Black Alley

"The Black Alley" was the final Mike Hammer novel published before Spillane's death. It is a companion piece to the recently-published collaboration of "King of the Weeds." "Black Alley" begins the story finished in "King of The Weeds."

It is Mike Hammer. It is Mickey Spillane. There is not much more that you need to know. Spillane wrote, particularly in his Hammer series, the toughest, sparsest, leanest prose filled with action that anyone has ever written. The early Spillane novels were controversial with the critics, but loved by the buying public. If you haven't read Spillane before, you are going to be pleasantly surprised at just how much of a professional writer he was. His books (every sentence in them) are superbly crafted. He show more was simply a master craftsman with a typewriter in his hand (and, yes, it was a typewriter when he started in the late 40's).

Black Alley has all the usual ingredients of a Hammer novel. Mike Hammer, aging now, slowly recovering from injuries suffered in a mob shootout, is as tough and explosive as ever. Velda, of the pageboy haircut, is as big and beautiful as ever and the love affair between them is the longest running romance in the history of modern fiction. Had Spillane simply wanted to write romance novels, he would have been the best of such writers. No question about it. Pat Chambers is here too. Captain Chambers is Hammer's old war buddy, now an aging Captain of Homicide and, at times, Hammer's conscience.

The overall plot is a bit goofy. But, once you accept that plot line (and it is no more goofy than the assortment of villians that Bond faced in his movies with armies of soldiers that no one was ever aware of), you will realize that it is another well-written, pounding, Hammer novel.
The action is here from a wild shootout at the docks, leading Hammer near death with bullets in his gut to a car bomb nearly taking out Mike and Velda, to a wild scene with mafia hoodlums bent on ending Hammer's threat. There are plenty of hoodlums here and strongarm tactics. There is plenty of hints about risqué scenes as Hammer and Velda try to play it cool throughout their engagement, but little actual risqueness in the book itself.

The opening of the book is particularly good, with Hammer describing taking two bullets into bodily parts not meant to violated like that, leaving him as one of the dead and dying. He "wanted to scream, but nothing would come out." He nearly went down the black alley to the end. show less

This is book 13 of the Mike Hammer series & the last one that Spillane did before he died, I believe. ([a:Max Allan Collins|12014|Max Allan Collins|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243714652p2/12014.jpg] has finished up a few more from Spillane's notes.) Unfortunately, it sucked. Mind you, I don't expect a lot out of Mike Hammer novels. They're ego-fests, first person shoot 'em ups with everyone realizing just how tough, smart, & wonderful Mike Hammer is. That's a pretty big anchor for any story to wear, but Spillane's brutal verbiage & a huge suspension of belief on my part usually manage to make it a fairly enjoyable read. Not this time.

Spillane's plots have always relied on a lot of coincidence & luck. They're also fairly show more predictable. This story wasn't any different in those respects, just the amount of holes Spillane left & had to fill, especially at the end. Worse, the overall plot was one he’s done before & much better in a short story. That the mob has a major money stash is OK. That one family would allow some trusted, smart retainer with sole guardianship is rough, but I can go along. That the 5 families gave it all to a handyman they didn’t really like or respect?! Who is in the employ of one Don?!!!

Another big problem is that Spillane took Hammer out of the city into the country where he never should have gone. Suddenly he's learned all sorts of things in the Army, including how to operate a backhoe - which he tows with his Ford sedan & no trailer brakes. Hell, not only is Mike Hammer tough, but so is his car! I used a 3/4 ton pickup for a small backhoe & preferred a 1 ton. Always with trailer brakes. Of course, in my world, the more a gravel/dirt lane gets traveled, the bumpier it gets, but in Spillane's it gets smoother. Seriously, just a bit of editing could have fixed this & helped the story immensely.

Hammer is aging & this story, written in the mid 90's, is set in the mid to late 80's - sort of, maybe. Spillane had some major problems with time. References were all over the board with old bootleggers, Mafia families, & war time (that just screamed WWII) buddies, although this was never said specifically. It doesn’t have to be. We KNOW which war Hammer was in & we’re not told differently. Worse, Hammer is finally getting close to marrying Velda & some people think they're young enough to be starting a family. Sorry, pal, but she's got to be well past menopause by now.

Other references really played hob with the time. If this was mid to late 80’s, there were mobile phones, but they were satchel sized units for cars, so the pointed walkie talkie & pay phone use was OK. In the 90’s we got the small cell phones, but no one had them most of the book & then we get a whole sentences about them, but they’re never used. Yeah, I’m confused, too.

Hammer got shot badly & almost died, but instead of going to a hospital, he got a fairy god doctor, who couldn't have saved him if he hadn't been so tough, of course. But he did & this wound gives Hammer a lot of trouble all through the book until the end. Then he uses a pick & shovel. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded if Hammer had just been in a private hospital. The whole point of the exercise seemed to be the splash he’d make by coming back from being presumed dead, but that was never leveraged.

Most of these issues could have easily been edited out & made it a much better story. It's a shame they weren't. Who edited this book? You should be fired. You’re one of the reasons the Big 6 publishers are getting less of my business & are losing my respect on an almost daily basis. I can almost hear you thinking, "This was one of the last Spillane novels, it'll sell, so who cares if it's polished or not? Those jerks will buy it. Let's just get it out the door with minimal effort & rake in the loot."

