4/5

Another very fun book polished by the great Max Allan Collins. Mikey Spillane would approve for sure. ( )

My dad had said he didn't like Mickey Spillane, and now I know why. Mike Hammer, Mickey's alter ego, is a thoroughly despicable human being. He is violent, is a killer without remorse, has no moral compass that I can see, and is odiously sexist.

Were it not for the despicable nature of the protagonist, this might be an ok book. Which is to say, the plot and descriptions are ok. But, I hope I never have the misfortune to read more of this crap in the future.

Perhaps regular Mike Hammer books are better. This one was finished up and published posthumously by Max Allan Collins, someone else whose books I'll avoid in the future.
( )

If you know Mike Hammer, you know this book. ( )

Although controversial in his time for the frank portrayal of sex and violence in his books, Spillane was loved by the public and was one of the most successful authors of the twentieth century.
Hammer is a private eye. He is known for being brutally violent and metes out his own brand of justice. It is not unusual for a trail of bodies to be left in his wake as he defends himself against attacks. The Hammer stories are filled with action from cover to cover and "Lady Go Die" is no exception to this rule.

The overall plot is fairly typical of the kind of hardboiled PI stuff that was put out in the fifties. It involves murder, gambling, corruption, a rich blonde who may have killed a few husbands, and some toughnosed pugs. But, what makes this different from the typical fifties PI novel is that it is Mike Hammer and nobody was tougher than Hammer was. Nobody did a better job of mixing it up than Hammer.

The story begins with Hammer taking a weekend getaway with his secretary, the irrestible Velda, to a small hamlet on Long Island. Without even meaning to, Hammer immediately gets involved in a brawl when he sees a little guy getting the crap beat out of him by three goons. "They were kicking the hell out of the little guy," it begins. "The big guys seemed to be trying for field goals, their squirming prey pulled in on himself like a barefoot fetus in a ragged t- shirt and frayed dungarees," it is explained. Hammer can't just walk by the alley and let the bullies get away with this. He takes a last drag on a cigarette, "slipped out of [his] sportcoat and handed it to [his] raven-haired companion," and sends a right into one goon that "would have broken that nose if there had been enough cartilage left to matter." Hammer smashed him in the back of his neck and send him to the alley floor in a "sprawling belly flop." After rubbing his face in the gravel, Hammer makes mincemeat out of the other two goons. And, this is just the start of Hammer's weekend in the country. Nobody ever wrote action sequences better than Mickey Spillane. And, if you like hardnosed action, this book is your ticket. When the kid being beaten asks Hammer who he is, Hammer deadpans that he is the Lone Ranger and wait til you get a load of Tonto.

This early in the Hammer series Velda is still just his secretary and he hadn't made a pass at her yet, but the sparks are flying whenever she is around. She is described as a "big, beautiful dark-haired doll" with a "lovely fanny." "She looked equipped enough to handle anything" from where Hammer was sitting. Velda, though, is also a licensed PI and carried a .32 in her purse next to her lipstick. But Hammer is fascinated by her: "She was as pretty as anything I had ever seen. Tall, jet black hair, always in that sweeping pageboy that I so admired. Big and beautiful with more curves than a mountain road...." Spillane was definitely a romantic. Hammer and Velda's romance is probably the longest running one in hardboiled fiction.

From beginning to end, this is just a fantastic read. This book most definitely rates five stars or more. ( )

"Lady Go Die!" is the fifth of the seven Mike Hammer novels that Max Allan Collins completed following Mickey Spillane's demise. Spillane wrote dozens of Mike Hammer novels, starting with "I, The Jury" in 1947. "Lady Go, Die" is chronologically the second Hammer novel, although Spillane never completed it in his lifetime. Collins describes the partial manuscript as one of the most exciting finds in the treasure trove of writings that Spillane did not complete. By completing these manuscripts, Collins has introduced an entirely new generation of readers, including myself, to the Mike Hammer series.

These collaborative efforts are seamless. As the reader, you cannot tell where Spillane stops and Collins begins and vice versa.

Although controversial in his time for the frank portrayal of sex and violence in his books, Spillane was loved by the public and was one of the most successful authors of the twentieth century.
Hammer is a private eye. He is known for being brutally violent and metes out his own brand of justice. It is not unusual for a trail of bodies to be left in his wake as he defends himself against attacks. The Hammer stories are filled with action from cover to cover and "Lady Go Die" is no exception to this rule.

The overall plot is fairly typical of the kind of hardboiled PI stuff that was put out in the fifties. It involves murder, gambling, corruption, a rich blonde who may have killed a few husbands, and some toughnosed pugs. But, what makes this different from the typical fifties PI novel is that it is Mike Hammer and nobody was tougher than Hammer was. Nobody did a better job of mixing it up than Hammer.

The story begins with Hammer taking a weekend getaway with his secretary, the irrestible Velda, to a small hamlet on Long Island. Without even meaning to, Hammer immediately gets involved in a brawl when he sees a little guy getting the crap beat out of him by three goons. "They were kicking the hell out of the little guy," it begins. "The big guys seemed to be trying for field goals, their squirming prey pulled in on himself like a barefoot fetus in a ragged t- shirt and frayed dungarees," it is explained. Hammer can't just walk by the alley and let the bullies get away with this. He takes a last drag on a cigarette, "slipped out of [his] sportcoat and handed it to [his] raven-haired companion," and sends a right into one goon that "would have broken that nose if there had been enough cartilage left to matter." Hammer smashed him in the back of his neck and send him to the alley floor in a "sprawling belly flop." After rubbing his face in the gravel, Hammer makes mincemeat out of the other two goons. And, this is just the start of Hammer's weekend in the country. Nobody ever wrote action sequences better than Mickey Spillane. And, if you like hardnosed action, this book is your ticket. When the kid being beaten asks Hammer who he is, Hammer deadpans that he is the Lone Ranger and wait til you get a load of Tonto.

This early in the Hammer series Velda is still just his secretary and he hadn't made a pass at her yet, but the sparks are flying whenever she is around. She is described as a "big, beautiful dark-haired doll" with a "lovely fanny." "She looked equipped enough to handle anything" from where Hammer was sitting. Velda, though, is also a licensed PI and carried a .32 in her purse next to her lipstick. But Hammer is fascinated by her: "She was as pretty as anything I had ever seen. Tall, jet black hair, always in that sweeping pageboy that I so admired. Big and beautiful with more curves than a mountain road...." Spillane was definitely a romantic. Hammer and Velda's romance is probably the longest running one in hardboiled fiction.

From beginning to end, this is just a fantastic read. This book most definitely rates five stars or more.