THE GOLIATH BONE

Mike Hammer, the toughest detective of the century, versus Al Qaeda? How cool is that? In what may be the last Mike Hammer story, writer Max Allan Collins finishes a partially written Mickey Spillane script in which the tough guy from the fifties takes on the bad guys of the new millennium over the bones of the ultimate bad guy—Goliath. How could it get better? Stacy Keach, the actor who played Mike Hammer on television in the 1980s, narrates. Ah, bliss. Keach has that tough-as-nails/heart-of-gold pattern down. What might sound clichéd and over-the-top in other hands works perfectly with Keach in charge. It's an extraordinary piece of noir, and there ain't a lot of that still around, baby. M.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2009]