The bestselling American mystery writer of all time brings back his world-famous PI, Mike Hammer, for his biggest and most dangerous case yet.
In the midst of a Manhattan snowstorm, Mike Hammer halts the violent robbery of a pair of college sweethearts who have stumbled onto a remarkable archeological find in the Valley of Elah: the perfectly preserved femur of what may have been the biblical giant Goliath. Hammer postpones his marriage to his faithful girl Friday, Velda, to fight a foe deadlier than the mobsters and KGB agents of his past: Islamic terrorists and Israeli extremists bent upon recovering the relic for their own agendas.
Completed after Spillane's death by his collaborator, Max Allan Collins, this thriller is as classic as Spillane's own I, the Jury and as contemporary as The Da Vinci Code.
About the Author :
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006) was one of the most popular authors of all time, with millions of copies of his books in print worldwide. He introduced Mike Hammer to readers in 1947 with I, the Jury. He was named a Grand Master in 1995 by the Mystery Writers of America.
Max Allan Collins is the New York Times bestselling author of Road to Perdition and multiple award-winning novels, screenplays, comic books, comic strips, trading cards, short stories, movie novelizations, and historical fiction. He has scripted the Dick Tracy comic strip, Batman comic books, and written tie-in novels based on the CSI, Bones, and Dark Angel TV series; collaborated with legendary mystery author Mickey Spillane; and authored numerous mystery series including Quarry, Nolan, Mallory, Eliot Ness, and the bestselling Nathan Heller historical thrillers.
Stacy Keach is perhaps best known for his portrayal of hard-boiled detective Mike Hammer. He played Ken Titus on the sitcom Titus, Warden Henry Pope in the hit series Prison Break, and has been seen in numerous film and stage productions. He won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Ernest Hemingway and starred as Richard Nixon in the US National Tour of Frost/Nixon. His performance in the title role of King Lear has received international acclaim.
Review :
"[A] fitting capstone to Hammer's career."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
"A suitable swan song."
-- "Booklist"
"Mike Hammer is an icon of our culture."
-- "New York Times"
"Mike Hammer, the toughest detective of the century, versus Al Qaeda? How cool is that? In what may be the last Mike Hammer story, writer Max Allan Collins finishes a partially written Mickey Spillane script in which the tough guy from the fifties takes on the bad guys of the new millennium over the bones of the ultimate bad guy--Goliath. How could it get better? Stacy Keach, the actor who played Mike Hammer on television in the 1980s, narrates. Ah, bliss. Keach has that tough-as-nails/heart-of-gold patter down. What might sound clichéd and over- the-top in other hands works perfectly with Keach in charge. It's an extraordinary piece of noir, and there ain't a lot of that still around, baby."
-- "AudioFile"
"There's a kind of power about Mickey Spillane that no other writer can imitate."
-- "New York Times"
"Though he's now a self-admitted 'member of AARP, ' Hammer remains as tough as a boiled owl...Stacy Keach, arguably the private eye's best interpreter, has been aging along with him. His well-trained voice carries the perfect combination of unwithered age, strength and determination...[A] fine send-off...with Keach adding a poignancy that even a tough guy like Spillane would have appreciated."
-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"
