Rating: 
Summary: Only for long time die hard fans of Mickey Spillane
Review: Retired from his harrowing operative career, American Mako Hooker spends his time fishing from his boat, the Clamdip. However, his solace at sea ends when his former employers order him back to work. They want Mako to investigate the explosive attacks on ships in the Bermuda Triangle where the former agent conveniently is spending his time.His ex employer also sends his former peer Chana Sterling to work closely with him over Mako's chagrin as this femme fatale once shot him. He would prefer to simply shoot Chana to put her out of everyone else's misery because she caused a lot of people much misery. Still Mako knows one never truly retires from the Company so he begins looking into the cause behind the gaping holes in the hulls of several vessels. That soon leads Mako to uncover conspiracies, but of what and why he still struggles (as does the reader after finishing the book) to learn. Only long time die hard fans of Mickey Spillane will appreciate this strange espionage thriller though the hero is an interesting throwback to the Jurassic Age. The story line is action-packed, but never seems to tie into a cohesive plot. The cast is hard boiled circa Eisenhower with perhaps the most interesting character being Mako the Shark (literally a fish in water and not Hooker). Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Big Fish Story from Big Hardboiled Fish Spillane
Review: So Mickey Spillane wants to shoulder Mike Hammer's favorite pistol for a book and bring us a big fish story (of sorts). Fine. SOMETHING'S DOWN THERE isn't exactly the page-turner we're used to when it comes to the hardboiled thrillers Spillane is so clever at concocting, but it's not a dud, either. Not by a stretch. In fact, I'd say there were intimations of this novel - its pacing, its location, its more sedate and world-weary hero - in the last Hammer novel, BLACK ALLEY. Consider Mako Hooker a distant (and I mean distant, but nevertheless related) cousin to the Mike Hammer we encountered at the beginning and end of BLACK ALLEY: tired, nursing recent wounds and (by the end of the book) fresh ones. Hooker is the 21st century remnant of the gritty tough guy that served as central character in Spillane's earlier work. That said, I certainly hope we see Spillane resurrect the more visceral tough-as-steel Mike Hammer in the forthcoming novel (Summer 2004). As for the plot and pacing of SOMETHING'S DOWN THERE, there's a stab at local color here that's a far cry from the dark, cold and rainy New York City that provides the backdrop of the Mike Hammer stories. This time Spillane paints a quiet seagoing life off a small island in the Caribbean. The general laid-back environment and day-to-day routines are disrupted when something starts sinking fishing ships - enough of them to pique the interest of the Company. But Company-agent Mako Hooker is no Tiger Mann (remember him?) and the twists and turns this leisurely paced book takes are not the twists and turns of Spillane's best mysteries. If you're a Spillane fan, though, SOMETHING'S DOWN THERE is a must-read. There are enough echoes of the hardboiled Spillane here to make you nod your head nostalgically and agitate your anticipation for the forthcoming new Hammer novel.
Rating:
Summary: Big Fish Story from Big Hardboiled Fish Spillane
Review: So Mickey Spillane wants to shoulder Mike Hammer's favorite pistol for a book and bring us a big fish story (of sorts). Fine. SOMETHING'S DOWN THERE isn't exactly the page-turner we're used to when it comes to the hardboiled thrillers Spillane is so clever at concocting, but it's not a dud, either. Not by a stretch. In fact, I'd say there were intimations of this novel - its pacing, its location, its more sedate and world-weary hero - in the last Hammer novel, BLACK ALLEY. Consider Mako Hooker a distant (and I mean distant, but nevertheless related) cousin to the Mike Hammer we encountered at the beginning and end of BLACK ALLEY: tired, nursing recent wounds and (by the end of the book) fresh ones. Hooker is the 21st century remnant of the gritty tough guy that served as central character in Spillane's earlier work. That said, I certainly hope we see Spillane resurrect the more visceral tough-as-steel Mike Hammer in the forthcoming novel (Summer 2004). As for the plot and pacing of SOMETHING'S DOWN THERE, there's a stab at local color here that's a far cry from the dark, cold and rainy New York City that provides the backdrop of the Mike Hammer stories. This time Spillane paints a quiet seagoing life off a small island in the Caribbean. The general laid-back environment and day-to-day routines are disrupted when something starts sinking fishing ships - enough of them to pique the interest of the Company. But Company-agent Mako Hooker is no Tiger Mann (remember him?) and the twists and turns this leisurely paced book takes are not the twists and turns of Spillane's best mysteries. If you're a Spillane fan, though, SOMETHING'S DOWN THERE is a must-read. There are enough echoes of the hardboiled Spillane here to make you nod your head nostalgically and agitate your anticipation for the forthcoming new Hammer novel.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS IS NOT MIKE HAMMER'S MICKEY SPILLANE
Review: Unfortunately,this is not a good book. For those of us who are long time Mickey Spillane fans, it is a major disappointmnet. That hard, crudely eloquent writing is missing. The tough guy main character is not an angry, slow moving guided missile, seeking his target and smacking down anyone who gets in his way.
The tough guy in this book spends all his time drinking beer and dropping hints that he used to be a vengeful guided missile. The story is flat. The pacing is slow. The characters are just not very interesting. Spillane has a new Mike Hammer novel coming out in the summer of '04. Let's hope he is back to his old form for that one. He missed badly with "Something's Down There."
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