One Lonely Night [Hardcover]

Mickey SPILLANE (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1951

Guilt Edge Mystery.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Dutton; 1St Edition edition (1951)
• ASIN: B000MTO6UO
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Mickey Spillane (1918-2006) sold hundreds of millions of books. He introduced iconic detective Mike Hammer to readers in 1947 with I, THE JURY, and was named a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master in 1995.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Greatest Detective Novel Ever Written, November 28, 2005

By 

TR wilson (San Jose) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Lonely Night (Audio Cassette)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nobody More Hardboiled Than Mike, November 13, 2010

By 

Piano Johnny Jazz - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Lonely Night (Mike Hammer) (Kindle Edition)

An odd beginning of sorts. Mike Hammer is out of sorts after being scolded by a judge who condemns him as a murderer (although unconvicted). A bit sensitive, Mike takes a lone walk which brings him to a lonely bridge where this story begins with an attempted murder, Mike killing the assassin and the intended victim, scared out of her wits, jumping off the bridge to her death. Mike covers up his own involvement and finds, in searching the man's pockets, a green card. (It turns out its a club card to a Commie (the book's word) organization meant on destroying America as we know it. (The year is 1951, the height of the "Red Scare")

It's all suspense and tough as nails action on the part of Mike after that. What's interesting is how much of the political talk, rants against the people in political office, is the same talk we hear today. Indeed, given the debate about politics today this book could be as relevent today as in 1951 in that regard.

Mike is also throughout the book considering the judge's words. Is he a murderer as evil as any other? I'm not giving any of the story away by saying that by the end of the book he determines he is...and that's OK for he has one difference, he kills only bad guys. Yes, he likes it, but there you go.

Tough as nails.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hammer and Spade Covered Our Coasts [46], September 2, 2007

By 

Miami Bob "Resurgent Reading" (Miami, FL United States) - See all my reviews

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 than greed - 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.