The Big Kill
by Mickey Spillane
Mike Hammer Novels (book 5), Mike Hammer (book 5), Mike Hammer Novels (Chronological Story Order) (8)
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The rain clawed at the windows of the bar. Hammer was angry and wanted to be left alone. But when he sees a desperate guy abandon his kid in a bar just to step outside and get blown away, Hammer's mood switches from bad to worse. By the time he reaches the dead body, he knows he will have to pound his way through a world of thugs and wise guys to find out how a reformed ex-con got desperate enough to die like that. What Hammer doesn't know is how a beautiful woman will figure in--and how show more many bullets justice will take. show lessTags
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My fifth Mike Hammer book. I liked Spillane's style from the beginning, with its crisp dialogue and total lack of political correctness. And, even though I enjoyed this one, it was over-the-top ridiculous for the most part. Mike takes more of a licking, and of course, keeps on ticking. Anyone else would have spent a few days in the hospital or been in a coma. Talk about concussion protocol! Ol' Mike's brain ain't gonna survive many more books like this one. Too many dames falling for him too. And, that crazy ending! That was just stupid.
Published in 1951, this was the fifth hard boiled crime thriller featuring the private investigator Mike Hammer. The first in the series: I, The Jury published some four years earlier sold 6.5 million copies and so book lovers knew what to expect with a Spillane novel: lots of sex and violence and they would not have been disappointed with The Big Kill. Mike Hammer was tougher and sexier than most, able to dish out violence when he felt like it and take viscous prolonged beatings and come back for more. Vengeance features highly in his motives to solve crimes and this one starts with him seeing a man kiss goodbye to his young chid and then walk out of a bar to face his executioners. Hammer is stirred into taking action and launches his show more own investigation.
Hammer is a tough man in a tough city. Crime is rife and Hammer sees himself as a man to exact retribution. He is largely respected by the police and forms an unlikely partnership with the Chief Inspector who will at times turn a blind eye to his methods. The women he comes across and there are a few, are mostly objects for eroticism who are happy to go to bed with our hero: Spillane is at his best when describing their sexy attire and ability to undress. The world that Hammer inhabits is unrelentingly that of fast women and hard men or hard women and fast men who match each other drink for drink and smoke for smoke. If you have a stomach for the sex and violence then this story is a fast paced and at times exciting crime thriller.
Spillane served his writing apprenticeship getting stories published in pulp books and comics. He knew how to put sentences together and move the action along. This novel is written in the first person from Mike Hammer's point of view and so the mystery element keeps the story bubbling along as Hammer solves his case. It is a well worked story that I found entertaining enough after I had come to terms with the extreme noir setting. 3.5 stars. show less
Hammer is a tough man in a tough city. Crime is rife and Hammer sees himself as a man to exact retribution. He is largely respected by the police and forms an unlikely partnership with the Chief Inspector who will at times turn a blind eye to his methods. The women he comes across and there are a few, are mostly objects for eroticism who are happy to go to bed with our hero: Spillane is at his best when describing their sexy attire and ability to undress. The world that Hammer inhabits is unrelentingly that of fast women and hard men or hard women and fast men who match each other drink for drink and smoke for smoke. If you have a stomach for the sex and violence then this story is a fast paced and at times exciting crime thriller.
Spillane served his writing apprenticeship getting stories published in pulp books and comics. He knew how to put sentences together and move the action along. This novel is written in the first person from Mike Hammer's point of view and so the mystery element keeps the story bubbling along as Hammer solves his case. It is a well worked story that I found entertaining enough after I had come to terms with the extreme noir setting. 3.5 stars. show less
3.5*
Fairly typical (in both the good and bad senses) hard-boiled detective novel featuring one of the more famous series P.I.'s, Mike Hammer.
There were some fun turns of phrase here and there--and also an instance of "Surely, you can't be serious!".
Hammer lusts after just about every woman he meets and they return the favor.
The story concerns a baby left in a diner by a man who is shot down in the street. Hammer decides to investigate for the kid's sake and follows a trail that leads to organized crime. Again, fairly typical stuff, well-told. The ending (not so much the resolution of the mystery but the actual dead-stop ending) was kind of fun.
Fairly typical (in both the good and bad senses) hard-boiled detective novel featuring one of the more famous series P.I.'s, Mike Hammer.
