. Slow, painful, excruciatingly slow and painful death. But, for the most part they are blown away by his 45.

Like Hammett and others of this genre, the similes and hyperbole are wonderfully unique and blue collar.Occasionally, metaphors further color the writing which made Spillane rich and famous - probably two attributes he was not concerned to obtain, but felt no inhibition in accepting the former as it would increase his ability to womanize like his Hammer.

This book is good fun.

Ya Gotta Read At Least ONE Mike Hammer Book!
Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer was such a huge phenomenon in the early 50s that you'll miss out on all sorts of references in popular culture if you don't read him-- at least one of his inimitably gritty books.This is as good as any (though the first, "I, The Jury," is the most logical start).Mike is a full-bore psychopath who hears music in his head when he's gone nuts for violence, who relishes beating and blowing big holes in people whom he's identified as deserving it: commies mostly, but criminals and egg-headed pantywaists of all descriptions had better watch it too.This is beyond parody, since Spillane's writing is already so loopy that it can't be made fun of effectively.But the guy sold FIFTY MILLION BOOKS in a few years' time in the early fifties, so it's impossible to overestimate his effect on the culture of the time.

No joke: read one and see.It's good fun, though the plots are a bit transparent by contemporary standards.

Now I remember why I quit reading Mickey Spillane
This book came out when America was all aflutter with the Communist scare.China had gone Red.The Soviets had "the bomb."We were at war (correction, "police action") in Korea.And Tailgunner Joe was in his ascendancy.Mickey Spillane's earlier Mike Hammer novels had been apolitical for the most part.The villains were just hoods, gangsters, motivated by money.

With "One Lonely Night" Spillane went full-bore anti-communist, without much understanding of the threat beyond the Chicken Little the-sky-is-falling outcry.The reality was that American communists were self-styled intellectuals talking revolution in darkened Greenwich Village espresso shops.The laboring class Marx so adored were not having any of it, and the threat wasn't much of a threat at all.

But Spillane made straw men out of the commies and shot them down.And somehow Mike Hammer was the loser for it.As a young man in the 1950's I admired the prose in Spillane's first few novels--and then I came to this one and was weaned.He was way off the mark, but I forgot that until I picked this up again after a hiatus of five decades or so.

I will admit that the first chapter is a gem of writing, perhaps the best Spillane ever did.But one gem is not enough to get the book much praise.It's just barely enough to get it two stars from me.

One of the Greatest Detective Novel Ever Written
I know that my title may be an exaggeration, but Mickey Spillane's first and last chapters of this book, contain some of the best American prose, word for word, outside of Hemmingway. The narrative picks you up and carries you along in a stream of muscular, swift, clearing written words.Mike Hammer is having doubts about whether he is a mindless killer who deserves to live or a normal man with a quick temper. By the end of the novel Mike Hammer has the answer.

BTW, the "MVD" that Spillane constantly refers to is the Soviet Secret Police, this organization has been called the "CHECKA", "NKVD", and "SMERSH". Or to put it more international terms, its the USSR equivilent of the GESTAPO. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More of the same...
Obtaining and reading this paperback a week or so ago allowed me the satisfaction of being able to complete a shelf of Spillane in paperback.What you get here are two short novels (novelets, novellas?) that lean heavily on plot devices and situations Spillane has used many times before.But what you also get is another great Spillane tough guy, operating in a world seemingly inhabited only by other tough guys, all out to do in our hero.The ending of ME, HOOD is unsurprising simply because we recognize the familiar plot, but there are some genuine surprises in the sequel, RETURN OF THE HOOD.If you like Spillane, you need this, one of the more difficult-to-find of his paperbacks.

AN OVERTURE FOR "RETURN OF THE HOOD"
While Spillane is quoted as saying that he can write the text of a book in two weeks, it's certainly not obvious in any of his taut, finely plotted thrillers."Me, Hood" is one more classic example.

"I, The Jury" (1947) was the beginning,the beginning of a round of thrillers bythen unknown Mickey Spillane.Mike Hammer, one of thrillerdom's ace protagonists was introduced, and the world couldn't read enough of his adventures.

Today Mickey Spillane is 85-years-old, and acclaimed around the globe for inventing the hard-hitting, hard-boiled protagonist who is a compelling mix of sex and sharp shooting.It's hard to believe this many years have gone by for the Brooklyn born Spillane.He's outlasted and out sold many of his contemporaries, and when last heard from was still hard at work.

