Author: Micky Spillane (with Max Allan Collins)
2012, Titan
Filed Under: Mystery
Find it on Goodreads.
| C4 Ratings...out of | 10 |
|---|---|
| Language..... | 5 |
| Entertainment..... | 8 |
| Depth..... | 4 |
Max Allan Collins, it seems, is making a habit of rewriting “lost” manuscripts left to him by deceased crime writers and releasing them with his name ahead of the original author. A little weird, but to his credit, this is the second such work of his I have read, and the second that I enjoyed.
Lady, Go Die! (it’s a cludgy reference to Lady Godiva, let’s get that out of the way) is a sequel to the very first of Mickey Spillane’s famous Mike Hammer books–I suppose the former sequel is now the third in the series. As you might expect, it’s a hard-boiled gumshoe mystery, full of gansters and goons, underground casinos, pretty women with chips on their shoulders, and murder. This book walks the genre line faithfully, so don’t expect anything groundbreaking or revelatory, but if you want a quick-to-read mystery full of fistfights and cheesy wisecracks, this certainly delivers.
For instance, it’s full of lines like this:
I went to my bed where I had tossed my suitcase. I opened it, and slipped the .45 Colt automatic out od its sling where it slept like a baby on my clean underwear. But babies can wake up screaming…
Hammer is on vacation on Long Island, trying to pull himself out of an alcohol-soaked depression in the wake of the events of the first book (which I haven’t read). Trouble just seems to find him though, as he stumbles upon three cops “interrogating” (with their fists and boots) a homeless man in an alley, asking him about a missing woman he may have seen. Poochy is his name, and Hammer comes to his rescue. The next day the missing woman turns up dead, naked, and bloated, draped on the back of a horse statue (hence the title).
The woman, it turns out, was in bed with the mob, and running an illegal casino in her dead-husbands mansion. Hammer finds himself in the middle of a tangled conspiracy full of mobsters, crooked cops, and a possible serial killer mixed in. Saying more than that will spoil the fun.
You know if you like these kinds of books or not. If you like to relax with this sort of mystery now and again, Lady, Go Die! will keep you happy for a few hours.
Similar Reads: The Thin Man (Hammett), The Comedy is Finished (Westlake), No Rest for the Dead (Gulli, ed.)
[A review was requested and a review copy provided.]
I appreciate the review, but two things need clarification. First, Mickey has first billing. My name seems to have top billing on the cover because the perspective of the building makes the lower name look larger, and the publisher went with that, feeling it emphasized Mickey over me, which is appropriate. My name is in second position on spine, title pages, etc. I always have second billing on these Spillane projects, which is my wish.
Second, I don’t make a “habit” out of rewriting deceased authors. Mickey in the last weeks of his life requested that I complete this material. I’ve never done this with any other writer. I helped bring manuscripts by James M. Cain and Donald E. Westlake to publication, but did no writing on those books and, obviously, took no cover credit.
Hi Max,
Thanks for the clarifications. No offense intended. I quite enjoyed both projects of yours I read, and hope to read more in the future.
You have first billing on that cover, dude. I can appreciate that it wasn’t your decision, but you have first billing, regardless of the minor difference between font sizes.
Nico, it is first billing, albeit smaller, but it’s not the official billing (as the spine and title page and elsewhere attest). My objection to Sean’s characterization — which he has graciously responded to — was the suggestion that this was (a) my idea, and (b) a habit of mine. Check out the cover of THE GOLIATH BONE for the smallest co-author credit in history. And I didn’t even take a cover credit for DEAD STREET. Dude.
Fair enough. It’s a really weird decision to reverse the billing on the front cover, though, instead of just adjusting the sizes of your names. My point is that confusion about it should be understood and probably even expected.
But your point about it being Spillane’s request and not your idea is well taken.