Recommended reading - Kiss Me Deadly, by Mickey Spillane (1952):

Kiss Me Deadly

By Mickey Spillane.

Filmed as Kiss Me Deadly (1955), directed by Robert Aldrich.

Published by Orion.

First published 1952.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1409158691

ISBN-13: 978-1409158691

Description:

# 6 in the Mike Hammer series.

Before Jack Reacher . . . there was Mike Hammer.

One night, a blonde jumps out in front of PI Mike Hammer's car. She's so scared he doesn't have much choice but to give her a ride. At a police roadblock, he discovers she's on the run from a sanatorium, but he passes her off as his wife. Other people besides the police are after the blonde, and these people play rough. Real rough.

The blonde turns out to be the star witness against some big-time mobsters. Mike has blundered into something unimaginably big, but the Feds don't want him involved – and take his PI licence and gun.

For Mike, it's a chance to strike a blow against evil on a grand scale. He discovers that something representing a great deal of money, and a lot of power, has gone missing, and that some people will go to any lengths to get it back . . .

Born on this day – Mickey Spillane:

Mickey Spillane

Writer

Actor

March 9, 1918 – July 17, 2006

Credits:

Books:

A Century of Great Suspense Stories (2001); A Century of Noir (2002); A Dangerous Cat (2017); A Long Time Dead (2016); An Acceptable Sacrifice (2012); An Acceptable Sacrifice (2012); Black Alley (1996); Bloody Sunrise (1965); Book Club (2014); Book Club (2014); Citadel (2016); Citadel (2016); City Sleuths and Tough Guys (1989); Complex 90 (2013); Condor in the Stacks (2015); Condor in the Stacks (2015); Crimes by Moonlight (2010); Day of the Guns (1964); Dead Dames Don't Sing (2016); Dead Dames Don't Sing (2016); Dead Street (2007); Death Leaves a Bookmark (2012); Death Leaves a Bookmark (2012); Dig Two Graves (2023); Every Seven Years (2015); Every Seven Years (2015); From the Queen (2015); From the Queen (2015); From the Queen (2015); Hoodoo Harry (2017); Hoodoo Harry (2017); Hot Lead, Cold Justice (2020); I, the Jury (1947); It's in the Book (2014); It's in the Book (2014); Kill Me If You Can (2022); Kill Me, Darling (2015); Killer Mine (1965); Killing Town (2018); King of the Weeds (2014); Kiss Her Goodbye (2009); Kiss Me, Deadly (1952); Lady, Go Die! (2012); Last Stage to Hell Junction (2019); Masquerade for Murder (2020); Masters of Noir, Volume One (2010); Me, Hood! (1963); Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer #1 (2018); Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer #2 (2018); Murder Never Knocks (2016); Murder, My Love (2019); My Gun Is Quick (1950); Mystery, Inc. (2015); Mystery, Inc. (2015); One Lonely Night (1951); Private Eyes (1998); Pronghorns of the Third Reich (2012); Pulp Frictions: Hardboiled Stories (1996); Reconciliation Day (2016); Reconciliation Day (2016); Remaindered (2014); Remaindered (2014); Return of the Hood (1964); Rides a Stranger (2013); Rides a Stranger (2013); Seven Years (2018); Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek (2021); Skin (2012); So Long, Chief (2013); Something's Down There (2003); Stand Up and Die! (2022); Survival... Zero (1970); The Best American Mystery Stories 2011 (2011); The Big Bang (2010); The Big Kill (1951); The Big Showdown (2016); The Bloody Spur (2018); The Body Lovers (1967); The Book Case (2012); The Book of Ghosts (2013); The Book of the Lion (2015); The Book of Virtue (2012); The Book Thing (2012); The By-Pass Control (1966); The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository (2018); The Compendium of Srem (2014); The Consummata (2011); The Dark Door (2022); The Day the Sea Rolled Back (1979); The Death Dealers (1966); The Deep (1961); The Delta Factor (1968); The Erection Set (1972); The Final Testament (2013); The Flier (1964); The Girl Hunters (1962); The Girl Who Did Say No (2020); The Goliath Bone (2008); The Gospel of Sheba (2014); The Haze (2016); The Hemingway Valise (2018); The Honeymoon Trap (2022); The Interrogator and Other Criminally Good Fiction (2012); The Killing Man (1989); The Last Cop Out (1973); The Last Honest Horse Thief (2018); The Last Stand (2018); The Legend of Caleb York (2015); The Little Men (2015); The Long Sonata of the Dead (2013); The Long Wait (1951); The Menace (2022); The Nature of My Inheritance (2014); The Pretty Little Box (2018); The Scroll (2014); The Sequel (2014); The Ship That Never Was (1982); The Snake (1964); The Tough Guys (1969); The Traitor (2022); The Travelling Companion (2016); The Twisted Thing (1966); The Will to Kill (2017); Tomorrow I Die (1984); Vengeance is Mine (1950); Vintage Spillane (1974).

Movies and television:

Mike Hammer, Private Eye (1997–1998); Mommy's Day (1997); Fallen Angels (1995); Mommy (1995); Come Die with Me: A Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Mystery (1994); Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (1989); The New Mike Hammer (1984–1987); More Than Murder (1984); Murder Me, Murder You (1983); I, the Jury (1982); Margin for Murder (1981); Miller Lite: Tastes Great, Less Filling (1976–1986); Columbo (1974); The Delta Factor (1970); The Girl Hunters (1963); Mike Hammer (1958–1959); My Gun Is Quick (1957); Kiss Me Deadly (1955); Mickey Spillane's 'Mike Hammer!' (1954); Ring of Fear (1954); The Long Wait (1954); I, the Jury (1953).

Mickey Spillane, on writing:

The first chapter sells the book;

the last chapter sells the next book.

- Mickey Spillane.