Description
PUBLISHING DETAILS: Stated first edition of this Mike Hammer classic noir, famously filmed by Robert Aldrich. Published by E P Dutton of New York in 1952. 251 pages. Size; 7.5" x 5". Weight; 320g.
CONDITION: I would rate this as very good minus. The original orange cloth covers, with blind embossed title to the front and silver title to the spine, are sound and clean, save for tape residue marks (see photo) on the front and back. The binding remains tight and secure. The text is mostly clean and bright, with just the odd mark and a foxing spot to the edge of the page block. The tape residues go on the endpapers also, but there are no inscriptions.
The book is accompanied by a loose-laid card with the author's inscription 'Hi John - Mickey Spillane' in his characteristic style.
BOOK DESCRIPTION: It’s a dark night on an empty road as Mike Hammer heads back to New York. A tall blonde literally jumps out of nowhere right into his headbeams. He angrily picks her up and continues driving.
Suddenly he’s driven off the road, knocked out, put back in his car along with the woman and the car is pushed off a cliff. Mike survives the murder attempt, however, the woman's luck isn’t as good.
It turns out that the woman was a witness for the FBI, which puts Mike into the hotseat once again. True to form, even though warned by the feds and local police department, he takes it upon himself to investigate the murder. The Mafia is also involved as they try to take Mike out of the picture, both directly and by subtler means.
As he continues to question people and throw his fists around, he soon discovers what the Mafia is after and why they are gunning for him. However, there’s one catch; does he turn in the prize or trade it in for Velda’s life?
Apparantly, Spillane had 50,000 copies of this novel destroyed because the comma in the title had been omitted - the original pulp fiction, perhaps?
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