Lady, Go Die!

A Mike Hammer Novel

By: Mickey Spillane, Max Allan Collins

Narrated by: Stacy Keach

“The next time you pull a gun on me I put one between your eyes.”

Private investigator Mike Hammer and the beautiful Velda go on vacation to a small beach town on Long Island after wrapping up the Williams case from I, the Jury. Walking along the boardwalk, they witness a brutal beating at the hands of some vicious local cops - and Hammer wades in to defend the victim.

When a woman turns up naked - and dead - astride the statue of a horse in the town’s park, how she wound up this unlikely Lady Godiva is just one of the mysteries Hammer feels compelled to solve.

This is Mickey Spillane’s lost, never-before-published 1940s Mike Hammer novel, written between I, the Jury and My Gun Is Quick. Completed by Spillane’s friend and literary executor Max Allan Collins, Lady, Go Die! is finally making its way out into the world almost seventy years after its inception.

©2012 Mickey Spillane Publishing, LLC (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Mike Hammer is undeniably an icon of our culture.” ( New York Times)

“A clever, fast-moving plot drives Collins’ gritty fifth posthumous collaboration with MWA Grand Master Spillane…Once again, Collins displays his mastery of Spillane’s distinctive two-fisted prose.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Typical Low Level Spillaine Brought Up a Notich

If you could sum up Lady, Go Die! in three words, what would they be?

Typical mediocre Spillane.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Surprised, while also relieved to have finally arrived. A bit of a trudge to get there.

Have you listened to any of Stacy Keach’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not. I have heard his narration, but not book reading performances. Keach is getting older and slower, and I detect some kind of speech impediment that makes me think I am listening to a person who sufferred a minor stroke.

All of this is okay, but I was hearing shades of "Mike Hammer" (the main character and narrator).

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Vanilla.

Any additional comments?

For fans of Spillane only.

wasted potential

Decent buildup. Terrible ending. Imagine a climactic hostage situation where the protagonist is confronting a sadistic villain, and the author essentially just says "and then he won" and that's the end of the book. That's precisely what happens. Worst writing copout I've seen in awhile.

Narrators gravely voice kills the joy

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This story, unpublished during Mickey Spillane's lifetime is enjoyable...if you like this kind of drama.

What didn’t you like about Stacy Keach’s performance?

His gravely monotone voice that sounds like he smoked one too many cigarettes in his lifetime is really frustrating and difficult to listen to. I kept wanting to clear my throat or take a drink of water. It also made it difficult to follow who was speaking.