
Spillane
King of Pulp Fiction
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Narrated by:
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Michael Butler Murray
About this listen
Beginning in 1947 with I, the Jury, and continuing with his next six novels, Mickey Spillane quickly amassed a readership in the tens of millions, becoming the bestselling novelist in the history of American publishing. Surrounded by controversy for the overt violence and suggestive sexual content of his iconic Mike Hammer private eye novels, Spillane was loathed by critics but beloved by his readers.
There is, however, more to Spillane's life than the books. He also starred as Hammer in a movie, was a circus performer, worked with the FBI in capturing a notorious criminal, and starred in Miller Light beer commercials that were so popular they ran for a quarter of a century.
Max Allan Collins became Spillane's friend and collaborator, continuing the Mike Hammer series for years after the author's death, building upon unfinished manuscripts the writer left behind. Now, with coauthor James Traylor, Collins has produced the first comprehensive and authoritative profile of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. It is a must-listen for any fan of the author—or of the generations of crime writers that were influenced by his work.
©2022 Max Allan Collins and James L. Traylor (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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I, the Jury
- By: Mickey Spillane
- Narrated by: Mike Dennis
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Here's Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer in their roughest and readiest—a double-strength shot of sex, violence, and action that is vintage Spillane all the way. It's a tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans!
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read this one for what it is
- By Midwestbonsai on 07-08-16
By: Mickey Spillane
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Bait Money
- A Nolan Novel, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The mob couldn’t kill him, the cops couldn’t catch him, and even time wouldn’t slow him down. His name’s Nolan...a shrewd, restless tough guy with a talent for theft. With a lifetime of heists under his belt and a bullet in his side, he’s ready to retire. And the Mafia’s eager to help him along...permanently. They think he’s got a debt to pay - with his life. But at all these years, they might be willing to settle for 100 grand instead. Nolan’s got to pull a bank job to try to save his ass.
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Very good
- By Chris Haynes on 05-12-21
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Fancy Anders Goes to War: Who Killed Rosie the Riveter?
- The Fancy Anders Series, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Fall 1942. When her Hollywood private detective daddy is called back to uniform, Fancy Anders is issued orders of her own - answer the phone, make referrals, and keep the place dusted. But the 24-year-old Barnard grad - whose hobbies include shooting, flying, and jujitsu - isn’t having any. At Amalgamated Aircraft, a young female worker chosen to pose for patriotic photos and posters has met with a suspicious “accidental death”. Fancy takes the victim’s place on the swing shift, fitting in well with coworkers very much not from high society circles.
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Great Publication All Around
- By George on 11-21-24
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True Detective
- A Nathan Heller Novel
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- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Mayor Cermak’s “Hoodlum Squad” brings Heller along on a raid with no instructions but to keep his mouth shut and his gun handy, he becomes an unwitting, unwilling part of a hit on Al Capone’s successor, Frank Nitti. As a result, Heller quits the force to become a private eye. His first job: head off a nation-shaking political assassination in Miami Beach. With the Chicago World’s Fair as a backdrop, Heller encounters a ragtag array of crooks and clients, including Al Capone, George Raft, “Dutch” Reagan, and FDR himself.
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THE "FORREST GUMP" OF FILM NOIR NOVELS
- By The Louligan on 12-27-13
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The Last Stand
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- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
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Performance
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A tarnished former cop goes on a crusade to find a politician's killer and avoid the .45-caliber slug with his name on it. A pilot forced to make an emergency landing in the desert finds himself at the center of a struggle between FBI agents, unsavory fortune hunters, and members of the local Indian tribe to control a mysterious find that could mean wealth and power - or death.
By: Mickey Spillane, and others
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Quarry
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- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Quarry doesn't kill just anybody these days. He restricts himself to targeting other hitmen, availing his marked-for-death clients of two services: eliminating the killers sent after them, and finding out who hired them…and then removing that problem, as well. So far he's rid of the world of nobody who would be missed. But this time he finds himself zeroing in on the grieving family of a missing cheerleader. Does the hitman's hitman have the wrong quarry in his sights?
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The great Max Allan Collins
- By Bradley Paul Valentine on 09-25-16
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I, the Jury
- By: Mickey Spillane
- Narrated by: Mike Dennis
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here's Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer in their roughest and readiest—a double-strength shot of sex, violence, and action that is vintage Spillane all the way. It's a tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans!
-
-
read this one for what it is
- By Midwestbonsai on 07-08-16
By: Mickey Spillane
-
Bait Money
- A Nolan Novel, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The mob couldn’t kill him, the cops couldn’t catch him, and even time wouldn’t slow him down. His name’s Nolan...a shrewd, restless tough guy with a talent for theft. With a lifetime of heists under his belt and a bullet in his side, he’s ready to retire. And the Mafia’s eager to help him along...permanently. They think he’s got a debt to pay - with his life. But at all these years, they might be willing to settle for 100 grand instead. Nolan’s got to pull a bank job to try to save his ass.
-
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Very good
- By Chris Haynes on 05-12-21
-
Fancy Anders Goes to War: Who Killed Rosie the Riveter?
- The Fancy Anders Series, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fall 1942. When her Hollywood private detective daddy is called back to uniform, Fancy Anders is issued orders of her own - answer the phone, make referrals, and keep the place dusted. But the 24-year-old Barnard grad - whose hobbies include shooting, flying, and jujitsu - isn’t having any. At Amalgamated Aircraft, a young female worker chosen to pose for patriotic photos and posters has met with a suspicious “accidental death”. Fancy takes the victim’s place on the swing shift, fitting in well with coworkers very much not from high society circles.
