Dead Street (Hard Case Crime) Mass Market Paperback – 28 Jan. 2011

For Spillane's last book not quite finished before he died, it seems a fitting title, neatly completed by his very good friend, Max Allan Collins, entrusted with the job and with Spillane's blessing. In fact, it reads like a fully completed book, so there is no bridging gap to slow down the action.The story is over the top by today's standards and it represents, I guess, an elderly author coming to terms with the fact that all his creations, Deep, Hammer and Stang, amongst others, are past their best but still trying to be the 50s strongarm types upon which their reputation was built.However, if you're a Spillane fan, none of this matters. Colt.45s dominate the scene but, in deference to progress, the Glock is up there with the Colt in this book. As with Bond's Walther PPK, technology has moved on but the characters haven't much.It is, in its own way, a charming story underneath the detailing of what a Colt does to a man's head. Retiree Captain Jack (the Shooter) Stang suddenly discovers his fiance whom he thought was drowned twenty years ago, is alive and kicking but, regrettably, as a result of her ordeal, blind. He tracks her down, knowing she is in great danger, even after the 20 years, since those nasty fanatics who live where the oil is (not the Brits) would very much like the piece of atomic equipment originally part of a heist at that time. Curiously, it has been residing in a safe in a soon-to-be demolished tenement block and even more curiously, it finds its way into an ice cream vendor's van - don't ask!Even so, it's action packed, it has a resolute feel-good factor and things turn out well for most of the characters. As I said in a previous review of a late Spillane novel, it would be good to have his characters re-created but still doing their thing in the fifties - a time when Spillane did not write anything much so from I, The Jury and Kiss Me Deadly to The Girl Hunters, there are ten years in which a lot could have happened, n'est-ce pas??If you are a Spillane fan, don't miss this book. It deserves to be read.

This is the last crime novel from Spillane and it has all the usual ingredients - tough guy, beautiful girl, scumbag villains, friendship, morality and gun violence. Eight of eleven chapters are Spillane's; the rest of the book is seamlessly completed by his pal Max Allan Collins.Ex NYPD cop Jack Stang discovers that Bettie, the girl he'd loved and lost twenty years ago, hadn't actually died in the river, her body never recovered. Without his knowledge, she'd lost her sight and memory and been spirited away for her own protection. Now it seems that he must re-enter her life to jog her memory and get to the bottom of an old heist. Even after all this time, some criminals want information from Bettie - before they finish her for good this time. But Jack's there now, he'll protect her - or die trying.The story begins with the imminent demolition of a New York street. But before it is wiped off the face of the earth, it has a secret or two to reveal. The imagery of this dead street is interwoven skillfully into the story's theme and neatly resonates at the end. Intimate first person narrative, fast-paced and involving, the pages turn quickly. The relationship between Jack and Bettie is well developed and indeed we fear for her life and that of her faithful dog.

Another great book from Mickey Spillane, followers should not miss this read

Enjoyable. Nothing like as lurid as the covers always suggest with his books.

Great story, read the whole thing in a couple of days. Now looking for more Spillane.

This is the first Spillane I read - ironically its his last book - and a highly enjoyable and readable thriller it was . I found the plot a little far fetched (stolen nuclear material stored in a safe) but you can't beat Spillane for gripping edge of your seat thrillers and with Max Allan Collins writing the ending - well you could hardly see the joins.

I’m a HUGE fan of pulp fiction and of Hard Case Crime in particular. I’ve read and reviewed books by Donald E. Westlake, Christa Faust, Richard Aleas, Lawrence Block, Jack Clark and more. My own writing is greatly influenced by pulp and noir: I’ve often described my zombie novel FLU as noir with zombies and in his review of my most recent novel, PLASTIC JESUS, fellow genre hack, David Moody said: ’it’s as if the cast of a hard-boiled crime novel had simply been picked up and dropped into Wayne’s future nightmare.’That all said, there are still many classic pulp novels and writers that I’ve yet to read. Mickey Spillane, for one.DEAD STREET is a strange place to start with Spillane. It’s one of his final books, released posthumously by Hard Case Crime. But, although written just before his death in 2006, and set in contemporary times, DEAD STREET captures the charm and feel of the old-school pulp world perfectly.It features ageing super cop, Jack ‘Shooter’ Stang, now in retirement, still grieving over his late fiancé, Bette, believed killed after a kidnap attempt by the mob went wrong. But that isn’t the whole truth. Although her kidnappers did indeed die that night, only a part of Bette died: her memory and her sight. Twenty years later and Bette’s living in a retirement home, mostly populated by retired cops. Jack Stang finds himself among their number and back by Bette’s side once more. But he isn’t the only one who wants her…DEAD STREET is an old-school crime caper clearly written by a writer aware of his own mortality. Although set in contemporary times, our ageing cast still use the language of 1960s noir. They’re constantly struggling with new technology and clinging on to the old ways of doing business: calling in favours, running stake-outs and shakedowns, digging up skeletons from their past. It adds a certain charm to this book that most neo-noirs just couldn’t achieve.In many ways, it’s a love story. The reader becomes invested in Stang’s plight to reignite what he once had with a Bette who doesn’t remember him; whose mind was wiped the night she went into the water during that kidnap attempt; who had to relearn everything twenty years ago and whose only friend now is an overprotective greyhound called Tacos that she herself rescued from death. Of course, ultimately, this is Spillane’s love letter to the genre and his passion for noir is clearly evident throughout the book. But the themes of death and renewal may speak to something even deeper than that; Spillane is clearly saying goodbye in this novel and that makes it as heart breaking as it is compelling to read.As a story, DEAD STREET is everything you’d want from a pulp novel: fast-paced and loose-lipped, with a rough hewn writing style that seems to be something of a trademark for Spillane. But as a parting piece, this is something truly special. A very high recommend indeed.