Customer Reviews

Kiss Her Goodbye: An Otto Penzler Book (Mike Hammer Novels)

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It's probably hard for anyone born after, let's arbitrarily say, the Viet Nam era, to believe, but Mickey Spillane was once considered the most violent writer in America. Moreover, his books were considered borderline pornography for his "graphic" sex scenes. Do I need to add that, for a time in the mid 60s, or thereabouts, his books outsold all other titles in the world, except for the Bible!
What no one (at least of the literati) EVER said about him, in life, or after his passing, was that he was a good writer. Well, maybe he wasn't. But he was certainly one of the most influential writers of his generation.
All due credit to the influences of Hammett and Chandler, but, for every "hard-boiled" writer in their tradition, there are 5 in the Spillane tradition. Moreover, while Hammett was a frail consumptive reliving his past, and Chandler was an Anglophile snob, Spillane LIVED his Mike Hammer persona pretty much until his death in 2006 at age 88.
And, he had a hard core of believers who treasured his writing even when the mass market had, mostly, turned to other, more "modern" writers.
One of those was/is Max Allan Collins, no slouch himself in the writing department. Collins' passionate championing of Spillane was more than just lip service and so, when Spillane knew his time was almost up, he asked that Collins take on some of his unfinished works and continue the tradition.
"Kiss Her Goodbye" is the third work that Collins has taken on, after "The Goliath Bone" and "The Big Bang", and like its predecessors, this latest, which, for those who need to know the plot... never Spillane's strongest point... concerns Mike Hammer coming back to New York (after the events of "...Bang") and getting involved in the "suicide" of an old friend that, "just doesn't feel right". All the standard Spillania is here, from Mike's ongoing and eternal angst, to a finale that makes Hammett's "Red Harvest" look like "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (O.K. maybe that's a BIT much!) But, basically, I have to feel this is REALLY a nostalgia trip for people (not unlike myself) who are long-time fans.
I have two paraphrased quotes that summ up my feelings. In regards Spillane's popularity: "For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not, no explanation is possible". And, regarding how well Collins carries on the Spillane mantle, I paraphrase John O'Hara on George Gershwin: "Mickey Spillane died in 2006. But I don't have to believe it if I don't want to."

Hey, I remember when I,THE JURY first appeared, and I was one of those thoroughly captivated by the Mike Hammer character. In fact, I satirizewd the Spillane style in a piece I wrote for San Jose State College's LYKE literary magazine, naming my character "Sludge Hammer". This was around 1953.

So it's great to see Mike still around even after his creator's death. But alas, we can't really call this good writing. That's not to say that one won't enjoy it though. Don't look for credibility and you won't be disappointed. And don't try to keep count of the dead bodies in this.

I will say that this is inspiring me to look up the old Mike Hammers and re-read them.

Mickey Spillane was a master of the noir title: My Gun Is Quick remains my favorite, but almost equally high on my list of stellar titles are I, the Jury; The Big Kill; and Kiss Me, Deadly. Kiss Her Goodbye just doesn't have the same danger-laden pizzazz. Its subdued title notwithstanding, the novel feels very much like a Mike Hammer story: edgy, violent, fast-paced and action-filled.

Hammer was always a bit too self-righteous for my taste, too given to seeing himself as an avenging instrument of justice and too frequently indulging in rants against the many categories of people he believes the world would be better off without. Although it's been years since I last read a Hammer novel, the latest installment depicts a somewhat more introspective Mike Hammer than the one I remember. I wouldn't say he's mellowed; he doesn't kill anyone until about two-thirds of the way through the novel but the body count rises dramatically as the novel nears its end (particularly when Hammer tells us he "passed the grease gun across a sea of faces and turned them scarlet and screaming"). Still, Hammer engages in less moralizing as he did in some of the earlier novels and his misogynistic opinions are a bit more muted (both of those changes are improvements, in my view). Plots in a few Hammer novels seem like an excuse for Hammer to go on a rampage, dispensing street justice with his .44. Kiss Her Goodbye gives the reader a taste of the rampaging Hammer but also delivers a relatively nuanced plot that is both coherent and engaging.

