Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer series draws to its chronological end (there are some books set earlier yet to come) with this post 9-11 tale of terrorists, politics and two youngsters stumbling upon the archeological find of the new century -- Goliath's oversized femur. Sort of a Phillip Marlow meets Indiana Jones, but half century later.The hard-edged Spillane style is still there in this book started by Spillane prior to his death in 2006, and ably finished by his friend Max Allen Collins. But from my standpoint, Mike Hammer belongs in the hard edged black-and-white noir world of New York in the 1940s/50s, not in the world of Middle East terrorists, jihads & homeland security agents.Still, it's nice to see Hammer and Velda finally tie the knot and ease toward retirement. But if you do the math, the WWII veteran Hammer who first appeared in 1948's I the Jury would have been well past 80 by 2005 -- an age far too advanced to be slugging it out with a 7-foot strong man, or for Velda to be strutting around braless wearing just a thin a tee-shirt & bikini bottom. But such is the benefit of being a fictional character. You are not quite bound by the ravages of time. This was my first read of Spillane, I know that this book was posthumously completed by his co-author and was a huge disappointment. However I'll read at least one or two of his earlier works (I, Jury etc) before making a final decision. The flaws in this book are really too numerous to elaborate here...a plot that is ridiculous, the hubris of the author making his character PI Hammer into a famous pseudo-terrorist fighting James Bond clone alongside his Blackwater-like counter intelligence allies, notwithstanding his frequent opportunistic mentioning of the 911 tragedy as the backdrop; serves only to further isolate this book as nothing more than sensationalist dreck. My single star rating is based solely on the virtues of it having a beginning, middle and ending structure...beyond that it remains hollow.
What do You think about The Goliath Bone (2008)?
My first ever Mickey Spillane. Shame on me. A master at work.
—shalline
Mike Hammer vs al-Qaeda.Okay. Why not?
—RoseCrowley
