The Big Bang

THE BIG BANG is a classic. It immediately took me back not only to the 1960s but to the early 1950s Spillane dreamscape of MY GUN IS QUICK and THE BIG KILL. It has all the lushness of the early Mike Hammer novels with sexuality and wholesomeness played off each other with authorial ease. It has the defense of the innocent and willful crushing of the guilty. The finale is masterful, combining the best of ONE LONELY NIGHT and the underappreciated SURVIVAL...ZERO! I felt as if I had been transported back to my first reading of a MAJOR Spillane novel, evocative in tone, spirit and action. BIG BANG is seamless, a tremendous piece of writing. Whether you've never read a Mike Hammer novel or you've eagerly awaited this one, you will be rewarded with a major entry into the world of noir. In short, it's quite a book. Full disclosure: Max Allan Collins and I have collaborated on my many projects, including ONE LONELY KNIGHT: MICKEY SPILLANE'S MIKE HAMMER, the first critical-biographical book devoted to Spillane. We both love and appreciate Mike Hammer and Mickey Spillane. It is my distinct honor to have the book dedicated to me.

First there was Philip Marlow. Then there was Sam Spade. And finally the toughest and the last of the old time P.I's, Mike Hammer. Hammer comes from simpler times, back when women were dolls, the police were pigs, and crime was rampant. There weren't computers or cell phones, no GPS or email, this was back when if a P.I. wanted a case he had to get his hands dirty and do it the old fashioned way, good old fashioned investigating. And this is exactly what Mike Hammer does he does good old fashion P.I. work to get the case solved. I was genuinely surprised how much I liked the book. Before I begin on how good this book was I first want to speak a second on its pedigree. It is the long lost manuscript of the infamous and deceased mystery writer Mickey Spillane, the creator of Hammer's world. With the co-author, Max Collins, being the writer of Road to Perdition and Saving Private Ryan, Oscar winners all. All in all a sensational pedigree. But even with its pedigree building it up The Big Bang still found room to surprise and entertain me. In fact it's one of the best mysteries I've read in years. It takes a simple easy to spot twist in the plot and goes further, surprising and shocking readers and reviewers alike with the coldness and sharp change that occurred in the story. Spillane and Collins did great job of continuing the Mike Hammer legacy in this book. It's 256 pages, short enough for a cool summer read and long enough to get into the book and really enjoy it. Besides it's length, the book is action packed and filled with all the great aspects mystery readers crave in strong mystery novel. All in all this is a great book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick entertaining summer read, especially mystery lovers. [...]

Wow, Mike Hammer still lives. This collaboration between Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins is right on target. Many times when one author finishes a manuscript for another it just does not work. I assure you that is not a problem here. You can smell the smoke from the Luckies and taste the Pabst Blue Ribbon in this story. Mike is still the toughest and Velda gorgeous While this is a thriller, it is truly a throwback to the original hardboiled PI novels of the fifties and sixties. The plot is nicely told and the characters are rich. For those who are familiar with Mike Hammer novels this will be a welcome reacquaintance. For those who never read the lurid, violent and sexy novels, this is a great introduction. Collins and Spillane had a friendship that comes across in the writing. Spillane had entrusted Collins with a couple of manuscripts just before his home was destroyed in a hurricane. Collins, who is a great mystery writer on his own, seamlessly rounds it out.

It's been quite a number of years since I last re-read the Mike Hammer series but the big guy was always a favorite and, therefore, I was thrilled to see that a new chapter in the series was being published. Based on an incomplete manuscript that Spillane entrusted to author Max Allan Collins it's definitely a worthy addition to the series. Mike is as hard-boiled, deadly and lascivious as ever, Velda is still gorgeous and Pat Chambers continues to have Hammer's back. The bad guys (and gals) are as bad as they get, there's some honest citizens worthy of protecting and Mike adds some more notches to the grips of his trusty .45. Spillane and Collins have collaborated on a nice addition to the Hammer saga, one that's bound to become a classic in its own right. Definitely worth reading (and keeping).

Here is another lost Mike Hammer, courtesy of Mickey Spillane's foresight and Max Allan Collins' devotion to the task. The Big Bang was unfinished, though Collins had Mickey's outline along with the partial manuscript, which he entrusted to Collins just before Hurricane Hugo destroyed Mickey's South Carolina home. The Big Bang is vintage Hammer and I defy anyone to attempt an estimate of how much is Mickey's and how much is Max's. The book is seamless, the plot as tight as a drumhead. Mike breaks up an attempted mugging and finds himself embroiled in a major NY drug case. The good Samaritan suddenly finds himself the target of hired killers. Multiple individuals are maneuvering to take over the NY drug trade and one in particular has a unique idea that involves both controlling the trade and ending it. Mike's investigation involves a series of violent encounters, interspersed with sexual ones and its conclusion offers an interesting moral twist on the situation in which he finds himself. I won't spoil it for you; you'll have to check it out for yourself. This is vintage Hammer, delicious in every way. There is an anachronism or two. At one point Mike talks about the computer between his ears. There were computers in existence at this time (Turing's colossus computer at Bletchley Park, e.g.), but not to the degree that they would serve as a Mike Hammer metaphor. This is a very minor issue, however. The plot is strong; Velda's legs have never looked better; Pat Chambers is bemused and Mike is hammering every bad guy in his path. Highly recommended. P.S. Don't be put off by the PW review; this is a solid story, pure Mike Hammer.