Mike Hammer: Killing Town

This is a bit like Raymond Chandler's Poodle Springs, in that the original author wrote the first section of the book and never completed it, so another big name in the business picked up years later and did the work. In the case of Poodle Springs, the late great Robert B Parker finished it, while Killing Town was completed by Mickey Spillane's literary executor , the excellent Max Allan Collins.The book throws us pretty much into the middle of a situation. Mike Hammer sneaks into a small town and within the first couple of hours is arrested for rape and murder. What appears to be the Spillane section finishes quite early on with Hammer languishing in a jail cell for the night. Next morning, Hammer awakens to find he's now being written by Max Allan Collins (I think that's the crossover point.) Collins' writing style is a little different and, to an extent, his arrival in the writing process sees him unravelling elements of Spillane's what established in order to segue into a more Chandler-esque tale of warring wealthy families, albeit with the trademark early Hammer ultra-violence! The story isn't typical Hammer - it reminds me of a less laconic Philip Marlowe - I do find it perhaps suffers a bit from 'prequelitis': Pat Chambers cameos before he's the police captain we know and love and Hammer muses that he needs to find a secretary (no Velda yet!) These references and others can seem a bit self-conscious and on the nose at times, but they're also fun.It's a quick, easy, enjoyable read and Max Allan Collins - a terrific, prolific crime writer in his own right, whose works also take up a fair bit of shelf space in my home - succeeds in serving up the sort of book Spillane loved to sell to his 'customers.'This isn't the best place to start with Mike Hammer (that's always 'I, the Jury') but as a taste of a 'might-have-been' Spillane novel, its an eminently worthwhile read for his many fans. I loved it!

Good story

The latest entry into the Hammer files, "Killing Town" is one of the premier mysteries in this series that dates back to 1947. Started before "I, the Jury" but never finished, Max Allan Collins does a remarkable job (as always) of bringing us a masterful, completed work by Mickey Spillane. I have read and own every novel by the late Mickey Spillane. "Killing Town" ranks up there with the best of the bunch! Hammer finds himself in hot water as he is falsely accused of the rape/murder of a local beauty. On a mission for a former Army pal, Hammer goes to Killington, NY to deliver the money his late pal has left his wife. He is undercover since the Mob also wants the money, which it turns out was stolen by the Army buddy. Mystery, suspense, excitement and the Spillane surprise ending all add up to a real page turner. The "brittle, yellowed manuscript" was read by Collins on a visit to Spillane's Murrel's Inlet home. While he and Mickey were talking shop one night Spillane pulled out the unfinished manuscript and handed it to Collins to read. Collins told Spillane it was a "great" story and it is! The collaboration which with the promise of two more Hammer's will double the Hammer novels from 13 to 26. "Killing Town" is a must read for all noir and Hammer aficionados! If you want to read a great noir mystery then look no further than the latest Spillane/Collins collaboration. A mystery that promises not to disappoint! 13 to 26 is a windfall for Hammer aficionados. "Killing Town" is a must read for anyone that loves a great noir mystery and they don't come any better than a Spillane/Collins collaboration.

Here is the very first (but unfinished) novel Spillane wrote about sublimely tough private eye Mike Hammer, nicely completed by Max Allan Collins. Hammer enters a small town as secretly as possible, actually "riding the rods," on a mission that has to be kept totally hush-hush. But the corrupt local cops promptly frame Hammer for a rape and murder, and once he escapes that doom with the mysterious help of the wealthy family that runs the town, he faces not one but two sets of mob assassins. In other words, the action is continuous, and the writing and plotting are well up to the standards of the later, published Hammer novels of a few years later. As in almost all of Spillane's work, it's a continuous thrill-ride, and you won't be disappointed.

It was very interesting to read an Early Hammer story. You can really see the beginnings of the “legend “.