Reviews for The Body Lovers

The average rating for The Body Lovers based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-10-08 00:00:00 Christopher Schunck This book is part of a series in which each book can be read as a stand alone. In this one, Mike hears a scream and goes running to see if he can help. The scream was done by a kid who just discovered a dead woman in a negligee. Mike is drawn into a case that he didn't want to be in with from the start. If you have read a Mike Hammer book you know what you are going to get with each book. Mike is a private detective that plays by his own rules. He has no problem with the ladies and can handle himself in a fight. Basically, these books are a throwback that could offend people today. I didn't think this was the best Mike Hammer novel but I still liked it. I am a fan of these novels just for the reason that they transport me back in time to when they were written. Mickey Spillane is one of the best with his descriptions whether it is New York City or a beautiful woman. The descriptions are straight forward while being vivid. They are just a delight to read. I enjoyed Mike's investigation in this book even though the mystery aspect was a little lacking. It wasn't hard to figure out who was involved and I thought it jumped from one aspect to another with a bit of disjointed flow. Not my favorite Mike Hammer but still a nice read. I love that within the first sentence of the book I was back in time. There are so many sentences in this book that I admire. They just do a terrific job of painting a picture without overdoing it. I could read any Spillane book for this reason.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-03-14 00:00:00 Linda Gall So after Mike Hammer does Agatha Christie (in the previous volume ‘The Twisted Thing’), we return most definitely to Mike Hammer does Mike Hammer. ‘The Body Lovers’ is the classic formula. Hammer is out on the streets on New York one night when he stumbles across the corpse of a beautiful woman (as one often does). He and Velda start to investigate what becomes an increasingly brutal series of crimes, before the dreadful conspiracy is revealed. Seasoned Hammer watchers will, as usual, be able to guess who’s behind it quite early on. The main difference between this and earlier novels though, is that Mike Hammer is in some ways calmer. Rather than swear a bloody revenge, he is almost drawn reluctantly into the case (and at points even shows his cultural side by expressing knowledge in art and classical music). This was written in 1967, so our detective even deals with some hippies – and I’m wondering whether he sniffed some of what they were smoking. Of course Spillane and Hammer have always been right wing – it was ever thus – and a book written at the time of the Vietnam War is bound to reflect that. And there is fury at American being made the goat on the international stage, with particular venom spat at the UN. But then serious political arguments are really difficult to make in a Mike Hammer novel, as such as is the level of wild misanthropy it’s quite hard to take any particular hatred seriously. After all Mike may not like these characters or that institution a lot, but then Mike doesn’t like anything. And when a character is always seeing red, it’s not easy for the reader to pick up the nuance of the argument – instead we just think it’s Mike Hammer being Mike Hammer in another first-in-the-face Mike Hammer novel.