Lady, Go Die
Author: Max Allan Collins and Mickey Spillane
Publisher: Titan
Publication Date: May 8, 2012
Pages: 272 (Ebook Edition)
Mickey Spillane introduced iconic private investigator Mike Hammer in 1947's I, the Jury. Spillane passed away in 2006 after a long and illustrious career and appointed Max Allan Collins, a noted writer in his own right (The Road to Perdition), as his literary executor. Collins has completed many unfinished Spillane works including this novel which is, in fact, the long lost sequel to I, The Jury.
Collins has done a masterful job of maintaining the traditions of Spillane and Mike Hammer. This reads as the logical and artful follow up story. The basic plot is familiar. Trouble finds Hammer who is on vacation with his secretary Velda in a seaside resort town north of Manhattan. A missing person investigation turns into a murder case and leads Hammer on a wild ride through high stakes gambling, local police corruption and, eventually, to an unlikely villain.
The trademark Spillane tough-guy dialogue is here and the male chauvinism remains intact. The sex scenes are a bit more explicit (possibly representing Collins' contributions) but the rampant racial prejudice in I, The Jury is absent. I think the plot here is a bit tighter which is interesting given that this is a collaborative writing effort. All in all, this is a very readable and entertaining story which is well worthy of being the sequel to I, The Jury.
Collins has done a masterful job of maintaining the traditions of Spillane and Mike Hammer. This reads as the logical and artful follow up story. The basic plot is familiar. Trouble finds Hammer who is on vacation with his secretary Velda in a seaside resort town north of Manhattan. A missing person investigation turns into a murder case and leads Hammer on a wild ride through high stakes gambling, local police corruption and, eventually, to an unlikely villain.
The trademark Spillane tough-guy dialogue is here and the male chauvinism remains intact. The sex scenes are a bit more explicit (possibly representing Collins' contributions) but the rampant racial prejudice in I, The Jury is absent. I think the plot here is a bit tighter which is interesting given that this is a collaborative writing effort. All in all, this is a very readable and entertaining story which is well worthy of being the sequel to I, The Jury.
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