Mike Hammer - Double Feature Pt. 2 King Of The Weeds

Publisher Titan
Length 320 pages
Format paperback
Published 2014
Series Mike Hammer #19
My Copy I bought it

Ageing Mike Hammer, more mellow but every bit as deadly survives an early assassination attempt on his life in the opening pages of King of the Weeds, a posthumously published Spillane book (and co-written by Max Allan Collins) which is the intended direct sequel to Black Alley (published 1996). 

The ties to Black Alley are evident but the authors do a great job in bringing the reader up to speed, however, I recommend reading Black Alley then King of the Weeds as there is a heap of good Hammer stuff mentioned/alluded to from the preceding volume - I didn't read Black Alley first but wish I had (fortunately I own a nice h/cover and have bumped Black Alley up the tbr pile). That said, King of the Weeds stands up fine in its own right as a self contained Hammer story. 

There are a few plot elements running parallel to one another here; the reason behind the assassination attempt and Hammers quest to find out who hired the hit, the case of a man seemingly wrongly convicted of multiple murders decades ago who has spent the better part of this life in jail, soon to be released following a death bed confession out of the blue, and lastly the hidden wealth of the mafia amounting to some 89 billion dollars - of which only Hammer and Velda know the location. 

This book as a lot going on, which in typical Hammer fashion, all eventually forge together in a hail of bullets. 

My rating: 3.5/5 - I like the way Hammer is portrayed here; he's still as dangerous as ever but age is creeping up on him, he's a step behind his former self and that is integrated into the story in a clever way.