#7: Dead Street by Mickey Spillane

I have been a big fan of the Hard Case Crime series, and was looking forward to this posthumously published work from Mickey Spillane, whose I, the Jury, when I first read as a teen, got me hungry for this genre. Spillane's huge popularity at one time, and some of his milestone work--which to me includes Kiss Me Deadly and Vengeance is Mine--marked a memorable career that I don't think is always recognized at present for what it once represented.

But Dead Street was written in his waning days (and was polished up my Max Allan Collins at Spillane's request), and lacks the punch of his white-hot years. We find the typical Spillane anti-hero, a retired cop (whose anger-management issues are looked on with vast approval by others, including swooning women) who finds out his supposedly long-dead girlfriend is alive, and is in hiding because of some secrets she carries. Naturally the ex-cop comes to her rescue, trusty .45 in hand.

I liked Spillane's ruminations on aging, but I felt the overall plot (which featured a well-oiled mafia machine and "atomic secrets") clanked fearfully. I think setting it during Spillane's writing heyday might have helped the overall tone of the piece and might have sat more comfortably on Spillane's shoulders. Still, an enjoyable read if not up to the heights Spillane had once reached, sharing the same fate as us all.

I bought this with a gift card to Books A Million that my daughter bought me for Christmas.