Rating: 
Summary: I really didnt care for the book
Review: "inspirationally funny"- Vinnie DiChiara æ-
Rating: 
Summary: The Grandmaster Says Good-Bye
Review: Black Alley is the latest and possibly last book in the Mike Hammer series, featuring the toughest private eye in the business.
Hammer is out to avenge the death of an old war-buddy, who was murdered during a mysterious burglary. His vendetta is complicated by several events: He catches a bullet during a mafia gang shootout, which renders him weak and vulnerable througout the book; his dying friend reveals the approximate location of a 89 billion dollar stash that he has stolen and hidden from the mob, who - of course - want to get their money back; and last, but not least, Velda, Hammer's beautiful secretary, is adamant in her desire to finally walk him down the aisle.
Black Alley is somewhat different from the previous Hammer-novels. The crime noir atmosphere is missing for the most part; Hammer has definitely arrived at modernity. This becomes apparent when the hero muses about and decries corporate America, aluminum beer cans, and the future of warfare, which he believes to bring about "ugly, destructive death" due to the use of chemical and biological weapons. Moreover, some humor is added, in the form of Miller Lite Beer, which is consumed in considerable quantities throughout the book (Spillane appeared in TV ads for Miller Lite in the 70s).
It is obvious that Hammer is nearing retirement. Having just recovered from an almost fatal gunshot wound, he is feeble throughout the book. And he does something he has never done before: When he has finally cornered the villain, he does not finish him off with a bullet in his guts, but turns him over to the cops. However, don't be fooled by Mike's ostensible softness - he is still dangerous, and the turks who are trying to take his place still get their feathers ruffled.
Black Alley is not one of Spillane's strongest books. At times, the plot is somewhat predictable; the characters are rather transparent; and the final solution lacks the shocking explosion of the other Hammer novels. On the other hand, perhaps Spillane didn't even attempt to create an ending like that - for a good-bye to his fans the book's ending is definitely better suited, and as a good-bye Black Alley seems to be intended, after all.
Despite its not-so-great plot and characters, the book is still a gem. Spillane's style is still unmatched by any author in the genre. He still makes you not want to put the book down before you've arrived at the last page. In case this is really his last Hammer novel, I would like to extend a sincere "thank you" to him. What he has written is not just "good garbage", as he once described his novels in a reply to his numerous critics, but literature that will stand the test of time. Let's all have a Miller Lite now. Cheers!!
Rating:
Summary: The Grandmaster Says Good-Bye
Review: Black Alley is the latest and possibly last book in the Mike Hammer series, featuring the toughest private eye in the business.
Hammer is out to avenge the death of an old war-buddy, who was murdered during a mysterious burglary. His vendetta is complicated by several events: He catches a bullet during a mafia gang shootout, which renders him weak and vulnerable througout the book; his dying friend reveals the approximate location of a 89 billion dollar stash that he has stolen and hidden from the mob, who - of course - want to get their money back; and last, but not least, Velda, Hammer's beautiful secretary, is adamant in her desire to finally walk him down the aisle.
Black Alley is somewhat different from the previous Hammer-novels. The crime noir atmosphere is missing for the most part; Hammer has definitely arrived at modernity. This becomes apparent when the hero muses about and decries corporate America, aluminum beer cans, and the future of warfare, which he believes to bring about "ugly, destructive death" due to the use of chemical and biological weapons. Moreover, some humor is added, in the form of Miller Lite Beer, which is consumed in considerable quantities throughout the book (Spillane appeared in TV ads for Miller Lite in the 70s).
It is obvious that Hammer is nearing retirement. Having just recovered from an almost fatal gunshot wound, he is feeble throughout the book. And he does something he has never done before: When he has finally cornered the villain, he does not finish him off with a bullet in his guts, but turns him over to the cops. However, don't be fooled by Mike's ostensible softness - he is still dangerous, and the turks who are trying to take his place still get their feathers ruffled.
Black Alley is not one of Spillane's strongest books. At times, the plot is somewhat predictable; the characters are rather transparent; and the final solution lacks the shocking explosion of the other Hammer novels. On the other hand, perhaps Spillane didn't even attempt to create an ending like that - for a good-bye to his fans the book's ending is definitely better suited, and as a good-bye Black Alley seems to be intended, after all.
Despite its not-so-great plot and characters, the book is still a gem. Spillane's style is still unmatched by any author in the genre. He still makes you not want to put the book down before you've arrived at the last page. In case this is really his last Hammer novel, I would like to extend a sincere "thank you" to him. What he has written is not just "good garbage", as he once described his novels in a reply to his numerous critics, but literature that will stand the test of time. Let's all have a Miller Lite now. Cheers!!
