Ruthless tough guy private eye Mike Hammer returns in a cold war thriller set around 1964-65 in Complex 90, the latest Mickey Spillane thriller completed by Max Allan Collins.
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't yet watched Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007, then don't read the following until you do. Lots of stuff mentioned here will reveal some major plot twists and reading this post may spoil the viewing of the film for you. You've been warned!
After being absent from the movie screens for four years, Daniel Craig returns as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 in 2012's Skyfall, the 23rd official installment of the long running (FIFTY YEARS!) series. (Click here to reserve one of our copies.)
It's been years since I've read one of Max Allan Collins' Nate Heller mysteries. So it's nice to see Heller back in the 2011 novel Bye Bye, Baby, which has him involved with Marilyn Monroe, the Kennedys, Jimmy Hoffa and all sorts of other characters, real and fictional, in the fateful summer of 1962.
From 1958, Doctor No by Ian Fleming, the sixth recorded adventure of British Secret Service Agent James Bond 007. (Click here to reserve our copy.)
James Bond gets set up for a fall by SMERSH in 1957's From Russia, With Love, the fifth 007 adventure by Ian Fleming. (Click here to reserve our copy.)
In his fourth recorded adventure, James Bond 007 goes after some particularly vicious diamond smugglers in Ian Fleming's 1956 novel Diamonds Are Forever. (Click here to reserve a copy from us.) Along the way, Bond falls in love with one of the gang members, Tiffany Case, and is reunited with old pal Felix Leiter, in between doging various attempts on his life.
The third novel in Ian Fleming's "James Bond 007" series, 1955's Moonraker (click here to reserve a copy), doesn't quite have the nonstop driving pace of it's previous installments. But it does have one terrific climax, as well as one of the most memorable villains in the series.
As various media outlets are observing that 2012 is the 50th anniversary of the James Bond 007 film series, I thought I'd do my part and focus on the original Ian Fleming novels that influenced the movies. Since I already covered the first book in the literary series, 1953's Casino Royale, six years ago (click here to read it), I'll start with the second installment, 1954's Live And Let Die. (Which you can reserve online here.)
My review last week (click here to read it) of Lady, Go Die!, the novel begun by the late Mickey Spillane and completed by Max Allan Collins, got a nice mention at Mr. Collins' blog (scroll down to "I love this review...", and yes, I'll be covering one of Mr. Collins' solo works in the near future). It also reminded me that the new book is a direct sequel to one of the most groundbreaking genre novels ever written: I, The Jury. Published in 1947, it was the first novel by Spillane after years of writing short stories for pulps and comic book scripts, and the first appearance of private eye Mike Hammer. It also created quite a sensation at the time for it's very frank approach to sex and violence.
