This is one of the best Mickey Spillane books because it appeals to a broader audience by not being quite as quick to violence as his Mike Hammer series. I have given this book to people who thought they would never read a Mickey Spillane book, and they have enjoyed it.

I've read a lot of books. Every once in a while I read a book that takes me by supprise. This book not only did that, it took me to a bar, got me drunk, and left me wanting more. Mr. Spillane is one of the best writers that it has been my pleasure to read. He makes that Louis L'amor guy look like a girly-boy. While this book isn't for the squeemish, I would highly recomend it to anyone who likes last-minute kicks in the head.

If you like your books with a hard edge and to heck with political correctness, "The Deep" will deliver.

Returning to avenge the murder of his childhood partner in crime, Deep fights the mob, the cops, politicians, basically everyone in the city. There's a mystery here but mostly it's a chance to see a 50's man's man make hamburger out of anyone who gets in his path. Spillane may not be the most polished of writers but he has a visceral style that makes you smell the garbage in the alley and see the teeth fly as they shatter against a gun barrel.

The beautiful Shirley Eaton has written an impressive, fascinating autobiography that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about her life and about the classic James Bond film, "Goldfinger." Miss Eaton played the "golden girl" who was suffocated to death by gold paint early in the film -- her playful scenes with Sean Connery are among the best in the whole series of Bond films, and the image of her covered in gold paint is one of the icons of '60s cinema (landing her on the cover of Life magazine in '64). Miss Eaton tells all the behind-the-scenes stories of that film, making this book a must-have for Bond fans. What's more, she chronicles her own life and long career in witty, intelligent fashion, proving herself to be not just a lovely, talented actress but an inspiration for others. Especially fun are her reviews of other actresses -- Miss Eaton's critiques are insightful and on the money. If you don't know much about Shirley Eaton, you should, and this book is the best way to see what she's really like.

Actress Shirley Eaton examines her career and film history from the 1950s-60s, blending her memoirs with an insider's examination of the changing film industry and its many complications. Chapters do more than provide reviews of Eaton's experiences in film; they consider changing images of glamour and stars, and provide insights on fellow actors. Black and white photos pepper this coverage.

This youth story rivals The Hardy Boys, Tom Sawyer, or Huck Finn any day of the week -- and it does it with the Mickey Spillane style. A mysterious "rolling back" of the sea sets two young boys out on an adventurous search for sunkan treasure and a mystery unfolds. Mickey Spillane shows he can write childrens stories with the same quality of his famous Mike Hammer series. Great reading!

Mickey Spillane shows his versatility as truly one of America's greatest writers with The Ship That Never Was. Instead of his hardboiled in-your-face detective stories, this one's fun for the family. I think children, especially in the 8- to 15-year-old range will enjoy it. But it's a book that is sure to keep readers turning the pages no matter what their age! I can't wait to see what's next!

Make no bones about it: this is definitely one of the best detective novels ever written, but not only that. It is also a piece of art, beautifully told, with characters that are hard to forget, and scenes that must have made Norman Rockwell shudder with disgust. It is also, more by accident than purposely it seems, a description of the underbelly of American society after World War II, when U.S. power was at its peak and the American way of life seemed to leave nothing to be desired.
Trying to find out who killed his best friend, Mike Hammer ruthlessly punches, kicks, and shoots himself through the mesh of thugs, pimps, racketeers, and femme fatales, that pave his way before he can finally nail down the murderer. His methods are brutal and totally inconsistent with even the most lenient interpretations of the law. Along the way, he meets a host of the most beautiful and attractive bombshells ever to grace the pages of a novel, not without getting a little closer to at least some of the most beguiling ones of these kittens. Despite his apparent disregard for rules, norms, and morals, deep down Hammer is a very decent and honorable man. Loyalty means everything to him; he treats doormen and elevator attendants with respect; and he even refuses to sleep with his soon-to-be wife before they officially seal their commitment. He even doesn't think anything of having a drink at the bar of a friend, who, incidentially, happens to be a black man.
As far as violence goes, Hammer sure doesn't shy away from it. Neither does he seem to dislike it all that much. However, he never resorts to it without a purpose. It's a means to an end, namely, to make the murderer of his friend pay and to finally bring about justice. The latter would not be served if not for Hammer taking the law in his own hands. "No jury would ever convict you on that, would they? ... We won't have to worry about a smart lawyer cracking our chains of circumstance and making them look foolish to a jury ... No, I am the jury now, and the judge, and I have a promise to keep".
The extent to which Spillane was despised by the 40s literary critics in particular and the then dominant voices of public opinion in general is not hard to imagine. I don't believe he would fare much better today; a statement like "you no longer had the social instinct of a woman - that of being dependent upon a man" would not go too well in today's politically overcorrect society. Well, I don't give a damn - to me Mike Hammer is an honest, straightforward, and down-to-earth character, just as I, The Jury is an unpretentious and sincere effort by its writer to make a buck. This, I guess, he did, and, incidentially, he created a great work of American fiction. You'r a good man, and I believe we all should have a whiskey or two to your health. Here's to you, Mickey.
(I have come across the "Unofficial Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer Site" - it's the best web page on this topic and about the best site on the whole world wide web).

