Call Of The Defiled Book

Both Mike Hammer & the Spillane/MAC team have been a disappointment, but this was an exception. I'll put it down to my mood. It was fun & funny. You know how a movie can be so bad that it's entertaining? (Think "Killer Klowns from Outer Space" or "Our Man Flint".) This made that mark. There was barely a sentence where we weren't told just how tough & bad Hammer was, a gift to the ladies, & thorn in the sides of the authorities even as he cleans up messes too bad for them.

Narrated by Stacy Keach, who played MH on TV, is great, too. The way drugs were handled was better, although not great. That had to be MAC's influence since Spillane's ideas along the line were idiotic.

Surprisingly, it had a really strong & thoughtful ending. We're left hanging as to what Mike is going to do & the results of his choice are huge. I didn't see that coming, although the rest of the book was fairly predictable. That's why I'm bumping this to 4 stars. It deserves to stand above the rest.

So far, this is the best book by the team that I've read. If you liked the original stories, just written by MS, I think this is the closest one yet. My library has half a dozen of these & I don't read them often. They are a nice palate cleanser occasionally, though. Mindless fun, great when I'm not all there or have just finished a really thought-provoking book. This time was some of both.