Customer Reviews

The Mike Hammer Collection Volume 1: I, The Jury; My Gun is Quick; Vengeance is Mine!

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Mickey Spillane wrote detective novels half a century ago. It's well-known that he was not very well-liked by the literary community. There's a veiled derisive reference to one of his stories in one of the later Philip Marlowe novels. Even after all of this time, Spillane still gets little respect.

This is unfortunate, but this collection goes some way towards fixing that I think. The three books presented here are the first three Spillane wrote, published just after World War II, and Max Alan Collins' thoughtful introduction puts them in context so the reader knows what they're looking at. Basically, if you've seen plot twists or devices in other stories that appear here also, it's a good bet that Spillane invented them, and someone else used them (usually while not crediting Spillane himself).

The three books included in this series are I, the Jury (1947), My Gun is Quick (1950) and Vengeance is Mine (also 1950). All three are variations on the same plot, which apparently is a Spillane hallmark. The main character, Mike Hammer, is somehow involved in a murder, knows the victim, and swears revenge on the killer. He then spends most of the book sorting through clues, talking to witnesses, and getting beaten up. There's then a final scene where Hammer has figured out who the killer is, and confronts said killer. The killers never get arrested: Hammer shoots them, so that there's no trial.

The dialog and situations are very dated, and somewhat hackneyed. My wife read one of these books sometime ago, and her observation is very appropriate. Spillane invented the genre, but he's been imitated so much that the original looks a bit cliched.

That being said there are some really amusing cultural indicators here. For instance, while the books were considered scandalous at the time, there are no four-letter words in the text (none are spelled out anyway). There's much breathless necking and so forth, but the sex is actually pretty tame. In the first book, Hammer actually won't have sex with the girl he's romantically involved with because they aren't married yet. The slang is so dated that at times it's unintentionally funny: Hammer and his best friend Captain Pat Chambers call one another kid repeatedly, for instance. Hammer walks around telling everyone that he's going to kill the murderer in a fashion that no one would condone today, and no writer would try to slip past an editor.

I really enjoyed these books, and I would recommend them to anyone interested in detective novels, and noir fiction. They are definitely anachronisms, but they're fun, nonetheless.

Back in the day when I was teaching university literature courses, I would annually shock some English department colleagues by suggesting to students that Raymond Chandler was a better writer than F. Scott Fitzgerald. I smile to think of their reactions today if I were teaching a course in American literature, in which I would spend serious time reading and discussing Mickey Spillane and his unforgettable character, Mike Hammer.

Spillane was never a trickster or sensationalist. He was a hard worker and a born storyteller who knew more about pacing and dialogue than most writers will ever know. He got readers to pay attention and turn the page, and he left the always wanting more. Even today, I dream of another new Hammer novel or two turning up somewhere in the dusty bottom drawer of a roll-top desk.

But even if they don't, I'll revisit Spillane/Hammer every few years, probably for the rest of my life. So many books are made for one reading, and that's it. Not these. Spillane succeeded in creating an iconic American character, a deeply flawed rebel with an unbreakable will and unwavering sense of what is right and good in life. The author and his main character were always true to themselves, and we're the beneficiaries of that truth.

Staying with these two is not tough to do; it's easy!

--Robert McDowell, The Poetry Mentor (www.robertmcdowell.net), author of POETRY AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE, July 15th, 2008, from Free Press.

Would you believe that, although I am past the age of 60, I had never gotten around to reading Mickey Spillane until this attractive collection caught my eye? The Mickster honed his craft writing scripts for Fawcett Comics, and Mike Hammer's first incarnation was as a comic character, Mike Danger, but the first Hammer novel is still quite crude. In I, THE JURY Hammer spends way too much print telling everyone how he is going to gun down the perp who offed his old Army buddy, and do it point blank and in cold blood, and that he can get away with it because he has a license to carry a pistol (?!?). There are also subtly wrong word choices that often reminded me of Edward D. Wood, Jr.'s somewhat similar hard-boiled crime novels. And the identity of the killer is obvious long before the famous ending in which Hammer does shoot the unarmed perp point blank in the gut, because there is only one person situated so as to carry out all the crimes Hammer brings home to the villain.

