KIng of The Weeds Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins

Ed here: I screwed up last night when I said that MIke Hammer gets married. He's ENGAGED not married.

This starts out as a quiet look at the quiet days of one Michael Hammer but--

Kings of The Weeds reminds me of the days when Mickey Spillane was King of The World. The narrative drive, the colorful and mostly ruthless characters and the sheer mysterious darkness of the Spillane world. Here the players include Velda not only at her most vivacious but also her strongest and most determined; Federales who, to understate, consider Hammer scum; and the kind of mobsters only Spillane can create. On top of this is a tantalizing mystery that Hammer needs to solve and quickly.

There's also an enormous amount of money at stake.

Max Allan Collins doesn't merely collaborate with the late Mickey Spillane. He enriches and even improves on his master.  Collins plots a little tighter, writes more smoothly and adds the kind of wry takes his Quarry series is noted for. Amidst all the violence it's fun to watch Collins comment on a standard trope it two.

This was a two-sitting read for me. A real blast of what pulp fiction ought to be,