Perhaps those of us who love to read don't take time to thank the writers who have given us so many hours of pleasure.I certainly fall into that category, so a big hats off to Mickey Spillane and gratitude for the wealth of reading pleasure he's given so many. ... Read more

Product Description
This murder mystery takes place in New York City, where Hammer must smash an underground cult that rewards its money-loving members with murder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

a hasty effort by Spillane..
'Vengeance Is Mine" is the third Mike Hammer novel by Mickey Spillane, and the weakest of the three.The plot itself has the usual assortment of murder and mayhem involving thugs, deadbeats, and buxom women.Mike Hammer, most inexplicably, continues to have the most extraordinary sex life.Every female he runs into professes their love.And the story's ending is, well, TOTALLY ABSURD.I sense the author wrote this novel at a bar one evening.Yet to his credit, the characterizations and the sleazy atmosphere the book projects are fun.


Bottom line: probably best left to Spillane/Hammer loyalists.

Vengeance is Mine
This is an excellent book for anyone who likes old time thrillers and wants to read a classic. It was written when nobody really wrote about cops or dangerous detective stories, so it is the pick of the litter for risky cop stories. It is about a Private Investigator, called Mike Hammer, who goes undercover with a group of blackmailing thieves. They set married men up with models, take compromising photos and then threaten to show the pictures to their wives if the men don't pay up. Mike Hammer ends up meeting one of the unlucky men, who had recognized the model he was set up with, only the man ends up dead the next morning. Since Mike Hammer is in the same room as him the D.A. wrongly charges the P.I. with murder. The charge can't stick because the killing was made to look like suicide but Mike gets mad at the D.A. and consequently loses his license. But this is one tough P.I. and he is not going to let it go at that. He ends up searching the streets for the killer and runs himself into a whole mess of trouble that turns out revealing many strange characters.
This is also a good book for any one who likes the Film Noir genre, characterized by complex characters that don't make any sense in the beginning, especially for a young reader like myself. In the end everything came clear and because they were complex it made the story that much more thrilling and exciting.I would recommend this to anyone who likes fast paced and dark characters and a twisting tale filled with suspense.

More of the same from Spillane
Private Detective Mike Hammer finds an old army friend dead and leaves a trail of broken heads (and hearts)through New York City as he searches for vengeance.
Not the best of its kind, but enjoyable nonetheless. If you've read all of Chandler's novels, give Spillane a look. ... Read more

Product Description
After a seven-year hiatus, Mickey Spillane is back with another chapter in the life of hard-boiled, private dick Mike Hammer. This time Hammer's trying to avenge the murder of a friend and bumping up against Azi Ponti, one of the last of the old-style mob bosses.Amazon.com Review
It's not clear whether Spillane himself or his venerable detectivehero Mike Hammer has been in a coma during the seven years since his lastbook, but loyal fans who discovered and fell in love with the hard-boiledgenre because of his early books won't care. Hammer is back, along with histrusty sidekick/secretary Velma, and age hasn't slowed them down more thana step. Hammer wakes from his brush with death to find himself embroiled ina mess involving $89 million of missing mob money. Not the smoothest writerin the arena of mystery, but certainly one of the most popular -- andinfluential. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Farewell Read
The book was there.Black letters on a red cover as red as blood.I wanted to impresss the dame next to me.She had curves in all the right places.I wanted her to know that I was the kind of a real man that read Spillane.I got the book and headed to the check out desk.She looked me over.Never saw her again.Read the book as a goodbye to Mickey.Not a real good memory.Mike gets shot and hurts the whole book.Gets the bad guys, but plot isn't too interesting.So long, Mike.

Ray King got it right
Another reviewer said "The story starts with him gut shot and for the rest of the book, he hobbles around. Where the Mike of old would have performed surgery on himself, reloaded the bullet and shot someone with it, this Hammer keeps going to the doctor and complaining"

This is completely perfect.I don't WANT my heros eating a soft boiled egg because they hurt from too much stress.That's not why I picked up this novel.

The mystery itself (missing money, who murdered his buddy) is not very interesting, and drags.Ah, Hammer.

Mike Hammer nearly kicks the bucket (reviewed as a book on tape)...
...and he drives around a lot with a seeping gut wound, visits old friends, gets put in a coma, gets a marriage license and looks for $89 billion. Sounds like a lot of action, doesn't it? In reality, there's not too much going on here.

The series is not aging well. I find myself running the math figures on this 1997 book and most of Hammer's friends and contacts are in their 70s, 80s and 90s. One former Prohibition cop that he uses as an informant would be at least 93 years old - that is if he served as a division chief in the fight against booze brought in to get around the Prohibition laws at the tender age of 18! I conservatively estimated his age to be at least 103 - how many 103-year-olds are sources of current mafia information?

Also, has Spillane ever actually seen a backhoe? It is a heavy duty piece of construction equipment. Even the small ones are extremely heavy and must be towed with special trailers. He has Hammer towing one behind his car on a mountain on a regular trailer with no brakes - that must be a heckuva car!

Anyway, problems like this drug the book down for me.

I listened to this as a book on tape read by, of course, Stacy Keach (who else?!), who played Mike Hammer on the TV series. Keach did a decent job despite being hampered by a poor story.

