Dead Street

About the Author

MICKEY SPILLANE, creator of private eye Mike Hammer, was the bestselling American mystery writer of the 20th century, and likely the most influential. He was also the most widely translated fiction author of the 20th century, although he insisted he was not an “author,” but a writer.

A bartender’s son, Mickey Spillane was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 9, 1918. An only child who swam and played football as a youth, Spillane got a taste for storytelling by scaring other kids around the campfire. After a truncated college career, Spillane — already selling stories to pulps and slicks under pseudonyms — became a writer in the burgeoning comic-book field (Captain America, Submariner), a career cut short by World War II. Spillane — who had learned to fly at air strips as a boy — became an instructor of fighter pilots.

After the war, Spillane converted an unsold comic book project — Mike Danger, Private Eye — into a hard-hitting, sexy novel. The $1,000 advance was just what the writer needed to buy materials for a house he wanted to build for himself and his young wife on a patch of land in Newburgh, New York.

The 1948 Signet reprint of his 1947 E.P. Dutton hardcover novel, I, the Jury, sold in the millions, as did the six tough mysteries that soon followed; all but one featured hard-as-nails P.I. Mike Hammer. The Hammer thriller Kiss Me, Deadly (1952) was the first private eye novel to make the New York Times bestseller list.

Much of Mike Hammer’s readership consisted of Spillane’s fellow World War II veterans, and the writer — in a vivid, even surrealistic first-person style — escalated the sex and violence already intrinsic to the genre, in an effort to give his battle-scarred audience hard-hitting, no-nonsense entertainment. For this blue-collar approach, Spillane was attacked by critics and adored by readers. His influence on the mass-market paperback was immediate and long lasting, his success imitated by countless authors and publishers. Gold Medal Books, pioneering publisher of paperback originals, was specifically designed to tap into the Spillane market.

Spillane’s career was sporadic; his conversion in 1952 to the conservative religious sect, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, is often cited as the reason he backed away, for a time, from writing the violent, sexy Hammer novels. Another factor may be the enormous criticism heaped upon Hammer and his creator. Spillane claimed only to write when he needed the money, and in periods of little or no publishing, Spillane occupied himself with other pursuits — flying, traveling with the circus, appearing in motion pictures, and for nearly twenty years spoofing himself and Hammer in a lucrative series of Miller Lite beer commercials.

The controversial Hammer has been the subject of a radio show, a comic strip, and two television series, starring Darren McGavin (in the late ’50s) and Stacy Keach (in the mid-’80s with a 1997 revival, both produced by Spillane’s friend and partner, Jay Bernstein). Numerous gritty movies have been made from Spillane novels, notably director Robert Aldrich’s seminal film noir, Kiss Me Deadly (1955), and The Girl Hunters (1963), starring Spillane himself as his famous hero.

The sometime actor also appeared in two independent films (Mommy, 1995, and Mommy’s Day, 1997) written and directed by his mystery writer friend, Max Allan Collins.

Mickey Spillane died in July 2006, joining the ranks of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, arguably the only other mystery writers of the 20th century with comparable name recognition.

Don’t Let the Mystery End Here. Try These Other Great Books From

HARD CASE CRIME!

Hard Case Crime brings you gripping, award-winning crime fiction by best-selling authors and the hottest new writers in the field. Find out what you’ve been missing:

The CONFESSION

by DOMENIC STANSBERRY

WINNER OF THE EDGAR^® AWARD!

She was young, beautiful... and dead!

Jake Danser has it all: a beautiful wife, a house in the California hills, and a high-profile job as a forensic psychologist. But he’s also got a mistress. And when she’s found strangled to death with his necktie, the police show up at his door. Now it’s up to Jake to prove he didn’t do it. But how can he, when all the evidence says he did?

As Jake’s life crumbles around him, he races to find proof of his innocence. And with every step, the noose is tightening...

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—Publishers Weekly on The Confession

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More breathtaking suspense from MAX ALLAN COLLINS

TWO for the MONEY

by MAX ALLAN COLLINS

WOULD NOLAN BURY THE HATCHET WITH THE MOB... OR WOULD THEY BURY HIM FIRST?

They don’t come any tougher than Nolan — but even a hardened professional thief can’t fight off the whole Chicago mafia. So after 16 years on the run, Nolan’s ready to let an old friend broker a truce. The terms: Pull off one last heist and hand over the proceeds.

But when things go wrong, Nolan finds himself facing the deadliest double cross of his career. Fortunately, Nolan has a knack for survival — and an unmatched hunger for revenge...

RAVES FOR MAX ALLAN COLLINS:

“Collins is a consummate storyteller.”

—Booklist

“A terrific writer!”

—Mickey Spillane

“A compelling talent.”

—Library Journal

“Collins is in a class by himself.”

—S.J. Rozan

Available now at your favorite bookstore. For more information, visit

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