One Lonely Night by Mickey Spillane
Signet 888, Copyright 1951
Talk about classics....
"This time I wasn't dealing in murder, I was dealing in war!"
It's nice to be enlightened by a couple of guys who know more about pulp fiction than I. This was the only Mike Hammer novel that I haven't read in the past, and it turns out to be Spillane's best.
Ridiculed and judged, Mike bounces back with the understanding that the world needs men like him. Men who have to do what is needed and right, no matter what the wishes of society dictate. Great stuff by the great man-Commies, murder, broads and vengeance. This may be Mike Hammer at his most vicious and you go on the hunt with him all-the-way. From the haunting beginning; when he walks the bridge, tormented and chastised on that raining night. To the violent ending; when he understands who he is, what he has become, and why the world needs him. "I killed because I had to and I killed things that needed killing." It's a hell of a ride...
This is a fascinating dark, noir novel (not just another Mike Hammer story) and Mickey Spillane best work!!! I haven't read the Mike Hammer novels in many years, after finishing this one I plan to read again the first "classic six." (1947-1952)
"I laughed and laughed while I put the second clip in the gun. I went around the room and kicked them over on their backs, and if they had faces left I made sure they didn't."
Thursday, June 26, 2008
One Lonely Night by Mickey Spillane
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9 comments:
Welcome back. It's been a while.
That goes for me, too. Good to see you back in harness again.
Best
Steve
What Bill and Steve said. I'm glad you enjoyed ONE LONELY NIGHT. A great, great book as far as I'm concerned.
What Bill, Steve and James said :-)
I'M NEW TO THE SITE, SO I CAN'T SAY WELCOME BACK BECAUSE I HAVEN'T READ YOU IN THE PAST. I CAN SAY THANKS FOR RAISING SPILLANE TO A HIGHER LEVEL. I HAVE LOVED HIS NOVELS SINCE I READ "I, THE JURY" IN HIGH SCHOOLS (NO IT WASN'T REQUIRED READING).
This is definitely one of the Hammer novels that really sticks with you — a true classic.
Thanks to all.
And its amazing what Louis said, I went to a public high school in Buffalo and no Spillane was allowed. But friends who went to a Catholic H.S. WERE required to read "I,The Jury" in their American Lit. class. Unfair....Lucky Catholic school kids!
So nice to see Mickey's work understood. ONE LONELY NIGHT is my favorite. It was the first Spillane/Hammer I read, and it changed me -- I was 13, I think.
Keep an eye out for THE GOLIATH BONE this fall, the first of at least three unfinished Hammers I'm completing (for Otto Penzler at Harcourt).
Yes, indeed. This novel is Spillane's best work. Definitely somewhat underrated. I always believed this is the novel that should've been adapted for the big screen, though today, I think the content wouldn't meet the PC standards, nor would Hollywood be receptive to book that has percieved tinges of McCarthyism.
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