Mike Hammer - Masquerade for Murder

“For readers of a younger age, Collins may become as synonymous with the Hammer character as Spillane was and is for seasoned fans. If that happens, it will be because he has earned it. My guess is that Spillane, if he were alive, would be overjoyed by that occurrence. Read MASQUERADE FOR MURDER and see why.”
—BookReporter

“Spillane fans will be pleased to see how well Collins captures the brash tone but everyman personality of the latter-day Hammer without trying to imitate the character’s infamous vigilante crusades of earlier years. Spillane (1918–2006) would be proud of how well Collins has maintained his legacy.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Honestly, having writer Max Allan Collins turn in another Mike Hammer novel in this Legacy series is like our enjoying the gift that never stops giving…Blood flows as is the norm in any Hammer caper with a conclusion we soundly approved of. We think you will too.”
—Pulp Fiction Reviews

“Collins at his best, vintage Hammer, and indistinguishable from classic Mickey Spillane–as if Spillane never really left.”
—Borg.com, Best of 2020

“One-time king of American pulp fiction Mickey Spillane left a stock of literary fragments for Max Allan Collins to expand into full-length novels. And a first-rate job he makes of it.”
—Daily Mail

Mickey Spillane is the legendary crime writer credited with igniting the explosion of paperback publishing after World War II as a result of the unprecedented success of his Mike Hammer novels, feeding the public’s appetite for sexy, violent, straight-talking crime stories. He also starred as Mike Hammer in The Girl Hunters. Mickey Spillane died at the age of 88 in 2006.

Max Allan Collins was named a Grand Master in 2017 by the Mystery Writers of America. He is a three-time winner of the Private Eye Writers of America’s Life Achievement award. His graphic novel Road to Perdition became the Academy Award-winning film directed by Sam Mendes and starring Tom Hanks. His other comics credits include the syndicated strip Dick Tracy, Batman, and (with artist Terry Beatty) his own Ms. Tree and Wild Dog. He has completed fourteen Mike Hammer novels begun by the late Mickey Spillane, and his Hammer audio novel The Little Death with Stacy Keach won a 2011 Audie. Recently he adapted the first of his Nathan Heller novels into a ten-part audio drama, True Noir.

For five years, he was sole licensing writer for TV’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, creating best-selling novels, graphic novels, and video games. His movie tie-in novels have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists, including Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One, and American Gangster.

Max has written and directed two documentaries and seven feature films, including the Lifetime movie Mommy (1996); and he scripted The Expert, a 1995 HBO World Premiere, as well as the film-festival favorite The Last Lullaby (2009) based on his innovative Quarry novels, which were also adapted as a 2016 TV series by Cinemax, for which Max wrote two scripts. Collins properties have also been optioned by Skydance, Lionsgate and CBS Films. His most recent self-scripted/directed indie films are Mickey Spillane’s Encore for Murder (2022), Blue Christmas (2023) and Death by Fruitcake (2024).

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