After a year of retirement in Florida while recovering from a wound he received in a shootout with the Bonetti family, Hammer returns to New York to attend the funeral of his mentor, Bill Doolan. Hammer can't believe Doolan would commit suicide, despite the terminal cancer that promised him only three more months of pain-filled life. After leaving the funeral, while riding with the captain of the homicide division, Hammer spots a murder victim, Virginia Mathes, lying dead on a city sidewalk. Hammer improbably intuits that Mathes was not killed in a random mugging and that her murder is somehow related to Doolan's death. Adding to the mystery are a dead hooker, an uncut diamond that was smuggled out of Russia before the Second World War, a stunning Brazilian singer named Chrome, and Doolan's unlikely membership in a trendy NYC disco called Club 52. It all adds up to an entertaining, plausibly-plotted story that leads to a satisfying (although not entirely surprising) resolution.

Despite being an enormously popular writer in his day, Spillane was never in the same league as the best writers of crime fiction who preceded him: Chandler, Cain, and Hammett. Compared to most other pulp fiction authors, however, Spillane stood out. Spillane nourished the reading public's desire for sex and violence using a spare, undemanding prose style that was perfect for the gritty stories he wrote. We don't know how much of the writing in Kiss Her Goodbye is Spillane's and how much is Allan Collins' -- the introduction tells us only that Collins was working from Spillane's plot notes, character sketches, and a "false start" -- but it doesn't really matter. Kiss Her Goodbye is unmistakably a Mike Hammer novel: a little trashy, sometimes childish, but always entertaining.

Although set in the 1970's, the novel is written in the less-than-PC language of the 1950's: women are either dolls or broads and nearly every description of a female includes a commentary on her breasts. Offensive though that might be, `twere it otherwise it wouldn't be a Mike Hammer novel. It is what it is. Kiss Her Goodbye is the kind of throwback novel that most fans of old-school, hard-boiled detective fiction should enjoy. I thought it was well done.

When books are posthumously released, it's sometimes questionable as to how much of the material is the original author's and how much is written by someone else. Mickey Spillaine died several years back, but thanks to the work of Max Allan Collins, we are still getting new Mike Hammer books. How much is truly Spillaine and how much is Collins may be a mystery itself, but Kiss Her Goodbye feels like a Hammer book, and that's to both authors' credit.

The story - which takes place in 1970s New York - has Hammer returning from a retirement forced upon himself after being wounded in battle. A bit gun-shy and pain-drug-dopey, Hammer would be happy just lounging about in Florida, but the death of his mentor Bill Doolan brings him back to New York. Doolan, in his eighties and terminally ill, apparently committed suicide, but despite having little more than a gut feeling, Hammer suspects murder.

Of course, it wouldn't be much of a mystery novel if Hammer was wrong, and his investigation will eventually involve a disco called Club 52 (and obviously based on Studio 54) and the "legitimate" member of a crime family who runs the place. Hammer coincidentally comes across an apparent mugging victim who will wind up having a link to Club 52 also. Meanwhile, he also has to deal with mobsters possibly seeking revenge for a family member who Hammer killed.

This fits well in the Mike Hammer canon, but like many of the previous books, this one is pretty good but also flawed. Most notably, Hammer's beautiful partner Velda is missing for most of the book, which diminishes the novel a bit. Also, the conclusion is a little too reminscent of a couple other Hammer books (though I won't say how to avoid spoiling things). If you're a fan of this series and the fun (if lightweight) entertainment it provides, this book will overall be a worthwhile read.

"Kiss Her Goodbye" is the third Mike Hammer novel published through the collaboration of Max Allan Collins finishing and expanding the unfinished or unpublished Mickey Spillane material. The result, at least in this case, is vintage Mike Hammer. I grew up in the fifties and Spillane's Hammer was the first character I read about as I began reading mystery and thriller novels. Collins keeps the tradition alive by polishing the Spillane/Hammer trademarks such as dark and sarcastic humor, sex, violence, retribution, and what can only be called "Hammer justice". Indeed, I felt from the flow, the dialogue, and the characterizations that I was reading vintage Mickey Spillane.

In "Kiss Her Goodbye", Hammer returns to New York after spending a year in Florida recovering from severe wounds incurred with a deadly gun battle. He returns for the funeral of his old friend and mentor, Bill Doolan, who everyone believes committed suicide--everyone except Mike. Soon a waitress, a hooker that Mike takes a liking to, and the waitresses' ex-boyfriend are all killed in separate incidents that Mike comes to believe are somehow interrelated. How many total victims emerge? Are they somehow related in some manner? How many murderer's are we dealing with? What does the ultra chic Club 52 and its star attraction, Latina Chrome, have to do with the mystery? Does Alberto Bonetti, aging crime boss and father of Sal Bonetti killed by Mike in the deadly shootout a year earlier, have any responsibility in all this? And does the missing Velda, love of Mike's life, ever reappear?

