Mike Hammer: Kill Me, Darling: A Mike Hammer Novel

The hits just keep coming. In the newest MAC completion of a MS novel, it is 1954. Mike has been drinking for weeks because Velda has left him. Not only has she left Manhattan for Miami, she has been seen in the company of Oliver (Nolly) Quinn, a ruthless gangster and notorious abuser of women.Why? A possible hint: Velda (a licensed PI in her own right) was once a Vice detective, working for Wade Manley, aka the Big Man. The Big Man has recently turned up dead in a very improbable part of town for what was probably a heavily-staged mugging.Everybody loved the Big Man, including Mike and Pat Chambers, so Mike has two quests—to retrieve/save Velda and to avenge the Big Man. This will not be easy. Quinn is surrounded by goons and is in cahoots both with someone in officialdom as well as with someone from the mob. Actually, multiple mobsters make their winter home in Miami and resent one of their number (as yet unidentified) contaminating the place that they call home by using it as a conduit for trafficking drugs that originate in Cuba. Mike is surrounded by armed thugs; who can he trust?That is the set-up and it’s a very effective one. MAC captures the early-mid 50’s ethos and the sun-drenched pastels of Miami that we would see years later in Miami Vice. This is Miami vice before there was a Miami Vice.The plotting is tight and there are a number of classic Mike Hammer one-liners. Reading the story it would be impossible to estimate how much Mickey had left and how much Max had added. This is seamless, Mike Hammer joy.

Another good one from Spillane/Collins. Most of the action is at the end, while Hammer spends some time clearing his head and waiting for his body to rebound from his four month bender. The lack of heavy action through most of the story may have something to do with Collins having less material to work with than usual. Having Miami as the locale for most of the book takes away from the gritty feel of the Hammer stories. Palm trees, beaches and bright neon night-clubs are no match for NYC at night, and all the horrors that lurk there. Pat Chambers only makes a cameo, and Velda doesn't appear til near the end, though the whole story centers on finding her. Seems to be a lack of urgency until the very end, but a couple of twists in the final pages make for a satisfying finish.

Max Allan Collins had less to work with this time around in completing Spillane's Hammer novel. About half the previous works and a first chapter used for another published novel: The Girl Hunters.Reworking the beginning with another fragment, Collins has given us a superb story that finds Mike on another bender because Velda walked out on him four months previous with a one word note: "Good-bye."It takes Pat Chambers to clue him in after Mike learns of the murder of an old cop friend of the both of them. Velda is in Miami keeping company with a hood named Nolly Quinn.Velda had been a vice cop when Mike met her and the murdered cop had put them together. They had to be some connection there.An out of shape Mike, four months of drinking and not working will do that, heads to Miami to figure it out.Author Collins continues to add to the Hammer tales and add to the legacy of one of the genre's best writers.Recommended.

I have read just about all previous Mike Hammer books and I am a Hammer fanatic. Justice is always served and this is the way I like it. Mike has aged, slowed down but still is great. Kill Me Darling did not disappoint. I am looking forward to the next Mike Hammer book. Max Allan Collins writes in the same method that Mickey Spillane did.

Really good if you like this genre.

Outstanding, once again, and as always, Mickey, Max and Mike do not disappoint!!! Driving suspense, and even old hands may not be able to,put it down!!!

I have always enjoyed Mike Hammer books.

As Advertised

I love hardboiled fiction and the Mike Hammer novels feed my addiction nicely. Big praise to Max Allan Collins for filling the gaps in these unfinished novels.

Mike Hammer story so it's good, ok?

A really good read, I was still believe it was a full Mickey Spillane tale, well Done Max Collins. Will read more.

brilliant read really enjoyed

not bad