The Big Kill
Cover Artist: not identified
By: Spillane, Mickey
Publisher: New American Library (Signet Books 915)
Place of Publication:New York, NY
Catalog #: Kelley Box 374: PS3537 .P652 B5 1951b
Contributor:
W. Hepfer
General
Era: 1950s
Author as on Cover: Mickey Spillane
Publication:1951
Original Date: 1951
Setting: urban
Plot Summary
Mike Hammer is sitting in a bar feeling misanthropic when William Decker enters crying and carrying a baby. He leaves the baby inside and goes outside where he is quickly shot to death. Mike vows to find the killer and avenge the crime for the sake of the orphaned child. He learns that the dead man was an ex-con trying to go straight when he was tricked into consorting with racketeers. Mike battles with lowlifes and high-living hoodlums in the course of seeking his own brand of justice.
Major Characters
Mike Hammer adult male, private investigator
Marsha Lee adult female, beautiful, feminine, tawny brown hair, precocious breasts, former actress
Lou Grindle adult male, 40s, dapper, hair that looked painted on, boxing promoter, racketeer
Mel Hooker adult male, tall, thin, facial scar
Ed Teen adult male, well-dressed, looked like a banker, bookie, gangster
Dixie Cooper adult male, bleached hair, buck teeth, loan shark
Toady Link adult male, obese, frog face, protruding eyes, ex-photographer, bookie
William Decker adult male, "a little squirt who looked like he never had enough to eat," reformed safe-cracker, ex-con
Pat Chambers adult male, police captain of homicide department
Velda adult female, coal-black page-boy hair, beautiful, shapely, Mike Hammer's secretary, licensed as a private investigator
Ellen Scobie adult female, leggy brunette, district attorney's assistant
William Decker, Jr. child, male infant, a little over a year old
Weapons
handguns, fists
Level of Violence
Mike Hammer fights rough and inflicts lots of pain. He shoots to kill when he must, and survives a pistolwhipping when he is outnumbered. He regards his own fighting and killing as a justifiable means to an end. Some of the villains come to gruesome ends when they are run over with a car or shot in the face.
Sexuality
Mike Hammer has sexy flirtations with Marsha Lee and Ellen Scobie.
Gender Roles
Mike Hammer is profoundly moved when he sees William Decker crying. It makes him realize how desperate Decker was. He tells Pat Chambers, "It isn't nice to see guys cry….not grown men. It's worse to see a little kid holding the bag. Somebody's going to get shot for it." Although Mike takes temporary custody of the child rather than see him turned over to an agency, he leaves the baby with a retired nurse neighbor for most of the book. The infant provides occasional comic relief by showing unusual curiosity toward Mike's .45 handgun. Mike and Ellen track down Dixie Cooper at The Glass Bar, which is referred to as "that fag joint" whose customers are "queers."
Ethnicity
there is an incidental mention of a "colored pianist" playing at a bar.
Alcohol/Drug Abuse
cigarette and cigar smoking are commonplace. Alcohol is present but not abused. Drugs are not mentioned.
Law Enforcement
Mike's friend Pat Chambers is a homicide captain. When Pat tries to arrest Mike for murder, Mike finagles enough extra time to clear himself and disprove the district attorney's case against him. An information leak inside the D.A.'s office is troublesome for police, who are respected but restricted by regulations that Mike feels justified in ignoring.
Subject Headings
New York (N.Y.)/ Hammer, Mike/ Murder/ Revenge/ Detectives, Private
Psychological Elements
Mike Hammer explains his antisocial behavior to a drunk woman at the beginning of the story: "I don't like people. I don't like any kind of people. When you get them together in a big lump they all get nasty and dirty and full of trouble. So I don't like people including you. That's what a misanthropist is."
