The Big Kill — Mickey Spillane

The Big Kill is blockbusting Spillane in which Mike Hammer slugs it out with a clinging redhead who blocks the trail of a vicious killer. The victim--a reformed ex-con. From the multi-million-copy-selling author--a brutal, brawl-packed, bullet-paced thriller--as only Mickey Spillane can deliver them.

Sometimes Hammer hates it when it rains. He hates it more when he's in a cheap bar with even cheaper company. So when a little runt named William Decker comes in crying and carrying a baby, Hammer almost doesn't notice. But when Decker leaves the baby and runs out into the rain, Hammer knows enough to follow him, and he sees Decker get killed. Hammer has to know why, for himself and for the baby crying back in the bar. In The Big Kill, he follows a trail of slime and blackmail through the D.A.'s office, Hollywood, the New York theater, and the horse races, and returns to his own front door, where life gets cute, and throws in some poetic justice for Decker's killer.