All these questions are satisfyingly tied up by a fast paced plot that ultimately features a plethora of Hammer characters including Pat Chambers, Nazi diamonds, disco music, deadly drug deals, and crooked politicians. Even aging as he is and sensitive to his recuperating body, Hammer is still Hammer and his street smarts combined with his take-no-prisoners attitude result in a body count that will delight the most die-hard Spillane fan while enjoying what feels like an authentic Mickey Spillane /Mike Hammer novel.

Kiss Her Goodbye is a Mike Hammer novel that Max Collins put together using two partial manuscripts that Mickey Spillane had been working on before his death in 2006. The main theme is about Hammer returning to New York after being away in Florida healing from a gun wound. What brings him back is the death of a police officer who was like a mentor to him. It has been ruled a suicide, but Hammer in his gut knows that it was a murder. Proving it to be is where things take off. The story takes place in the disco era of New York City late 1970s. The pace picks up rapidly with rare Nazi diamonds, Mafia figures, drug dealers, and Disco music all being somehow linked into this supposed suicide. Also for Hammer is the fact that upon returning to New York his office is closed and his assistant Velda has vanished, it is not the New York he remembers. It becomes apparent very quickly that Hammer has not lost his touch for getting the info he needs through any means needed. His priority is revenge not arrests, and this book delivers on all levels. It is a fast moving book that truly packs several punches. The violence is hard hitting, and Hammer is determined to find out the truth. Hopefully there are a few more unfinished manuscripts for Collins to work with.

Again working from unused notes, plotlines, and drafts provided to him by the estate of Mickey Spillane, Max Allan Collins has produced another bang-up Mike Hammer thriller in "Kiss Her Goodbye", a sharp and violent epic set in a 1970's New York wallowing in organized crime, casual drug use, and bad disco music. All but the bad music takes a hit when Mike Hammer comes to town.

Like the best franchises, this latest entry in the Mike Hammer series delivers exactly what fans expect, but in new and exciting ways. A quick example: a satisfying but familiar scene showing Mike essentially executing someone for the cold murder he committed all of a sudden displays new levels of freshness and originality when we see Mike not only refuse to be thwarted by the bullet-proof vest his unfortunate victim is wearing, but actually employ the vest as a means to intensify his victim's suffering (you'll have to read the book to see how). It was quite a scene, and one I've never run across in other thrillers.

Is the book nothing but violence? Of course not. Mike is an interesting guy who enjoys music, city life, good food (though nothing too pretentious), and, of course, the company of beautiful women. On that last point, Mr. Collins is just as skillful as Mickey Spillane at portraying a Mike Hammer who is fully devoted to his longtime love Velda yet still somehow manages to regularly bed other women... and without losing the reader's sympathies.

But as fun as all that stuff is, fans mostly read these books to see Mike Hammer search for criminals who've committed horrid crimes, identify them, and exact justice (or vengeance, if you prefer). And that's what Mike once again does here- many times- in a tightly-wound, engrossing tale that starts out as a small investigation into the suspicious death of a cop friend (ruled suicide but Mike doesn't buy it) that soon evolves into Mike exposing and confronting a huge organized crime scheme of international proportions.

At their best, Mike Hammer novels are like a bracing dose of good whiskey at your favorite bar after a day of drinking vending machine soft drinks during the course of a boring work day. And these recent Spillane/Collins collaborations, especially the last couple ("The Big Bang" and this one), have been firing-on-all-cylinders, straight-no-chaser Hammer.

So, yeah, if I haven't expressed myself clearly enough, I liked "Kiss Her Goodbye" a lot. You may, too.

I think "The Goliath Bone" and "The Big Bang", the first two Mike Hammer novels begun by Mickey Spillane and completed after his passing by Max Allan Collins, with Spillane's blessing, are two of the best Hammer novels I've read.

"The Goliath Bone" was intended as the final Hammer story and bookends nicely with the first novel, "I, the Jury". "The Big Bang" is a crazy, in the best sense, groovy lost '60s novel that Spillane put aside.

So, I was very excited to get a copy of "Kiss Her Goodbye", the lost '70s novel that Collins completed. Not only had I thoroughly enjoyed the previous novels, the lack of a '70s Hammer novel seems an odd hole. It seems like Hammer belonged in the '70s somewhere, perhaps in part because I grew up with the Stacy Keach version of Hammer that was only a small step removed from the '70s.

