Sam Spade Appearing in one novel and a handful of short stories, Dashiell Hammett’s dream private eye—“he is what most of the detectives I worked with would liked to have been”—remains the prototype. As good as Hammett’s Continental Op stories are, their nameless narrator lacks the charisma and iconic appeal that Spade engenders, even without…
Masquerade for Murder by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins is the latest Mike Hammer novel from Titan Books. Mike Hammer, a WWII veteran/private detective, witnesses a hit-and-run outside of a steakhouse in Manhattan. The victim—a young, powerful Wall Street broker named Vincent Colby—survives the incident when a red Ferrari nearly crushes him. But he’s…
The Will to Kill is the latest Mike Hammer novel, originally started by the now-deceased Mickey Spillane and finished by the deft hand of Max Allan Collins. Mike Hammer predates James Bond and was a contemporary of Phillip Marlowe. Let that history sink in, and then celebrate that we have a brand-new Hammer novel. Typically,…
This week's guest columnist is a Mike Hammer, who's taking off his rumpled trench coat as he stumbles into his ratty office after an all-night stakeout that turned up bupkis. Dear Literary Tough Guy, My beautiful young wife is hardly ever home anymore and shows no interest in me. She works as a sous…
Read this exclusive guest post from Max Allan Collins, author of Better Dead, comparing his own Nate Heller series to finishing Mickey Spillane's posthumous Mike Hammer manuscripts, and then make sure you're signed in and comment for a chance to win a copy of his newest Nate Heller thriller! I have been writing about my fictional P.I.…
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of film noir’s landmark year, we’re looking at the six key noirs of 1944: Double Indemnity, Laura, Murder My Sweet, Phantom Lady, When Strangers Marry, and The Woman In the Window. Last week we looked at Otto Preminger’s adaptation of Vera Caspary’s Laura. Today we look at Edward Dmytryk’s Murder…
Philip Marlowe might not have had a secretary, but Sam Spade knew better. Who else do you trust to bring you the dingus but your loyal secretary? Who else can you depend on to fend off inconvenient lovers or nasty cops, and deal with dead ship captains? Dashiell Hammett’s Effine Perrine is just one of…
If you find yourself on Highway 17 in Murrell’s Inlet, South Carolina, just ten miles south of Myrtle Beach, you might want to head for the part of the highway named after Mickey Spillane, author of the Mike Hammer books. It’s a beautiful section near the ocean featuring a salt marsh nature preserve that is…
If you’re not up to speed on the concept and the competitors, here’s where we set the rules and the brackets. Eight of the world’s best detectives versus eight spies, assassins and anti-heroes in a fight-to-the-death contest of wits and toughness. In brief, each hero is dropped into a random setting — not their home…
Mysteries and thrillers, by nature, are populated by tough guys. Detectives who hunt down serial killers. Spies who uncover dangerous traitors. Assassins who take out the worst bad guys on the planet — and anti-heroes like Dexter and Hannibal Lecter with enough goodness in their dark hearts that they sometimes turn their characters around and…
