tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3355259901837740310.post5632345133745588449..comments2023-09-10T06:49:56.732-04:00Comments on Independent Crime: Kiss Me, Stupid: What is Mickey Spillane's Appeal?Nathan Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18364739659597230106noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3355259901837740310.post-79918376931120263832007-10-31T18:47:00.000-04:002007-10-31T18:47:00.000-04:00The other guy is Max Allan Collins, who is a proli...The other guy is Max Allan Collins, who is a prolific writer in his own right. He writes regularly for CSI, and he's a novelist and a comic book author. He's the guy who wrote Road to Perdition, which I enjoyed. Collins isn't consistently terrible like Spillane, but he's also not my favorite author. I wouldn't hold it against him here, though. He had no choice but to imitate Spillane in this case, which is a sure recipe for bad as far as I'm concerned. <BR/> Somehow, I'm not surprised terrorists showed up. Spillane was always big on easy targets, and commies kept cropping up in his earlier books. It makes sense that he would substitute America's new bugaboo for its old one.Nathan Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18364739659597230106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3355259901837740310.post-59475073452669287742007-10-31T12:40:00.000-04:002007-10-31T12:40:00.000-04:00Pretty interesting post here, Nathan. Fact is, I g...Pretty interesting post here, Nathan. Fact is, I got a little further than you did (it sounds) with DEAD STREET and then I was ready to put it down. The only thing that's kept me going is Charles Ardai told me that Spillane died when he was writing this one and another guy stepped in to finish it by writing the last three chapters. So that got me through to that guy's first chapter (9) and then once I got through that and realized it wasn't much better, that's when I gave up.<BR/><BR/>I found myself wondering how long Spillane could keep going with the amnesiac woman and the guy trying to tease clues out of her. I found out it could go pretty far. To the other guy's credit, I think his writing got a little better, but read the first sentence of Ch. 9 to see how bad he can get as well.<BR/><BR/>One thing's interesting here: it's an old-time guy trying to make sense of the post-9/11 world and to tie in terrorists, nuclear danger, and street level Manhattan toughs. Problem is, the toughs seems a little too grimey to really get their hands on plutonium...Seth Harwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15773449643706270123noreply@blogger.com