Customer Reviews

The Body Lovers

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nobody writes action rougher than Mickey Spillane in his Mike Hammer novels. This story opens with Mike moving through the dark streets of the city when he hears a child emit a terrible scream of fear. When he finds the child he also discovers the nude body of a murdered beautiful woman that had been beaten to death with a whip. This begins a complicated and baffling case, involving the deaths of a few more women, a murdered newspaper reporter that was tracking some aspects of the case and the sordid life of the prostitutes in the city.
The newspaper reporter community and the police department ally themselves with Mike, but despite all the effort, there are few clues so in typical Hammer style, Mike creates them. He wines when necessary, punches when he wants to and shoots when he has to. He plays the white knight to some women that have reached the depths, pounding a pimp that regularly beat his women into a bloody pulp in order to make the point. There are many bad guys in this story; Mike uncovers a sadistic ring made up of international figures where women at a low point risk their lives for a fortune in a desperate attempt to pull themselves up. In the end, Velma comes through for Mike and he defeats the ring by literally blowing it away.
The rough action, occasional sexuality and often white knight aspects of Mike Hammer make him a male fictional fantasy hero. A literal and figurative stud, Mike is the man that many men want to be.

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!

"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 by then 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.