There were some fun turns of phrase here and there--and also an instance of "Surely, you can't be serious!".
Hammer lusts after just about every woman he meets and they return the favor.
The story concerns a baby left in a diner by a man who is shot down in the street. Hammer decides to investigate for the kid's sake and follows a trail that leads to organized crime. Again, fairly typical stuff, well-told. The ending (not so much the resolution of the mystery but the actual dead-stop ending) was kind of fun.
A thrilling final forty pages (out of of 168), but otherwise I thought it a little plodding for a novel with such unabashedly flat characters. I did enjoy that [spoiler alert] the plot hinged on a couple reels of microfilm. Given the publication date (1951), I was curious to know whether the villains used nitrate- or acetate-based film stock. The difference actually could have made for an interesting plot wrinkle. Speaking of wrinkles, the prize for most over-worked figurative language goes to "she wrinkled her nose"--I can't even imagine what that's supposed to look like, unless it's the expression people sometimes make when they smell something noxious. The final paragraph, with its deus ex machina (or, if I may, infans ex machina), show more stretched credulity just way too far, but some might find it a cute and ironic ending to a hard-boiled mystery. I enjoyed learning that Spillane was a dog lover and attended Kansas State College. show less
Read from June 05 to 26, 2013 — I own a copy, read count: Once
Because of all the crime books I've read, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I've never read a Mickey Spillane book. Until now. Some of the narrative and dialogue is dated, but that doesn't take away from the story, a good solid one filled with murder and treachery. I'm glad I finally read one of his books, and will be reading more of them.
Because of all the crime books I've read, I'm a little embarrassed to admit I've never read a Mickey Spillane book. Until now. Some of the narrative and dialogue is dated, but that doesn't take away from the story, a good solid one filled with murder and treachery. I'm glad I finally read one of his books, and will be reading more of them.
A Woman hires a thug to get someone. There is an amount of missing microfilm, and number of violent assaults, and our hero survives, eventually doing in the chief baddy. This is a serious level of violence porn, and obviously not for Agatha Christy fans!
The ending was good definitely wouldn’t be made today in this climate that’s for sure. The being the all man ladies man gets a little old. But I like the rest of it
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Mickey Spillane was born Frank Morrison Spillane in Brooklyn, New York on March 9, 1918. He briefly attended Fort Hays State College in Kansas, but dropped out, moved back to New York, and began his writing career in the mid-1930s. His first stories were published mostly in comic books and pulp magazines. He created Mike Danger, a private show more detective, and also wrote for Captain America, Captain Marvel, and The Human Torch. During World War II, he worked as a flying instructor for the U.S. Army Air Force. His first novel, I, the Jury, featured Mike Hammer and was published in 1947. His other novels include Vengeance Is Mine; My Gun Is Quick; The Big Kill; Kiss Me, Deadly; The Long Wait; and The Deep. Between 1952 and 1961 Spillane stopped writing full-length novels after converting to a Jehovah's Witness. In 1962, he brought Hammer back with The Girl Hunters, which was followed by Day of the Guns, The Death Dealers, The Twisted Thing, and Body Lovers. He also wrote two children's books, The Day the Sea Rolled Back, which won a prize from the Junior Literary Guild, and The Ship That Never Was. In 1995, he received the Grand Master award from the Mystery Writers of America. In the mid-1990s, he returned to comic books, by co-creating a futuristic Mike Danger. He died following a long illness on July 17, 2006 at the age of 88. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- De grote moord
- Original title
- The Big Kill
- Alternate titles*
- Kogels zijn geen kinderspeelgoed
- Original publication date
- 1951
- People/Characters
- Mike Hammer; Marsha Lee; Pat Chambers
- Dedication
- For Kathy
- First words
- It was one of those nights when the sky came down and wrapped itself around the world.
- Quotations
- "No, Mike. You're exactly what I want. You're big and strong and exciting. While you're alive you're fun to be with, but you won't be any fun dead. You're trouble and you'll always be that way until somebody comes along who c... (show all)an make bigger trouble than you."
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I saw the kid grab the edge of the table and reach up for the thing he had wanted for so long, and in that extra second of time she gave me his fingers closed around the butt safety and trigger a the same instant and the tongue of flame that blasted from the muzzle seemed to lick out across the room with a horrible vengeance that ripped all the evil from her face, turning it into a ghastly wet red mask that was really no face at all.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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