Wednesday, June 15, 2011

"Whatever else you may think about MIKE HAMMER . . . "


Whatever else you may think about MIKE HAMMER, one word may well be appropriate: extreme. The Hammer books are not only extreme in their subject matter, but they also have a tendency to provoke an extreme reaction. The first - and best known - in the series, I, The Jury, quite literally takes no prisoners. Written in six days it is a pulp classic. Avenging a friend's death, Hammer makes his mark following a code of violence which allows nothing to stand in his way. The bloody ending leaves no room for anything much, let alone subtlety. Extreme indeed but there is no questioning the impact of the book or the fact that, in picking up where Race Williams left off, Hammer was in the classic P.I. mold.

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