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A review by liz_ross
The Killing Man by Mickey Spillane
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Before anyone even thinks about saying that the fact that I couldn't connect with our "lovely" main character may have anything to do with me starting his books series by the number 12, let me explain how, in my opinion, a policial series should work. It doesn't matter which book you choose to read first, the book must always offer enough character development for the reader to be able to connect with the main character or at least enough to make that character credible. And why? Because we are talking about a Mystery. The main character is not that important. The plot line, the crime, the investigation - those are the important things. It is not that difficult to make a main character in this genre be credible. You just need to offer him/her a little development.
So no, I do not think, not even for a second, that the fact that I couldn't connect with Mike Hammer is my fault. But more than that, I am glad I couldn't connect with him. Because if I did, then the disgust I felt would have became hatred and seriously it would be a waste of my time to hate a character of a book that doesn't even deserve the money spent on it, And you may now be wondering why I was so disgusted by him. Let's think... it may have anything to do with the fact that he was an arrogant, sexist son of a bitch. Or maybe it is related with the fact that the "love" Spillane wants us to think he feels towards his secretery has more to do with the fact that she is a pretty face than anything else. You can choose. Any of this two things alone would be enough to make me disgusted so you can imagine how I felt with both thrown at me at the same time.
But how I wish Mike was the only problem! But nooo... What a better thing to allie to a sexist main character than a bunch of female characters that are meant to be nothing else than walking bodies with pretty faces and boobs that shamelessly throw themselves at Hammer from the very second they see him?! I am pretty sure I don't need to tell how that made me feel. How utterly disgusted it made me feel to see women represented like this. It's one thing to have one female character throwing herself at the main character. She fancies him, wants him even if just for a one night stand. Fine. But all of them, especially when the description of every single one of them begins with the fact that they have boobs and ends pretty much there? Not acceptable.
And it doesn't stop here. Can you guess what comes allied to this bunch of disgusting characters that are impossible to connect with? I will help you out. A shitty plot. It begins pretty well and undoubtely promissing, with Hammer entering in his office just to find his secretery on the floor, badly injuried, and a dead body sitting on his chair. And you read that, not knowing how sexist things will get, and you think "Cool!", because that's one of the most dramatic and memorable beginings you've read in a while. But then you find out how sexist the book is and the plot goes downhill, becoming one of the most complex and inconsistent plot I've ever seen. An agency collusion, influence over presidential candidates, corruption and mafia, all of them thrown into this book in a confuse sequence of events that made my head spin. I completley lost track of the plot, got unsure about what the hell the main plot line was meant to be and when I finally reached the end I had just given up. A finale tha had everything to be shocking had no impact on me because I had lost all my interest on the book many, many pages ago.
So no, I do not think, not even for a second, that the fact that I couldn't connect with Mike Hammer is my fault. But more than that, I am glad I couldn't connect with him. Because if I did, then the disgust I felt would have became hatred and seriously it would be a waste of my time to hate a character of a book that doesn't even deserve the money spent on it, And you may now be wondering why I was so disgusted by him. Let's think... it may have anything to do with the fact that he was an arrogant, sexist son of a bitch. Or maybe it is related with the fact that the "love" Spillane wants us to think he feels towards his secretery has more to do with the fact that she is a pretty face than anything else. You can choose. Any of this two things alone would be enough to make me disgusted so you can imagine how I felt with both thrown at me at the same time.
But how I wish Mike was the only problem! But nooo... What a better thing to allie to a sexist main character than a bunch of female characters that are meant to be nothing else than walking bodies with pretty faces and boobs that shamelessly throw themselves at Hammer from the very second they see him?! I am pretty sure I don't need to tell how that made me feel. How utterly disgusted it made me feel to see women represented like this. It's one thing to have one female character throwing herself at the main character. She fancies him, wants him even if just for a one night stand. Fine. But all of them, especially when the description of every single one of them begins with the fact that they have boobs and ends pretty much there? Not acceptable.
And it doesn't stop here. Can you guess what comes allied to this bunch of disgusting characters that are impossible to connect with? I will help you out. A shitty plot. It begins pretty well and undoubtely promissing, with Hammer entering in his office just to find his secretery on the floor, badly injuried, and a dead body sitting on his chair. And you read that, not knowing how sexist things will get, and you think "Cool!", because that's one of the most dramatic and memorable beginings you've read in a while. But then you find out how sexist the book is and the plot goes downhill, becoming one of the most complex and inconsistent plot I've ever seen. An agency collusion, influence over presidential candidates, corruption and mafia, all of them thrown into this book in a confuse sequence of events that made my head spin. I completley lost track of the plot, got unsure about what the hell the main plot line was meant to be and when I finally reached the end I had just given up. A finale tha had everything to be shocking had no impact on me because I had lost all my interest on the book many, many pages ago.
Overall, I guess there's anything else to say. I think it couldn't be more obvious that I HATED this book. Definitely, I do not reccommed it and I'll make 100% that I avoid any other book of this series, because one book about such disgusting characters was more than enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Injury/Injury detail