I, The Jury - Sheer Escapist Fun

"I hate too hard and shoot too fast.” Mickey Spillane, I, The Jury

First published in 1947, I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane introduced a private detective named Mike Hammer. Hammer, who appeared in twenty-two novels and short stories, and in numerous films and TV series, embodies the classic elements of a noir private eye: he’s equal parts charming, cynical, tough guy, hard drinking, and intolerant of anyone who gets in his way. He’s like a one-man wrecking ball, pursuing leads and hunches with pit bull determination in an effort to ferret out the truth. In I, The Jury, a close friend and war buddy of Hammer’s, Jack Williams, is murdered, and suffers a particularly cruel and painful end. Hammer vows to avenge his friend’s death by meting out his own form of justice. As the story unfolds, and suspects are mysteriously killed, Hammer finds himself falling in love with a beautiful psychiatrist named Charlotte who might hold clues about Williams’s murder. There is a whiff of cheesiness about this novel, but it’s quality cheese nonetheless. Spillane’s writing is sparse, gritty, fast-paced and devoid of sentimentality or pretensions of reality, but in terms of sheer fun and escapism, I, The Jury delivers a one-two punch of reading pleasure.