-
-
Great Publication All Around
- By George on 11-21-24
-
True Detective
- A Nathan Heller Novel
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Mayor Cermak’s “Hoodlum Squad” brings Heller along on a raid with no instructions but to keep his mouth shut and his gun handy, he becomes an unwitting, unwilling part of a hit on Al Capone’s successor, Frank Nitti. As a result, Heller quits the force to become a private eye. His first job: head off a nation-shaking political assassination in Miami Beach. With the Chicago World’s Fair as a backdrop, Heller encounters a ragtag array of crooks and clients, including Al Capone, George Raft, “Dutch” Reagan, and FDR himself.
-
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THE "FORREST GUMP" OF FILM NOIR NOVELS
- By The Louligan on 12-27-13
-
The Last Stand
- By: Mickey Spillane, Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tarnished former cop goes on a crusade to find a politician's killer and avoid the .45-caliber slug with his name on it. A pilot forced to make an emergency landing in the desert finds himself at the center of a struggle between FBI agents, unsavory fortune hunters, and members of the local Indian tribe to control a mysterious find that could mean wealth and power - or death.
By: Mickey Spillane, and others
-
Quarry
- A Quarry Novel, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quarry doesn't kill just anybody these days. He restricts himself to targeting other hitmen, availing his marked-for-death clients of two services: eliminating the killers sent after them, and finding out who hired them…and then removing that problem, as well. So far he's rid of the world of nobody who would be missed. But this time he finds himself zeroing in on the grieving family of a missing cheerleader. Does the hitman's hitman have the wrong quarry in his sights?
-
-
The great Max Allan Collins
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Fantastic
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Fantastic!
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- Unabridged
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ONLY ONE WAY THIS BOOK COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
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The Big Sleep
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A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in.
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I miss Ray Porter
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Surely You Can’t Be Serious is the first-ever oral history of the making of Airplane! by the creators, and of the beginnings of the ZAZ trio (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) – charting the rise of their comedy troupe Kentucky Fried Theater in Madison, Wisconsin all the way to premiere night. The directors explain what drew them to filmmaking and in particular, comedy.
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Absolutely fantastic
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This is the story of James Ellroy, one of the most provocative and singular figures in American literature. The so-called “Demon Dog of Crime Fiction,” Ellroy enjoys a celebrity status and notoriety that few authors can match. However, traumas from the past have shadowed his literary success. Informed by interviews with friends, family, peers, and literary and Hollywood collaborators, as well as extensive conversations with Ellroy himself, Love Me Fierce in Danger pulls back the curtain on an enigmatic figure who has courted acclaim and controversy with equal zealotry.
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The journey of James Ellroy
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A spy is dead. A legend is born. This is how it all began. The explosive prequel to Casino Royale, from best-selling author Anthony Horowitz. Forever and a Day is the story of the birth of a legend, in the brutal underworld of the French Riviera, taking listeners into the very beginning of James Bond’s illustrious career and the formation of his identity.
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Another fantastic Bond novel
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The Cold, Cold Ground
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- Unabridged
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Story
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force.
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Listen to this book. You won't be disappointed.
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Apropos of Nothing
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- Unabridged
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In this candid and hilarious memoir, the celebrated director, comedian, writer, and actor offers a comprehensive, personal look at his tumultuous life. He revisits his entire 60-year-long career as a writer and director, from his classics Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Hannah and Her Sisters to his most recent films, including Midnight in Paris. He discusses his marriages, romances, and famous friendships, his jazz playing, and his books and plays. We learn about his demons, his mistakes, his successes, and those he loved, worked with, and learned from.
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Totally Woody
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Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli
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- Unabridged
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The story of how The Godfather was made is as dramatic, operatic, and entertaining as the film itself. Over the years, many versions of various aspects of the movie’s fiery creation have been told - sometimes conflicting, but always compelling. Mark Seal sifts through the evidence, has extensive new conversations with director Francis Ford Coppola and several heretofore silent sources, and complements them with colorful interviews with key players including actors Al Pacino, James Caan, Talia Shire, and others.
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A great book that draws from many, many sources
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Adventures in the Screen Trade
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- Unabridged
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No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the best-selling author of Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you into Hollywood's inner sanctums...on and behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and other films...into the plush offices of Hollywood producers...into the working lives of acting greats such as Redford, Olivier, Newman, and Hoffman...and more.
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Classic in the field stands up
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By: William Goldman
What listeners say about Spillane
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Michelle Cascio
- 02-21-23
Vengeance is Mickey Spillane's
If your dream in life is to become a writer, you NEED to read this book.
"Spillane: King of Pulp Fiction " is just as essential of a read as Stephen King's "On Writing" or Lawrence Block's "Telling Lies For Fun and Profit."
Like any normal biography, "Spillane " starts out with Mickey Spillane's early life, and then it takes the reader on a thrilling ride. Starting out with Mickey Spillane's time at Timely Comics (the company that eventually became Marvel Comics) and going from there to the pulps, the first six Mike Hammer novels, Hollywood, and finally to his marriage to his wife Jane and his friendship with Max Allan Collins.
My favorite chapter was Chapter 7 as it breaks down what makes a Mickey Spillane novel. If you were to ask me what my least favorite chapter was, I don't have one.
This book takes America's greatest mystery writer and makes him human. From stories about typing in the dark by candlelight to stories about a house being destroyed by a hurricane and a stolen car with a WIP (work in progress) manuscript in it. This book gives future writers the encouragement they need to keep going in the hardest of times and that's why I love it so much.
My hope for you (the listener) is that one lonely night, you will pick up this book and get a big bang out of it.
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