In the mid-20th century, Mickey Spillane was the sensation of not just mystery fiction but publishing itself. The level of sex and violence in his Mike Hammer thrillers (starting with I, the Jury in 1947) broke down long-held taboos and engendered a near hysterical critical backlash. Nonetheless, Spillane's influence has been felt--reflections of Hammer are visible in nearly every subsequent tough guy of fiction and film, including James Bond, Dirty Harry, Shaft, Billy Jack, and Jack Bauer. Spillane's fiction came to the screen in a series of films that include Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and The Girl Hunters (1963) with the author himself playing his private eye. These films, and television series starring Darren McGavin and Stacy Keach respectively, are examined in a lively, knowledgeable fashion by Spillane experts. Included are cast and crew listings, brief biographical entries on key persons, and a lengthy interview with Spillane.

Before Jack Reacher . . . there was Mike Hammer 'The king of hard-boiled crime fiction' USA TODAY Classic pulp crime fiction from an author who has sold over 200 million copies worldwide. When Jack Williams is discovered shot dead, the investigating cop Pat Chambers calls his acquaintance, and Jack's closest friend, PI Mike Hammer. Back when they fought in the Marines together, Jack took a Japanese bayonet, losing his arm, to save Hammer. Hammer vows to identify the killer ahead of the police, and to exact fatal revenge. His starting point is the list of guests at a party at Jack's apartment the night he died: Jack's fiancée, a recovering dope addict, a beautiful psychiatrist, twin socialite sisters, a college student and a mobster. But as he tracks them down, so too does the killer, and soon it's not only Jack who is dead . . . And now Hammer is firmly in the killer's sights.

The second novel in Mickey Spillane's classic detective series starring hard-boiled private eye Mike Hammer. When a red-headed prostitue is killed in a hit-and-run "accident" Mike Hammer hunts down her killers and uncovers a powerful New York prostitution ring.

Mike Hammer wakes up in a hotel room and the buddy he went on a blackout bender with last night has a fresh hole in his chest. The finger of suspicion is pointed his way. When it’s ruled a suicide, he’s cut loose, but his P.I. license is revoked. But Hammer smells murder, and nothing’s going to keep him off the trail. As he untangles the web of corruption from the outside, the bodies start piling up. Hammer will need to keep his wits about him, and his .45 ready, on the hunt for justice—and vengeance.

When a corrupt sheriff tries to take his daughter as his bride and force him to sell his ranch, George Cullen, refusing to go down without a fight, hires the west's toughest gunslinger to destroy his enemy.

The bestselling American mystery writer of all time brings back his world-famous PI Mike Hammer for his biggest--and most dangerous--case. In the midst of a Manhattan snowstorm, Hammer halts the violent robbery of a pair of college sweethearts who have stumbled onto a remarkable archaeological find in the Valley of Elah: the perfectly preserved femur of what may have been the biblical giant Goliath. Hammer postpones his marriage to his faithful girl Friday, Velda, to fight a foe deadlier than the mobsters and KGB agents of his past--Islamic terrorists and Israeli extremists bent upon recovering the relic for their ownagendas. A week before his death, Mickey Spillane entrusted a substantial portion of this manuscript and extensive notes to his frequent collaborator, Max Allan Collins, to complete. The result is a thriller as classic as Spillane's ownI, the Jury, as compelling as Collins'sRoad to Perdition, and as contemporary asThe Da Vinci Code.

The sheriff is about to head for greener pastures—until outlaws stain his small town with blood in the New York Times bestselling author's action Western. Caleb York is saddling up to try his hand as a Pinkerton man out California way. But before he can leave Trinidad, New Mexico, a peaceful morning erupts in a barrage of gunfire. When the dust settles, Caleb has gunned down two bad men, with another just dodging a ticket to hell . . . after leaving Trinidad's new sheriff dead in the street. Lightning quick, Caleb rides after the fleeing gunman, only to be swept up in an evil wind blowing back through the sleepy town, threatening its very existence. Caleb's only chance to restore justice is to load his guns, dig in his spurs, and take on a ruthless killer. In a town riddled with bullets and hoping for a hero, Caleb York is ready to face the vengeful outlaws in a chilling, storm-swept showdown. Shortly before his death, legendary crime writer Mickey Spillane asked that his friend and protégé Max Allan Collins—himself an acclaimed writer—complete his unfinished works. Among them was an unproduced screenplay featuring Sheriff Caleb York, which sparked the action-packed, truly gritty Caleb York Western series. Praise for Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins “Collins displays his mastery of Spillane's distinctive two-fisted prose.” —Publishers Weekly “Spillane is a pioneer of tough-guy ethics.” —Washington Post

An Edgar and Macavity Award Nominee The first-ever biography of the most popular and most influential pulp writer of all time, written by the collaborator who knew him best There has never been a full-length biography of Mickey Spillane, the most popular and influential mystery writer of his era—until now. Beginning in 1947 with I, the Jury, and continuing with his next six novels, Spillane quickly amassed a readership in the tens of millions, becoming the bestselling novelist in the history of American publishing. Surrounded by controversy for the overt violence and suggestive sexual content of his iconic Mike Hammer private eye novels, Spillane was loathed by critics but beloved by his readers. There is, however, more to Spillane’s life than the books. He also starred as Hammer in a movie, was a circus performer, worked with the FBI in capturing a notorious criminal, and starred in Miller Light beer commercials that were so popular they ran for a quarter of a century. Max Allan Collins became Spillane’s friend and collaborator, continuing the Mike Hammer series for years after the author's death, building upon unfinished manuscripts the writer left behind. Now, with co-author James Traylor, Collins has produced the first comprehensive and authoritative profile of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. It is a must-read for any fan of the author—or of the generations of crime writers that were influenced by his work.

Spillane belts out another socker featuring counterspy Tiger Mann, who smashes into a Communist conspiracy involving UN delegates, CIA agents, ex-Nazi spies, a bold-bosomed, no-good beauty who’s so kissable and so killable . . . and winds it all up with a real gasper, with a Spillane-type switcheroo that will make mystery history. “Tiger Mann, U.S. counterspy, keeps cold war at bay with his torrid gun . . . Cordite and corpses abound.”—Saturday Review Syndicate “Simple, brutal and sexy. Like Mike Hammer, Spillane’s latest hero, Tiger Mann, is a law unto himself.”—Kansas City Star “You’ll thrill to the exploits of Tiger Mann as he recklessly pursues beautiful women and wicked spies, leaving a trail of havoc behind him. If you like Spillane, you’ll love this one.”—Hartford Courant

Mike Hammer walks into his office to find his unconscious secretary on the floor, a brutally butchered corpse occupying his office chair, and a note from a murderer on his desk: “You die for killing me.” So begins a tough-as-nails tale of government assassins and renegade mobsters, told with the breakneck pacing and brutal impact of a freshly fired .45 bullet.