I, The Jury

Rating:
Summary: a thoroughly enjoyable yet over-the-top mystery yarn...
Review: "I, the Jury" is the first of several Mike Hammer (private investigator) mystery novels, and it happens to be my first Mickey Spillane novel. Based on all the hype I thought it would similar to Raymond Chandler novel, with his Philip Marlowe character. I discovered this to be largely untrue, which isn't entirely a bad thing.

In "I, the Jury" we have a lovable cad of a private investigator looking for the killer of his best friend. But he seeks justice in a very crude way - revenge (ie, he's out for blood). Of course during the way he meets with some sexy "broads" (to use the vernacular of the times) who, of course, fall madly in love with him. So far this doesn't sound far off from a Raymond Chandler novel. However with Mickey Spillane the dialogue is less clever (yet easier to read), the prose is only fair, and the story could have been told better. In "I, the Jury" the rather terrific ending is very quickly brought to the surface is an an abrupt way. So Raymond Chandler seems to be the much better writer, capturing the essence of 1940s Los Angeles and the folks who inhabit skid row. Mickey Spillane's book is set in New York but it could have been Anywhere, USA, and I didn't exactly feel hurdled back in time. But I enjoyed "I, the Jury" overall and I will read others in the Mike Hammer series.

Bottom line: a bit crude but very entertaining piece of private eye nonsense. In its own way it is deserving of its status as as classic.

Rating:
Summary: Stacy Keach Is Still In Top Form Here
Review: That's right, bub.

Stacy Keach. The actor who played Mike Hammer in the CBS television series. He's the narrator of this, the first and best of the Mike Hammer tales penned by the master himself, Mickey Spillane.

An awesome listen to one of America's finest novels.

Rating:
Summary: Hammer Time
Review: This was better than I expected and is a thoroughly compelling read. It was every bit as lurid as advertised, but is generally a very close cousin to Raymond Chandler's Marlowe novels in character and tone, though the plotting is much less convoluted and we don't get quite as entangled with secondary characters or setting. Spillane emphasizes Mike Hammer's incredible toughness and verility on every page, with all the usual gumshoe vernacular, and as with the best detective novels, character counts more than crime. That's a polite way of saying I figured this one out pretty early, despite trying hard not to, and it didn't diminish the reading experience at all.

Spillane has the last laugh on his critics- this is good stuff.