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Vengeance Is Mine (2015)

Vengeance Is Mine (2015)

Book Info

Series
Rating
3.74 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
0451008529 (ISBN13: 9780451008527)
Language
English
Publisher
the new american library of world literature, inc.

About book Vengeance Is Mine (2015)

Mike Hammer is the most tough guy of tough guy detectives, just as Micky Spillane is the most hard-boiled of hard-boiled writers. A Mike Hammer book does not start with someone bringing him a case, instead a person he knows will die and he'll swear revenge and set about taking it. Noses are broken, teeth are shattered, shots are fired, dames are ogled over and kissed. The entire thing is turned up at 11 and is a rollercoaster ride of lurid sex and violence.I wrote a few days back about the James Bond of the book actually inhabiting the real world, this really is something that Mike Hammer doesn't do. Everyone in these books has a gun and an angle and a reason to kill. They are all big and scary charicatures, especially the dames who should never be trusted (except for his loyal secretary Velda). Mike himself is a big brutal battering ram at the centre, with his attempts at emotion - jealousy and remorse in the main - just making him more over-wrought.The book all takes place at an absurdly high pitch. The ending, while being predictable, is in its final twist quite bonkers. But having said all that (and I realise that I've spent this write-up enumerating the book's faults) it is a thoroughly enjoyable read that you just cling onto throughout.

More enjoyment from tough guy Hammer who gets all the ladies, takes a beating and stands up to deliver a beating back. He is mad as hell in this one. Of course he is always mad which is what drives him to beat up and kill the bad guys. Velda plays a bigger sexier role.A twist in the end I did not expect but was also a little corny. Didn't matter much. Spillane novels are more about the sexy and violent ride to the end. Homophobic and sexist but some is due to the time it was written plus you just need to expect that from these books.

Do You like book Vengeance Is Mine (2015)?

By 1950, when this book was published, Mickey Spillane had clearly been studying his craft, because "Vengeance Is Mine" was far better written than "I, the Jury." He was no Raymond Chandler (Who is?), but he had become a vastly improved Mickey Spillane. Mike Hammer had become more sophisticated as well, and even uses a French word. I liked the sharp observations of the Bowery and the Village, then the louche districts of New York, though why he had the Manhattan district attorney investigating a murder on Long Island I don't know.
—John Harney

I enjoyed this one more than I did the previous one. The story seemed a bit tighter and the preposterous circumstances of the core mystery worked a bit better then the last one. That said, as of this third outing the character of "Mike Hammer" has moved beyond "Tough Guy Detective" into a total psychopath that is completely fucked up emotionally with women issues. It's so over the top I imagine that many modern readers would be really turned off. There's frequent soliloquies on the pleasure to found in killing, I'd be surprised if it ever sat well with readers. Add in the big twist and there is a lot in here to offend the oh so sensitive reader of the 2010's.If you can look past the prejudices though, it is a pretty fun read, and a tight, fast paced avenging novel. I'm surprised no one has been trying to reboot the series for movies or TV.
—Russell Grant

I loved Mickey Spillane when I was in junior high, and so did a lot of my buddies. I remember my copy of Kiss Me Deadly was pretty dog-eared by the time it had made the rounds of my friends. That was hot stuff back in 1974. But I guess I've grown up too much and become too analytic. Mike Hammer takes more bodily abuse in one book than I did in a 20-year Army career, but manages to kiss several dames, kill some folks, and nab a killer. He does take a 48 hour nap, which struck me as an unwise thing to do when you've just had a concussion. I find it hard to believe though, with the number of frails/skirts/broads that he's squired around, that he can't spot a cross-dresser.
—Jeff Chase

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