The Big Bang

March 1, 2010
Drawing on an unpublished partial Spillane manuscript dating from the '60s, Collins resurrects Spillane's randy, two-fisted New York City PI, Mike Hammer, in a mystery likely to appeal only to Hammer fans. When Hammer intervenes to save a bike messenger from a mugging, two of the assailants wind up dead and a third in critical condition at Bellevue. After following up with the victim, the detective suspects the motive for the attack is more complicated than the police believe. The trail leads him to a recent player in the city's narcotics trade nicknamed the Snowbird. Along the way, Hammer becomes a target, possibly of a local mob boss, and falls into bed with one of the many attractive women he meets. Whatever his share in this stock crime tale, Shamus-winner Collins displays none of the gifts for character, setting, and narrative that distinguish his Nate Heller series (Chicago Confidential
, etc.).

July 26, 2010
A triple combination of talent comes together to bring the iconic Mike Hammer back for a new adventure. Collins, working with Spillane's incomplete manuscript and copious notes, has completed a sterling addition to the Hammer canon. The third creative element to this mix is the impeccable vocal artistry of Stacy Keach, an actor who for a generation is the embodiment of Mike Hammer. The story is simple enough: Hammer has returned to New York after spending some time in Florida where he was nursing wounds received in an encounter with the Mob. He isn't back long before he's immersed in another case, this one involving the burgeoning drug trade of the 1960s. Keach's smooth, confident reading perfectly captures Spillane's most famous creation, whether he's delivering a punch in the face, a slug from a .45, or a kiss to a dame. Pure unabashed, pleasurable pulp. A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hardcover (Reviews, Mar. 1).

Hard-boiled New York P.I. Mike Hammer is back in Max Allan Collins's reimagining of Mickey Spillane's original story outline, written in the 1960s. Collins is no stranger to the Hammer tales; thus, this engaging crime caper feels like a Spillane original. Hammer finds himself pitted against a group of ne'er-do-well narcotics dealers bent on raising hell and hauling in heaps of cash. Resuming his role from the short-lived CBS television series, actor Stacy Keach slips effortlessly back into character and even offers up his musical expertise by providing original jazz compositions as accompaniment. The sound production is stellar as realistic sound effects are peppered throughout and help to amplify the reading. The big bang from Hammer's Colt .45 will literally rattle the walls! L.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine