He began by writing for pulp magazines and became an internationally best-selling author with books featuring private investigator Mike Hammer, a violent vigilante who wages an amoral war on crime. His most popular novels include I, the Jury 1947 and Kiss Me Deadly 1953 (both made into films in the noir style in the 1950s). By the time of his 12th Mike Hammer novel, The Killing Man 1989, Spillane's books had achieved sales in excess of 180 million. His other works include Day of the Guns 1964, The Long Wait 1951, and The Delta Factor 1968. He also wrote Vengeance is Mine 1950, The Death Dealers 1965, Survival . . . Zero 1970, The Last Cop Out 1973, and The Day the Sea Rolled Back 1979.