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.

Mike Hammer has never been told so boldly, so brazenly as he was here by the master of the dime novel mystery, Mickey Spillane. This should be standard reading for any man's man as well as standard fair on any pure study of American literature. Mickey Spillane's prose ranks at the highest of its form, bar none, and there are very few novels that narrative points come down to the last sentence of the book.

This is a must for any serious fan of mystery fiction, whether you prefer your private eyes hard-boiled or not, and this should be on any serious men's literature list.

Trust me. "It was easy."

In the late '90s, Marvel was going down the tubes, both financially and creatively. There was an enormous amount of dreck flooding the shelves, and no matter what schemes they tried, either with product or licensing, they were losing money like crazy. Before declaring bankruptcy, they released two trade paperback collections of their Golden Age material, presenting a selection of the best of that era. While they may not have been well-received by the younger crowd, it was one of the best ideas Marvel had in a while (definitely going against the grain), and it was a treat for fans of comic history. Once again, readers could enjoy the simplistic stories of classic WW-II Marvel characters such as Captain America, Sub-Mariner, the Angel, the Destroyer, Marvel Boy, the Fin, Citizen V, and the Human Torch.

The Golden Age of Marvel Comics, Volumes 1 and 2 can be considered Marvel's equivalent of a public service. It's historical preservation in a market that has a notoriously short attention span. When the majority of fans and retailers were demanding more high-octane heroes showering their foes with bullets, we got two beautiful yet affordable collections of Golden Age greats, showing readers that, while the stories and art of the Golden Age might not have been all that "golden", the characters and their appeal more than made up for it. You can clearly see the elements of these stories that fascinated aspiring writers and artists, leading to their expanding these characters in ways never dreamed of during Marvel's Silver Age and beyond. The covers for both volumes are beautiful: for 1, a battle scene by Ray Lago; for 2, a Kirby/Theakston image. The intros provide some very good historical perspective on the contents.

Marvel is now back on its feet, sort of, but don't expect these books to be reprinted anytime in the near future. The current crowd at Marvel seems to be even more out of touch than the previous one and apparently has no understanding of the treasure it is sitting on.

Released in 1997, The Golden Age of Marvel Comics volume 1 is a collection of early comic book stories from the Golden Age of comic books. Featuring Marvel Comics' Big Three: Captain America, The Sub-Mariner and the original Human Torch, along with stories of other characters like The Vision, The Destroyer, The Angel, and the Black Knight, this is a book that every fan of old comic books will enjoy again and again.

Representing the works of writers and artists of the Golden Age like creators Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, Russ Heath, Stan Lee, John Romita Sr., and others, this book is a great example of the early days of Marvel Comics' history, back then called Timely Comics. It shows how the art form of comic books was done in a time of war and depression. This is a worthwhile read.

This book was followed up with The Golden Age of Marvel Comics volume 2 released in 1999.

The Golden Age of Marvel Comics volume 2, released in 1999, is a collection of various stories from Marvel Comics' Golden Age era (the first volume of The Golden Age of Marvel Comics was released in 1997). Back then, Marvel Comics was known as Timely Comics, and would later go on to become one of the most successful comic book publishers (alongside longtime competitor, DC Comics).