That’s OK, I borrowed it from the library & fuck you very much, too.

Rather than ending on such a hostile note, I’ll put in the best thing about this audio book – the reader. Richard Ferrone did a great job. He kept Hammer’s narration without accent, so it was easy to listen to, & did the voices of the major characters well, including the only female, Velda. (Yes, there was only one female in the entire book with a speaking part!) Just occasionally, he’d do a New York accent for one of the bad guys & it worked beautifully. Kudos to you, Mr. Ferrone! You were the bright spot! show less

"The Black Alley" was the final Mike Hammer novel published before Spillane's death. It is a companion piece to the recently-published collaboration of "King of the Weeds." "Black Alley" begins the story finished in "King of The Weeds." It is Mike Hammer. It is Mickey Spillane. There is not much more that you need to know. Spillane wrote, particularly in his Hammer series, the toughest, sparsest, leanest prose filled with action that anyone has ever written. The early Spillane novels were controversial with the critics, but loved by the buying public. If you haven't read Spillane before, you are going to be pleasantly surprised at just how much of a professional writer he was. His books (every sentence in them) are superbly crafted. He show more was simply a master craftsman with a typewriter in his hand (and, yes, it was a typewriter when he started in the late 40's).

Black Alley has all the usual ingredients of a Hammer novel. Mike Hammer, aging now, slowly recovering from injuries suffered in a mob shootout, is as tough and explosive as ever. Velda, of the pageboy haircut, is as big and beautiful as ever and the love affair between them is the longest running romance in the history of modern fiction. Had Spillane simply wanted to write romance novels, he would have been the best of such writers. No question about it. Pat Chambers is here too. Captain Chambers is Hammer's old war buddy, now an aging Captain of Homicide and, at times, Hammer's conscience.

The overall plot is a bit goofy. The idea that the old dons of the mafia cashed out all their accounts and hid billions of dollars in a secret location in upstate New York to keep the money from the young guns who were set to take over the families is kind of loopy. But, once you accept that plot line (and it is no more goofy than the assortment of villians that Bond faced in his movies with armies of soldiers that no one was ever aware of), you will realize that it is another well-written, pounding, Hammer novel. show less

Here’s another Spillane book, this one entitled Black Alley. I actually liked this one a bit more than the last of his books I read, The Killing Man. In this one, the story starts out with Mike Hammer being shot. A recluse of a doctor saves him and takes him down to Florida to recuperate, leaving enemies and friends alike to think he has died.

Before his healing is complete, though, he is called back to New York City to meet with an old army friend of his who is on his deathbed, having been ambushed and shot days previously. Said friend worked as a groundskeeper for a Mafia family head who lives in town, and he has some vital information to divulge to Hammer. He lives long enough to tell Hammer about a Mafia plan, hatched decades ago, show more to convert almost all their resources into cash and squirrel it away where the government couldn’t get their hands on it. The total of it came out to about $89 Billion. He also said that he, the gardener, had been tasked with hiding the loot, but instead used the opportunity to screw over his employers by hiding it where no one could get at it. He then dies in Hammer’s arms (so to speak), and Hammer swears vengeance on his killer.

Hammer, along with his incredibly hot secretary Velda (who, given the Mike Hammer time line, has to be about 50—almost 60—and yet still manages to turn heads with the effortlessness of a twenty-something sorority girl), embarks and an investigation to learn what happened to the money and who killed his friend. In the process, they dodge mafia goons, law men, and IRS agents as they doggedly pursue the truth.

I don’t need to tell you that they eventually find what they want and that lots of people die, none of which are the main, indestructible characters. Hammer does finally give in and marry Velda, but by that point in his career, his body has been so riddled with bullets and his body so ravaged by time, that realistically speaking, he’d probably have to pop a half dozen Viagra in order to consummate the union. But I digress…

The story was a fairly good one, even though the writing style wasn’t anything to crow about. My one main gripe about the Spillane novels I’ve read is that the plots involving such highly placed, powerful people are a bit trying for me. Organized crime and FBI investigations and IRS g-men have their place, but to me they’re just not as interesting as the seedier aspects of crime. The ground-level struggles are grittier and more tangible to me. I think Spillane’s earlier works were more along these lines, but in his later novels feel more like government/military thrillers than crime fiction. And therefore, the story didn't grab me as well as it might have otherwise. show less

Over the years, the old, aged Mafia dons have together stashed away 89 billion dollars. Mafia up-and-comers are killing off the old dons and want to find the money. Mike Hammer's friend appears suddenly from the past, hadn't seen each other in years. His friend is shot and on his death bed tells Mike Hammer how to find the 89 billion dollars, though it could be a phony story. Now the mob wants that information from Hammer, and Hammer wants to find his friend's killer. To complicate things on both sides, the Feds have entered the deadly game. They too want that money. It was a fun trip for me.

What would you do for $89 billion? Mike Hammer goes up against the mob. I’ve read others did n it enjoy this one as much. It was Mikey Spillane’s last Hammer book all written by him. I found it entertaining and different from the others. For one thing Hammer doesn’t screw anyone in this one so it’s a first lol.

Longtime fans will enjoy this one. New fans will as well because he’s writing style changed throughout the years.

I was underwhelmed. The plot was good, but Mike Hammer wasn't the hero I thought he'd be. He wouldn't sleep with the girl, he didn't take the money, and he was crippled the entire time.