The Grandmaster Says Good-Bye
Black Alley is the latest and possibly last book in the Mike Hammer series, featuring the toughest private eye in the business.
Hammer is out to avenge the death of an old war-buddy, who was murdered during a mysterious burglary. His vendetta is complicated by several events: He catches a bullet during a mafia gang shootout, which renders him weak and vulnerable througout the book; his dying friend reveals the approximate location of a 89 billion dollar stash that he has stolen and hidden from the mob, who - of course - want to get their money back; and last, but not least, Velda, Hammer's beautiful secretary, is adamant in her desire to finally walk him down the aisle.
Black Alley is somewhat different from the previous Hammer-novels. The crime noir atmosphere is missing for the most part; Hammer has definitely arrived at modernity. This becomes apparent when the hero muses about and decries corporate America, aluminum beer cans, and the future of warfare, which he believes to bring about "ugly, destructive death" due to the use of chemical and biological weapons. Moreover, some humor is added, in the form of Miller Lite Beer, which is consumed in considerable quantities throughout the book (Spillane appeared in TV ads for Miller Lite in the 70s).
It is obvious that Hammer is nearing retirement. Having just recovered from an almost fatal gunshot wound, he is feeble throughout the book. And he does something he has never done before: When he has finally cornered the villain, he does not finish him off with a bullet in his guts, but turns him over to the cops. However, don't be fooled by Mike's ostensible softness - he is still dangerous, and the turks who are trying to take his place still get their feathers ruffled.
Black Alley is not one of Spillane's strongest books. At times, the plot is somewhat predictable; the characters are rather transparent; and the final solution lacks the shocking explosion of the other Hammer novels. On the other hand, perhaps Spillane didn't even attempt to create an ending like that - for a good-bye to his fans the book's ending is definitely better suited, and as a good-bye Black Alley seems to be intended, after all.
Despite its not-so-great plot and characters, the book is still a gem. Spillane's style is still unmatched by any author in the genre. He still makes you not want to put the book down before you've arrived at the last page. In case this is really his last Hammer novel, I would like to extend a sincere "thank you" to him. What he has written is not just "good garbage", as he once described his novels in a reply to his numerous critics, but literature that will stand the test of time. Let's all have a Miller Lite now. Cheers!!

Black Alley
Would you risk your life and the life of your beautiful fiancé over and over in hope of finding 89 billion dollars? This is what the famous, fictitious detective, Mike Hammer does in Black Alley. Mike Hammer, the ruthless, New York City detective fights crime in this action-packed mystery. Not only is Hammer after the loot, he is also out for revenge, after his friend dies from gunshots.
The novel begins with Mike Hammer recovering from bullet wounds received during infiltration of a drug war, which he almost died from. After being thought dead by all of his close friends and family for 8 months, he comes back and resumes his normal, exciting life. When his friend from the war is on his deathbed, he clues him in on a pot of 89 billion dollars he stole and hid from the dons of the mafia. Young, greedy mobsters are also looking for the pot, which they should have inherited, had it not been stolen. Mike Hammer takes on the whole mafia, coolly, in imperfect health.
Black Alley is a thrilling story of good vs. bad. The novel was never too predictable with many unexpected plot twists. As in all Mike Hammer tales, there is a lot of killing, revenge, girls, and near-death struggles. The book was never boring, even in calm parts. It painted a vivid picture in my mind of the numerous settings as well as the various characters. It has a fast pace with many encounters of hostile mobsters. It is a good conclusion of the Mike Hammer series, by Mickey Spillane. This emotive story is suitable for people who like mysteries, don't mind reading about murder, and enjoy gunfights. Anyone who thoroughly enjoyed a James Bond novel or movie will like this book. ... Read more

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Larry and Josh rescue an ancient sailor adrift in a mysterious longboat and soon find themselves involved in finding a lost island and restoring a missing heir to the throne of a kingdom. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fun book to read!
Mickey Spillane shows his versatility as truly one of America's greatest writers with The Ship That Never Was. Instead of his hardboiled in-your-face detective stories, this one's fun for the family. I think children, especially in the 8- to 15-year-old range will enjoy it. But it's a book that is sure to keep readers turning the pages no matter what their age! I can't wait to see what's next! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Cartoonish, not worthy of your time.
Bloody Sunrise by the renown Mickey Spillane is a mercifully short cartoonish take on the spy genre.Spillane didn't waste any time doing research.Why bother?It's pretty apparent he just started typing and composed the plot, such as it is, on the fly.Protagonist Tiger Mann goes from one harrowing situation to another at breakneck speed, neutralizing his Soviet adversaries with amazing finesse.Between the many gun battles and other forms of mayhem, Tiger is true to his reputation as a ladies man, romancing no less than three of the female characters.
In short, this is mindless reading designed to appeal to consumers of Argosy magazine and similar periodicals.In truth, it isn't very good at all and should be avoided like the plague. ... Read more