This book features stories with Marvel's "big three": the original Human Torch, Captain America, and The Sub-Mariner, as well as lesser known, now obscure characters like The Fin, Red Raven, and The Vision (I don't think this is the same one as the android Vision now appearing in Marvel's The Avengers series), as well as a few others. These classics are by the writers and artists of comics' Golden Age: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, and many others, including one story written by Stan Lee. The book also features an introduction by the legendary Mickey Spillane.

Overall, this book makes for an excellent read, especially for people interested in the early years of comic books. Most of the stories are set during World War II, so some people may be offended with the Germans and Japanese as the Nazis villains.

Would you believe that, although I am past the age of 60, I had never gotten around to reading Mickey Spillane until this attractive collection caught my eye? The Mickster honed his craft writing scripts for Fawcett Comics, and Mike Hammer's first incarnation was as a comic character, Mike Danger, but the first Hammer novel is still quite crude. In I, THE JURY Hammer spends way too much print telling everyone how he is going to gun down the perp who offed his old Army buddy, and do it point blank and in cold blood, and that he can get away with it because he has a license to carry a pistol (?!?). There are also subtly wrong word choices that often reminded me of Edward D. Wood, Jr.'s somewhat similar hard-boiled crime novels. And the identity of the killer is obvious long before the famous ending in which Hammer does shoot the unarmed perp point blank in the gut, because there is only one person situated so as to carry out all the crimes Hammer brings home to the villain.

MY GUN IS QUICK is a far better novel in all respects, better written, better plotted, but still has the defect that the identity of the criminal mastermind Hammer seeks is obvious almost from the first, since again only one character in the book could possibly be the guilty party. It also has Hammer, despite the title, badly outdrawn by the bad guy and blasted down.

Spillane hits his stride in VENGEANCE IS MINE. There's a complex plot, started with a murder committed under the very nose of the passed-out-drunk Hammer, and ending with Hammer gunning down the killer in a sequence that is literally twisted on its side compared to the similar sequence in I, THE JURY. The action is integrated by occurring almost entirely during a heavy New York City snowstorm, and the identity of the killer is effectively disguised by having the obvious and apparently only suspect not turning out to be the guilty party. In fact, in a touch we are told Spillane was very proud of, the actual identity of the brutal killer, who should be easy to spot because he is so physically powerful that he can break necks almost instantly with nothing but his bare hands, is concealed from the reader not only until the last line, but literally until the last WORD of the last line! And, no, this word is not a character name!

Probably what made the Spillane novels best sellers in their day is that Hammer is continually meeting impossibly beautiful, impossibly desirable women who want to jump into bed with him (and usually do!) almost the instant they set eyes on him. What is not noticed as often is that Hammer operates with authentic 1950s morality--- if he plans to marry a girl, he doesn't lay a finger on her. In the first novel, Hammer and his "serious" girl friend pretty much have to go sit on mounds of ice to avoid losing control and "doing it" before marriage, an unthinkable happening even to the hard-bitten Hammer!

Coming to this late, as I did, I notice how many touches that have become routine in hardboiled detective fiction must have originated with Hammer. The similarities between Hammer and Andrew Vachss's justifiably paranoid private eye Burke are particularly striking, down to the battered car that conceals a gigantic, superpowerful engine and the gunning-down of unarmed bad guys when the opportunity permits.

As the introduction by Max Allen Collins notes, Spillane has garnered little literary respect or attention over the years. Like most true creators, his real legacy lies in the fact that he redefined a whole genre, and that all private eye novels to follow had to come to terms with his creation.

Mickey Spillane wrote detective novels half a century ago. It's well-known that he was not very well-liked by the literary community. There's a veiled derisive reference to one of his stories in one of the later Philip Marlowe novels. Even after all of this time, Spillane still gets little respect.

This is unfortunate, but this collection goes some way towards fixing that I think. The three books presented here are the first three Spillane wrote, published just after World War II, and Max Alan Collins' thoughtful introduction puts them in context so the reader knows what they're looking at. Basically, if you've seen plot twists or devices in other stories that appear here also, it's a good bet that Spillane invented them, and someone else used them (usually while not crediting Spillane himself).

