THE LOST FIRST MIKE HAMMER THRILLER! The lost book that begins the iconic Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane, finally completed by Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition.
Mike Hammer steals a ride on a train upstate to Killington. But he is welcomed by a nasty surprise: he is accused by police of raping and murdering a young woman near the freight yards. Roughed up by the cops and facing a murder charge, Hammer's future looks bleak. Only a beautiful blonde, Melba Charles--daughter of powerful Senator Charles--might possibly save him... if he pays the price.
But why would Melba help save a man she has never met? And, more to the point, where is the real murderer?
From a brittle, brown manuscript, the first Mike Hammer novel--begun by Mickey Spillane in the mid-forties and completed seventy years later by Max Allan Collins--is a gift to mystery fans on the occasion of the noir master's 100th birthday.
"..it’s that very familiar bone-jarring violence, nonstop action, and hard-boiled sarcastic ripostes....a vicarious thrill ride down Memory Lane, back to a time when justice and mercy were a lot less easy to come by and more arbitrary." - New York Journal of Books
"KILLING TOWN has all of the elements that made Spillane and Hammer the multimedia icons of the mid-20th century and beyond. It is strongly recommended as Exhibit A for how the job of writing the hard-boiled detective novel is fittingly and properly done." - Book Reporter
"an electrifying read" -- San Francisco Book Review - 4-star review
"All the raw power and violence of I, the Jury are on display in Killing Town. This never before published “first draft” of Mike Hammer takes the reader on high-octane joy ride. My head is still spinning! GRADE: A-" - George Kelley
THE LOST FIRST MIKE HAMMER THRILLER! The lost book that begins the iconic Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane, finally completed by Max Allan Collins, author of Road to Perdition.
Mike Hammer steals a ride on a train upstate to Killington. But he is welcomed by a nasty surprise: he is accused by police of raping and murdering a young woman near the freight yards. Roughed up by the cops and facing a murder charge, Hammer's future looks bleak. Only a beautiful blonde, Melba Charles--daughter of powerful Senator Charles--might possibly save him... if he pays the price.
But why would Melba help save a man she has never met? And, more to the point, where is the real murderer?
From a brittle, brown manuscript, the first Mike Hammer novel--begun by Mickey Spillane in the mid-forties and completed seventy years later by Max Allan Collins--is a gift to mystery fans on the occasion of the noir master's 100th birthday.
Praise
"..it’s that very familiar bone-jarring violence, nonstop action, and hard-boiled sarcastic ripostes....a vicarious thrill ride down Memory Lane, back to a time when justice and mercy were a lot less easy to come by and more arbitrary." - New York Journal of Books
"KILLING TOWN has all of the elements that made Spillane and Hammer the multimedia icons of the mid-20th century and beyond. It is strongly recommended as Exhibit A for how the job of writing the hard-boiled detective novel is fittingly and properly done." - Book Reporter
"an electrifying read" -- San Francisco Book Review - 4-star review
"All the raw power and violence of I, the Jury are on display in Killing Town. This never before published “first draft” of Mike Hammer takes the reader on high-octane joy ride. My head is still spinning! GRADE: A-" - George Kelley