MY GUN IS QUICK is a far better novel in all respects, better written, better plotted, but still has the defect that the identity of the criminal mastermind Hammer seeks is obvious almost from the first, since again only one character in the book could possibly be the guilty party. It also has Hammer, despite the title, badly outdrawn by the bad guy and blasted down.

Spillane hits his stride in VENGEANCE IS MINE. There's a complex plot, started with a murder committed under the very nose of the passed-out-drunk Hammer, and ending with Hammer gunning down the killer in a sequence that is literally twisted on its side compared to the similar sequence in I, THE JURY. The action is integrated by occurring almost entirely during a heavy New York City snowstorm, and the identity of the killer is effectively disguised by having the obvious and apparently only suspect not turning out to be the guilty party. In fact, in a touch we are told Spillane was very proud of, the actual identity of the brutal killer, who should be easy to spot because he is so physically powerful that he can break necks almost instantly with nothing but his bare hands, is concealed from the reader not only until the last line, but literally until the last WORD of the last line! And, no, this word is not a character name!

Probably what made the Spillane novels best sellers in their day is that Hammer is continually meeting impossibly beautiful, impossibly desirable women who want to jump into bed with him (and usually do!) almost the instant they set eyes on him. What is not noticed as often is that Hammer operates with authentic 1950s morality--- if he plans to marry a girl, he doesn't lay a finger on her. In the first novel, Hammer and his "serious" girl friend pretty much have to go sit on mounds of ice to avoid losing control and "doing it" before marriage, an unthinkable happening even to the hard-bitten Hammer!

Coming to this late, as I did, I notice how many touches that have become routine in hardboiled detective fiction must have originated with Hammer. The similarities between Hammer and Andrew Vachss's justifiably paranoid private eye Burke are particularly striking, down to the battered car that conceals a gigantic, superpowerful engine and the gunning-down of unarmed bad guys when the opportunity permits.

As the introduction by Max Allen Collins notes, Spillane has garnered little literary respect or attention over the years. Like most true creators, his real legacy lies in the fact that he redefined a whole genre, and that all private eye novels to follow had to come to terms with his creation.

"How c-could you?" she gasped.

I only had a moment before talking to a corpse, but I got it in.

"It was easy," I said.

--from I, The Jury, by Mickey Spillane

Mickey Spillane, 88, died of cancer July 17, 2006 in Murrells Inlet, S.C.. Perhaps one of the world's most famous mystery writers, he specialized in hard-hitting, fast paced novels of revenge, featuring tough as nails protagonists such as his most famous creation, Mike Hammer.

Born Frank Morrison Spillane on March 9, 1918, in Brooklyn, N.Y., he grew up in Elizabeth, NJ. Spillane told of how he concocted ghost stories as a child to distract those intent on giving him a beating. He had sold his first short story to a pulp magazine by his high school graduation in 1935.

He briefly attended college in Kansas and considered studying law before a friend got him a job writing and editing comic books in Manhattan. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II.

Spillane had a very practical reason for writing his first novel, I the Jury (1947). He and his first wife had purchased several acres of land in Newburgh, N.Y., and he needed the money to build a house on it.

If there ever was a novel that tapped into the American Zeitgeist, it had to be I, the Jury. Written in nine days, the best-seller introduced Spillane's hard-nosed series hero Mike Hammer, whose tough-talking machismo perfectly suited the needs of the postwar "male action" market. Though originally published in hardcover, Spillane's Hammer novels led to the creation of the paperback original when Fawcett, his distributor, established the Gold Medal imprint to satisfy the demand for fiction in the Spillane mold.