"Kiss Her Goodbye" takes place between 1970's "Survival... Zero!" and 1989's "The Killing Man". Exactly where, I'm not sure. The events of "Survival... Zero!" are referred to as a year previous, seeming to set it in the early '70s and yet a variety of other details including "Club 52", which I can only interpret as a (too obvious) analog for Studio 54, seemed to set it in the Disco era of the late '70s.

I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed this one more on a single lazy Sunday afternoon or up late with the audiobook, read by Keach, as I did with "The Big Bang". I suspect those kinds of sniggling details would have drifted past me with little to no notice.

But I didn't have that luxury right now. I read it mostly one chapter at a time, as my busy schedule permitted, and those kinds of things did creep up and bother me. It was more than a compelling enough read to keep me coming back for the next, but ultimately it was my least favorite of these new books. The mystery wasn't as intriguing as I'd hope, despite its complexity, and the cast of supporting characters weren't as interesting, not to mention the solution seemed a bit rushed to me.

That said, I do certainly hope Collins continues to update these manuscripts and publishers keep publishing them, because somehow I'm comforted knowing that Hammer lives on even after Spillane's passing, and I'm still finding these enjoyable.

I still remember reading my first Mike Hammer novel, the same one most of us fans did I would think: I,The Jury. It's usually the one cited when people talk or write about Spillane and his creation. I loved every page of it, as I have all since. I know it was fashionable at one time to bash Mr. Spillane's writing, but I never bought into that nonsense. He was the writer that got me interested in crime stories a little tougher than the Hardy Boys, which were an early influence on my reading habits.

KISS HER GOODBYE is the latest, the third, Hammer story that Max Allan Collins completed from unfinished manuscripts left in Mr. Spillane's offices. A long time friend of Mr. Spillane, he talked with the man a lot, discussing the various tales which Collins has been working on(some non-Hammers as well), not to mention extensive notes he left with what he had in mind for each novel.

Mike returns to New York after a year of living in Florida recovering from near fatal bullet wounds for a friend's funeral. Suicide they said, as he was dying from cancer, and he didn't want to go through the end of life trials associated with such. Sounded logical, but Mike didn't buy it and starts looking into matters. He soon stirs up trouble as only Mike Hammer can as he gets down to what's really going on.

Quite enjoyed this one. Collins integrates his writing with Spillane's in such a perfect manner that one can't tell which is which. At least I can't.

Worth a look

Although I have not read all of his works, I definitely consider myself a fan of late author Mickey Spillane. Although the latest works by the author have been either hit or miss ("Dead Street" is wonderful while "Goliath Bone" leaves something to be desired - both in my humble opinion) this current team up between some Spillane writings and notes and the hard boiled talents of Max Allen Collins make this book "Kiss Her Goodbye" a winning combination.

The story takes place in the disco 1970's some time after the Mike Hammer novel "Survival...Zero" and features the same character (Hammer) coming back to what used to be his city (New York) after a retirement in Florida. Gone is his Velda as are many of the facets that made the city "his" city. Yet there are enough old haunts, familiar faces, and friends (like the detective Pat Chambers) to make Hammer feel comfortable enough. The narration here as the character looks anew at a place he once loved really adds a nice touch to this work. For instance, early in the book, Hammer gets a look at his surroundings and as narrator states "Now it was the city's turn to pass in review and it did a lousy job. Nothing had changed. No sudden sense of deja vu - the smells were the same, the noise still grating, the people other there looking and waiting but never seeing anything at all. If they did, they sure as hell didn't let anyone know about it."

Hammer has returned for the funeral of an old mentor and former police friend whose suicide does not sit right with the Private Eye, and soon events begin unfolding almost as fast as bodies begin to fall - both around and because of this classic hard boiled detective. The plot moves forth with plenty of action with not so many twists or turns, but with added sub plot lines, and characters, almost to the point where it begins to be too much and run too long...almost. Add in the positives described already along with a believable as illustrated sense of the exclusive coked up disco club world of the day and probably the best pulp one-on-many shoot outs help to save this and make it a winning read.

Max Allan Collins had, thankfully a good starting place and also has the talent to make the original authors "voice" come through. If you are in the mood for a good old fashioned hard boiled mystery, or want to read a good "Mickey Spillane" (or even a good Max Allan Collins) then "Kiss Her Goodbye" is a book that I heartily recommend.