Rating:
Summary: A race to find hidden loot
Review: Good light fiction for a rainy evening or such. Mike Hammer is in Florida recovering from gunshot wounds when he is called back to New York to the bedside of a dying Army buddy, shot by a person unknown. As he is dying, he reveals to Hammer that $89 billion of mob assets have been hidden (yes, that is billion with a "b"). He pulled a switcheroo on the Mafia, and is the only one who knows the location. He gives a clue to Hammer as he dies. Then the race is on.Members of the mob want their ill-gotten gains returned (money is power). Federal agents want it. The police, of course, are interested. Hammer is looking for both the loot and his friend's killer. Making sense of the clues is a challenge - an urn of his buddy's ashes with a fake military i.d. number, an old rundown boat, and the man's house which has already been torn apart by the mob. There are the usual Hammer type confrontations with some amount of violence and occasional dead bodies. This is more loot than you can hide in a mattress. Some rough calculations indicate a warehouse sized space would be needed. So where is it, and if Hammer finds the loot will he be a good guy and turn it in? Hmmm... What would you do?
Rating:
Summary: A race to find hidden loot
Review: Good light fiction for a rainy evening or such. Mike Hammer is in Florida recovering from gunshot wounds when he is called back to New York to the bedside of a dying Army buddy, shot by a person unknown. As he is dying, he reveals to Hammer that $89 billion of mob assets have been hidden (yes, that is billion with a "b"). He pulled a switcheroo on the Mafia, and is the only one who knows the location. He gives a clue to Hammer as he dies. Then the race is on. Members of the mob want their ill-gotten gains returned (money is power). Federal agents want it. The police, of course, are interested. Hammer is looking for both the loot and his friend's killer. Making sense of the clues is a challenge - an urn of his buddy's ashes with a fake military i.d. number, an old rundown boat, and the man's house which has already been torn apart by the mob. There are the usual Hammer type confrontations with some amount of violence and occasional dead bodies. This is more loot than you can hide in a mattress. Some rough calculations indicate a warehouse sized space would be needed. So where is it, and if Hammer finds the loot will he be a good guy and turn it in? Hmmm... What would you do?
Rating: 
Summary: The Power is (still) with Spillane
Review: I have never read a Mike Hammer book that I did not like and "The Black Alley" is no exception. Mike is mellowed, but only a little, as he returns from the (almost) dead to right the wrongs, fight the bad guys, and love the girls in the style that only Spillane can create. This is another one of the Mike Hammer books that you just cannot lay down.
Rating:
Summary: The Power is (still) with Spillane
Review: I have never read a Mike Hammer book that I did not like and "The Black Alley" is no exception. Mike is mellowed, but only a little, as he returns from the (almost) dead to right the wrongs, fight the bad guys, and love the girls in the style that only Spillane can create. This is another one of the Mike Hammer books that you just cannot lay down.
Rating:
Summary: The times have changed, but Hammer remains the same.
Review: I was wondering when Spillane was going to bring Mike back, and then I saw it on the shelf at my local bookstore, just calling out at me. I picked it up and didn't even read the flap I knew it would be good. Well let me tell you I was not disappointed, as soon as I opened the cover I started reading, and could not put it down. I had to force myself to go to work, and eat. I love the way Spillane gave the new book, present surroundings, but he left Mike behind in the times. I mean really could you see Mike at a desk in front of a computer . No, not in a million years. If I was to write a mysery I would want it to be like Spillane's Mike Hammer Books. Cause as they say he not only always gets his man, and he does so cool and smooth. That's it in a nutshell, why I like Mike Hammer, his style, and finess. I wanna be like Mike
Rating:
Summary: I really didnt care for the book
Review: I've read and enjoyed Spillane for 35 years but his latest work is a major disappointment. Spillane's Hammer has aged along with Spillane with the result that he is more like Barnaby Jones than the Hammer of old. He talks about his buddies from the "War" and the way he talks (and acts), you realize it is WWII. The story starts with him gut shot and for the rest of the book, he hobbles around. Where the Mike of old would have performed surgery on himself, reloaded the bullet and shot someone with it, this Hammer keeps going to the doctor and complaining. He gets engaged to Velda, she's more than willing, and he does nothing about it. Enough said? Like Agatha Christie, Alistair MacLean and others, age seems to have sapped Spillane's talents. My advice is to skip this book, find some vintage Spillane and enjoy the ride.
Rating: 
Summary: Long in the tooth, short in the action, this Hammer doesn't
Review: I've read and enjoyed Spillane for 35 years but his latest work is a major disappointment. Spillane's Hammer has aged along with Spillane with the result that he is more like Barnaby Jones than the Hammer of old. He talks about his buddies from the "War" and the way he talks (and acts), you realize it is WWII. The story starts with him gut shot and for the rest of the book, he hobbles around. Where the Mike of old would have performed surgery on himself, reloaded the bullet and shot someone with it, this Hammer keeps going to the doctor and complaining. He gets engaged to Velda, she's more than willing, and he does nothing about it. Enough said? Like Agatha Christie, Alistair MacLean and others, age seems to have sapped Spillane's talents. My advice is to skip this book, find some vintage Spillane and enjoy the ride.
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