A truly iconic character, Hammer is more vigilante than PI. I, the Jury lays down the basic template Spillane would follow thereafter. Mike's marine "buddy" Jack, who lost an arm saving Hammer's life in the Pacific, is sadistically murdered. Hammer sets out to avenge him, skirting the niceties of the law. Nothing more complicated than that.
Per Spillane friend and fan Max Allan Collins,

"Hammer himself, with his vigilante tendencies and willingness to sleep with women, changed the tough guy hero forever. Without Hammer there is no Dirty Harry, certainly no James Bond, and SIN CITY is Frank Miller doing Spillane outright (and not getting called on it, because reviewers today have the sense of history of a gnat)."

Spillane took advantage of the niche he had created with Hammer, penning several sequels over the next five years, including Vengeance Is Mine (1950), My Gun Is Quick (1950), One Lonely Night (1951), The Big Kill (1951) and Kiss Me, Deadly (1952). Hammer subsequently appeared in the novels The Girl Hunters (1962), The Snake (1964), The Twisted Thing (1966), The Body Lovers (1967), Survival Zero (1970), The Killing Man (1989) and Black Alley (1996). The character also appeared in a number of television adaptations and films (Spillane himself played Hammer in the 1963 film adaptation of The Girl Hunters).

In 1964, Spillane created a new series hero, secret agent Tiger Mann, who first appeared in Day of the Guns. The Mann novels, and his non-series books, The Erection Set and The Last Cop Out (1973), were heavily promoted, but not as commercially successful as the first Mike Hammer books.

During this period he was famous to the American television-watching public for his appearance in Miller Lite beer commercials in which he parodied his tough-guy alter ego as a pitchman for the beer, replete with trench coat, a porkpie hat and a buxom blonde he referred to as "doll".

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.

Spillane's obituaries cited numerous stories about his contentious relationship with his critics. One tells of the comment that Anthony Boucher in a review of The Big Kill . Writing in The New York Times, the critic said that novel "may rank as the best Spillane -- which is the faintest praise this department has ever bestowed."
Spillane's success incensed other critics, who sometimes stooped to attacking the author. One reportedly called him "a homicidal paranoiac," and went on to detail Spillane's reputed misogyny.

Spillane took it all in stride, once saying "I pay no attention to those jerks who think they're critics. I don't give a hoot about readin' reviews. What I want to read is the royalty checks."

He also deflected criticism with a wry sense of humor. Early on in his career, he was insulted at a dinner party by "some New York literary guy" who told him it was "disgraceful" that seven of the 10 best-selling books of all time bore Mr. Spillane's name. Spillane retorted, "You're lucky I've only written seven books.""

Very good treatment of what i would describe as the ultimate in hardboiled fiction. The first three novels of Spillane's anti hero keep one reading late into the night. Each novel better than the last. Nice package.

As a contemporary mystery writer with my debut novel in initial release, I have often heard Mickey Spillane and his Mike Hammer character scoffed at by the writers of today. This collection, containing three early works, shows clearly why Spillane should be respected by authors and mystery fans of our time. Mike Hammer, the ultimate hardboiled American private eye, is a magnificent creation. Spillane's plots move swiftly, and the world of Mike Hammer is created in painstaking, and consistent, detail. Each of the novels in this collection clearly shows why Spillane has had the impact he has had on the mystery genre. He should not be scoffed at when he deserves to be admired. Read this collection, and you will find out why.

I have a B.A. degree in English literature, and I rarely read novels anymore. Being 46 years old and never having read a Spillane novel, I was always interested in his popular works. My father and older brother always read Spillane.

After reading these early works, I was amazed with my total enjoyment of each mystery. The prose improved with each subsequent work. The stories were woven with fantastic charm, wit, and style that can only be attributed to Mickey Spillane. His being a part of the World War II generation added to his distinct writing background/style.

I loved his continuing characters of Mike Hammer (Private Detective), his secretary Velda, and Police Chief, Pat Chambers. I am now "hooked" on Spillane's Mike Hammer novels and cannot wait to read more. BRAVO!!! What fun and exciting reading. Mickey Spillane is an important part of American Pop fiction.