The three books included in this series are I, the Jury (1947), My Gun is Quick (1950) and Vengeance is Mine (also 1950). All three are variations on the same plot, which apparently is a Spillane hallmark. The main character, Mike Hammer, is somehow involved in a murder, knows the victim, and swears revenge on the killer. He then spends most of the book sorting through clues, talking to witnesses, and getting beaten up. There's then a final scene where Hammer has figured out who the killer is, and confronts said killer. The killers never get arrested: Hammer shoots them, so that there's no trial.

The dialog and situations are very dated, and somewhat hackneyed. My wife read one of these books sometime ago, and her observation is very appropriate. Spillane invented the genre, but he's been imitated so much that the original looks a bit cliched.

That being said there are some really amusing cultural indicators here. For instance, while the books were considered scandalous at the time, there are no four-letter words in the text (none are spelled out anyway). There's much breathless necking and so forth, but the sex is actually pretty tame. In the first book, Hammer actually won't have sex with the girl he's romantically involved with because they aren't married yet. The slang is so dated that at times it's unintentionally funny: Hammer and his best friend Captain Pat Chambers call one another kid repeatedly, for instance. Hammer walks around telling everyone that he's going to kill the murderer in a fashion that no one would condone today, and no writer would try to slip past an editor.

I really enjoyed these books, and I would recommend them to anyone interested in detective novels, and noir fiction. They are definitely anachronisms, but they're fun, nonetheless.

Very good treatment of what i would describe as the ultimate in hardboiled fiction. The first three novels of Spillane's anti hero keep one reading late into the night. Each novel better than the last. Nice package.

While not equal with "I, the Jury" or "My Gun is Quick", this book is a step up from "The Girl Hunters", the previous one in the series. Hammer is at his normal tricks, shooting thugs and slugging it out with crooks, trying to protect a young girl from hitmen. This book is Spillane at the top of his game, with or without the unbelievable ending.

I could not put it down. the Snake has to be the best Mike Hammer mystery thriller that Mr. Spillane wrote. First time I could not figure out who true culprit was.....and when Mike has to be rescued in the end.....you will never guess how that will be done either. I love dthis ending!

Mickey Spillane's finest bar-none, a real classic in the mystery-detective genre. I liked the 1980's cover of the last edition best and recommend this title if you can find one!

Mike Hammer, Mickey Spillane's street-wise private-eye, has been on a seven-year drunk. His perennial girlfriend and licensed P.I. office assistant, Velda, died on a bodyguard job that Mike should have handled himself. Hammer sobers up very fast when a dying secret agent tells him that Velda is still alive, but in danger. In this throwback to the Cold War, Hammer embarks on another case of murder, mayhem, and espionage. On a rainy night, the girl hunters prowl. When Hammer encounters the dread assassin known as "The Dragon," he strikes both tooth and nail.

Mickey Spillane's writing is something less than literary, but the fast pace holds the attention. In this era of veritable tomes by Tom Clancy, etc., Spillane's succinct mystery adventure novels (i.e., less than 200 pages) are a quick hit of gutter tough action. Mike Hammer boldly proclaims his rightwing political beliefs at the business end of his rod, a .45 Colt automatic. A running theme in the writings of Mickey Spillane is the aggressive and violent pursuit of "commie slobs." Bureaucrats and politicians who coddle nefarious elements should beware the day of the guns. To his credit, Spillane does an effective job of capturing the essence of the underside of New York City, both its stenches and forbidden delights. His first-person narrative features slang and jargon of 40 years ago. We imagine that Hammer's lifestyle of cigarettes (deck of Luckies), beer (Blue Ribbon), and unprotected sex (every sex kitten in sight) causes fear and trembling in the politically correct crowd. Hammer's unbridled male chauvinism is another amusing relic of a bygone era. Published in 1963, this book is typical of the second phase of Spillane's productive years as a novelist, after his first spectacular burst of popularity in the early '50s. Enjoy the action. ;-)