Publishers Weekly
05/04/2020
Set in 1989, MWA GrandMaster Collins’s competent 12th posthumous collaboration with Spillane (after 2019’s Murder, My Love) finds Mike Hammer still operating as a PI when the WWII vet would have been in his late 60s. That touch of realism allows Collins to dial back most of the extreme elements of the early Spillane novels. Outside a Manhattan restaurant, Mike spots Wall Street wunderkind Vincent Colby as he steps into the street and is clipped by a speeding red sports car. He’s only bruised, but is taken to the hospital, and his wealthy dad, Vance, hires Mike to unearth the perpetrator over Vincent’s fierce objections. Mike’s investigation, aided as always by his voluptuous secretary, Velda, soon leads to a trail of bodies, linked only by the bizarre method by which they were dispatched. Spillane fans will be pleased to see how well Collins captures the brash tone but everyman personality of the latter-day Hammer without trying to imitate the character’s infamous vigilante crusades of earlier years. Spillane (1918–2006) would be proud of how well Collins has maintained his legacy. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
For readers of a younger age, Collins may become as synonymous with the Hammer character as Spillane was and is for seasoned fans. If that happens, it will be because he has earned it. My guess is that Spillane, if he were alive, would be overjoyed by that occurrence. Read MASQUERADE FOR MURDER and see why.”
—BookReporter
“Spillane fans will be pleased to see how well Collins captures the brash tone but everyman personality of the latter-day Hammer without trying to imitate the character’s infamous vigilante crusades of earlier years. Spillane (1918–2006) would be proud of how well Collins has maintained his legacy.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Honestly, having writer Max Allan Collins turn in another Mike Hammer novel in this Legacy series is like our enjoying the gift that never stops giving...Blood flows as is the norm in any Hammer caper with a conclusion we soundly approved of. We think you will too.”
—Pulp Fiction Reviews
“Collins at his best, vintage Hammer, and indistinguishable from classic Mickey Spillane–as if Spillane never really left.”
—Borg.com, Best of 2020
“One-time king of American pulp fiction Mickey Spillane left a stock of literary fragments for Max Allan Collins to expand into full-length novels. And a first-rate job he makes of it.”
—Daily Mail
JUNE 2020 - AudioFile
Mickey Spillane mysteries are classics, and this audiobook—written by Collins, who has taken over the character—is as entertaining as any. Narrator Stefan Rudnicki’s gruff voice provides an ideal complement to the latest novel featuring Mike Hammer, a PI whose techniques and style break the mold. Hammer is hired by the father of Wall Street financier Vincent Colby, who is almost killed by a red Ferrari, an accident Hammer witnesses. As he investigates, Hammer discovers a series of bizarre unrelated deaths, all from a rare martial arts technique. Rudnicki captures Hammer’s unpolished yet insightful style and excels at creating the dialogue and personas of the many delightful lowlifes and other characters. Listeners will also enjoy the ending, in which Hammer, as usual, solves the case, adding a wrinkle no one expects. D.J.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
