Book: Kiss Me, Deadly

Kiss Me, Deadly by Mickey Spillane

Book of the week is a classic pulp detective thriller about a hard-nosed private dick on the tail of four assholes who killed a “satin-skinned blonde.” You can bet Spillane’s Mike Hammer will leave no shabby gin joint un-scrutinized and no snitch un-harassed in his quest to bring the criminals to justice, or the end of a .367 slug.

I’m hosting the crime writers panel at the Whistler Writer’s Fest this year and there’s gonna be an author there who reminds me of Spillane except his books are set in Vancouver. I usually end the luncheon by asking the authors by show of hands how many have been arrested. We’re pacing about 75-80 percent after 5 years of doing it, proving my artist-criminal parallel theory.

Bonus: It has nothing to do with Spillane, Mike Hammer, or crime fiction but “Kiss Me Deadly” is also a kick-ass song by ex-Runaways guitar hero Lita Ford. If, like me, you enjoy watching hot chicks kick ass playing hair metal (aka: cock rock) then check out Lita, Joan Jett and all the Runaways. There are books too!