Lady, Go Die! by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins
Reviewed by: Jennifer Roman
Genre: Murder, Mystery, Suspense
Publisher: Titan
Publication Date: May 5, 2012

“While on vacation in the small New York resort town of Sidon, private detective Mike Hammer and his capable secretary Velda find a body on the beach.  Even though he vows to stay out of the investigation, Mike finds himself caught up in a corrupt local police force’s mess when more bodies appear.  He is able to connect the murder to the city, so soon the Manhattan police are involved.  Before he can turn his head, Mike tangles with illegal gambling houses, small-town business owners being strong-armed by the police, and mob-like characters.  He gets into fights, shoots a couple of people, and even has a romantic interlude before having to save his beloved Velda.  It’s a race against time to see if he can figure out who has kidnaped her and where she is.

A month before Spillane’s death, Max Allan Collins, a colleague and friend, is told to go searching for Spillane’s old manuscripts and to finish them.  Rather than bring them into modern times, he keeps the integrity of the era, so readers will notice older vernacular, juke joints, non-politically-correct behaviors, and other effects that made the 40s what they were.  The setting is so colorful that it is easy to imagine a night club with ladies wearing furs and men dressed in tweed suits.  Computers and cell phones do not exist, so detectives rely on interviewing witnesses, which makes for a great story.  Imagination is so important, and the team of Spillane and Collins manage to spin their yarns so that readers get a full imagination workout.  The dialogue, while sometimes offensive, is fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek, and fun.  It takes us back to a much simpler time where people are still complex and even heroes are flawed.

As noted above, there is offensive language.  It is not necessarily profane; it is more inappropriate.  The vernacular of the time was very derogatory to women and ethnic groups, and to keep things true to the era, the writing style reflects that.

Rating: PG-13 — Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13. A PG-13 rating is a sterner warning by the Rating Board to parents to determine whether their children under age 13 should view the motion picture, as some material might not be suited for them. A PG-13 motion picture may go beyond the PG rating in theme, violence, nudity, sensuality, language, adult activities or other elements, but does not reach the restricted R category. The theme of the motion picture by itself will not result in a rating greater than PG-13, although depictions of activities related to a mature theme may result in a restricted rating for the motion picture. Any drug use will initially require at least a PG-13 rating. More than brief nudity will require at least a PG-13 rating, but such nudity in a PG-13 rated motion picture generally will not be sexually oriented. There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence. A motion picture’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating. More than one such expletive requires an R rating, as must even one of those words used in a sexual context. The Rating Board nevertheless may rate such a motion picture PG-13 if, based on a special vote by a two-thirds majority, the Raters feel that most American parents would believe that a PG-13 rating is appropriate because of the context or manner in which the words are used or because the use of those words in the motion picture is inconspicuous.

Book provided by Titan. Thank You!