One Lonely Night

By Mickey Spillane

Book Overview

Another bestselling Mike Hammer mystery, in which Hammer encounters a mob of international thugs on the prowl for military secrets, but before he deals with them he must first placate a spoiled... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451094654
• ISBN13: 9780451094650
• Release Date: October 1980
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

One of the Greatest Detective Novel Ever Written

I know that my title may be an exaggeration, but Mickey Spillane's first and last chapters of this book, contain some of the best American prose, word for word, outside of Hemmingway. The narrative picks you up and carries you along in a stream of muscular, swift, clearing written words. Mike Hammer is having doubts about whether he is a mindless killer who deserves to live or a normal man with a quick temper. By the end of the novel Mike Hammer has the answer. BTW, the "MVD" that Spillane constantly refers to is the Soviet Secret Police, this organization has been called the "CHECKA", "NKVD", and "SMERSH". Or to put it more international terms, its the USSR equivilent of the GESTAPO.

Dark night of the soul.

Mickey Spillane's popularity in the 1950s was meteoric. This novel is a prime example of Spillane at his snarling best. The anti-Communist hysteria of post WWII America is the backdrop of this tale of lonely death and bloody vengeance. "One Lonely Night" is the archetype Mike Hammer story. All the classic elements are present, most particularly Velda, Hammer's delectable secretary. A young woman's dive off a New York bridge draws Hammer into mystery-adventure mayhem. A nest of Commie (the vernacular is everywhere) spies is hard at work on the streets of New York. Unrestrained by official red tape, and at loggerheads with the authorities, Hammer embarks on a typical one-man war against the Russian-based MVD (whatever that is). Spillane's prose is as rough as his fictional alter ego. What the writing lacks in literary style, it gains in attitude and action. Hammer's earthy first person narrative enhances the character. The underside of the big city comes alive. The body count is large. The sex is raw rather than erotic. The climactic scene in the warehouse, on the inevitable rainy night, is compelling. As Velda hangs naked by a rope from the ceiling, the guy with the scythe and the black cowl stalks at Hammer's side and the machine gun belches blue flame and thunder. The day of the guns prevails. Good reading for genre fans and those who enjoy Mickey Spillane's viewpoint. ;-)