It had been around fifteen or twenty years since I had last read a Mickey Spillane book before I had started the Mike Hammer Collection Volume 1. Back then, it had been the first Hammer book, I, the Jury. Over the years, I had forgotten almost all about the book except the very end. Rereading it and the other two novels in this edition, I figured out that this was appropriate: Spillane ends his stories with exclamation points, not periods.

This omnibus edition contains the first three Mike Hammer novels: in addition to I, the Jury, there is My Gun is Quick and Vengeance is Mine. As with the other books, I, the Jury doesn't waste much time with exposition. By the end of the first page, we already have a dead body, in this case, Jack Williams, Hammer's best friend. Almost immediately, Hammer makes a vow: he will kill Jack's murderer. The bulk of the novel is Hammer's investigation, a combination of legwork, intuition, deduction and intimidation, with a little romance added into the mix. It is, in a way, a routine tough guy private eye story, with some decent writing and a memorable ending.

My Gun is Quick - the longest of the three novels - moves a little more slowly, with the first death not occurring until the eighth page. In this case, it is a prostitute trying to get out of the business and who briefly befriended Hammer. The investigation again takes Hammer into the seedy side of New York City, and unlike the first novel, Hammer takes a real beating this time. Eventually, however, he will get to administer his own violent sort of justice.

Vengeance is Mine! has a corpse not only on the first page, but in the first sentence. The trouble for Hammer is that the man was killed with the detective's gun while the hero was drunkenly unconscious. This leads to Hammer losing his license, but that doesn't stop him from finding the killer, in this case entangled with a modeling/call-girl outfit and an illegal casino.

Outside of Hammer, there are really only two recurring characters. Pat Chambers is a homicide captain who is Hammer's friend and tolerates Hammer's behavior because he delivers the goods. He is able to keep Hammer on a leash, but it is a long one and occasionally it doesn't work. Velda is Hammer's beautiful secretary, who adores her boss. Hammer knows he should marry her, but at the same time he can't keep away from all the other beautiful women who fall for his hard attitude.

Mike Hammer, however, is the center of each story, a narrator with barely restrained rage. He is often a bully, but he also has a sense of fairness and is more tolerant than many fictional detectives of this era, even having a love affair with a prostitute in My Gun is Quick. In I, the Jury, Spillane is still honing Hammer's voice, but by the second novel, he has Hammer perfected. This is not great art - I doubt even Spillane would have claimed that - but it is solid entertainment and really hard boiled fiction in the classic vein.

Volume 1 of the Mike Hammer collection brings in one binding the first three books by Mickey Spillane that features his infamous tough-guy detective, Mike Hammer.

In this you get: I, The Jury; My Gun is Quick; and Vengeance is Mine!

All of these books show off the period of the rough-and-tough detective/crime novels. I love Spillane's work and am happy that these stories have been collected, making it an inexpensive buy.

I won't bore you with the description of each so I'll give you the basic rundown of what each is about.

Pretty much each story is Hammer seaking revenge for a fallen victim, whether it be a friend or a friendly prostitute. This may sound very similar to a lot of crime novels but the stories really shape into something more, making it an enthralling and entertaining read from beginning to end.

Though the second volume of the Mike Hammer collection is where a lot of the good action is at, you'll really enjoy reading Volume 1, especially because you get to see how the Mike Hammer character evolves through the series. Either way you can't go wrong with anything Mickey Spillane.

Spillane's books can be found at used bookstores or online for cheap, but buy these new collections and see how fast you can read three books at a time. I tore through these yarns fast and can't wait for the third set. Spillane does more for me than Chandlier or Hammett, though I love their books too, but the Mike Hammer stories are cool, tough, brutal, sexy, post-war stories with all the right slang.

Mike Hammer is brutal, sure. Maybe even cruel. But he is an avenging angel, always seeking revenge for a friend, sometimes for a stranger, but always to set things right. Or at least as close to right as he can make it with his fists and his slabside .45.