KILLING TOWN
The Lost First Mike Hammer Thriller!
By Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins
Titan Books
225 pages
Sometimes Christmas comes early. That was our first reaction upon learning Max Allan Collins and the folks at Titan Books were about to publish the first Mike Hammer book by the late Mickey Spillane. In his introduction to “Killing Town,” Collins explains the history behind this “lost” manuscript that predates the 1947 release of Spillane’s “I, the Jury,” which first introduced the tough-guy New York P.I. to the reading public and forever set crime fiction on its butt. It’s an introduction Spillane fans will appreciate.
As for the tale itself, it kicks off with Hammer arriving in a small Rhode Island burg named Killington under the cover of darkness. He is on a private mission and does not want his presence known save for the one person he has come to find. That’s mystery number one. Then, within a few hours of his arrival, he is assaulted by the local police and arrested. The charge, the rape and murder of a young woman. Mystery number two.
It quickly becomes clear to the ex-Marine, that he is being framed and the cops are working for the town’s real authority, one ex-Senator Charles Killington. But why? Hammer’s mission has nothing to do with the Killingtons who own the two biggest companies in the hamlet; a cannery and glue making factory.
With one legal setback after another, witnesses paid off to indict him; Hammer is close to revealing all when he is saved by the Senator’s beautiful daughter Melba who provides him with a false alibi. Upon his release from jail, she then tells him the price of his freedom is that he has marry her. Mystery number three.
“Killing Town,” like all Spillane thrillers, has more twists and turns then a San Francisco street. While along the route we encounter familiar landmarks; brutal corrupt cops, deadly mob assassins and sexy women with devious agendas. This is Hammer country and before once can even begin to decipher the puzzle, bullets start flying and bodies begin piling up like Lincoln Logs. We gratefully tip our pulp fedora to Misters Spillane and Collins and the good folks at Titan Books. This indeed was a special kind of gift you don’t want to miss.
