Yes, Mike Hammer is back, and in deeper trouble and darker danger than ever before. He has the gunning down of an old army buddy to pay back with interest. He has two generations of the most powerful family in the Mafia to beat at their own gory games. He has a missing chunk of vital memory blown out of his head by a bullet in his guts. And above all, he has a missing cache of $89 billion to find in a slick maze of false clues, phony stories, brutal betrayals, and deadly twists and turns, before the bad guys get their hands on it and their sights on him. And to complicate matters, the Feds have dealt themselves into the game, eager to beat everybody else to the loot.
On his side, against this awesome array of evil, he has only his beautiful, loving, and when necessary lethal secretary, Velda. Plus a pair of rock-hard fists. And his old reliable companion, his well-oiled .45.
Yes, Mike Hammer is definitely back with the kind of action and excitement that only he delivers. Which is another way of saying that fans of the greatest of hard-knuckled heroes are once again in the hands of the grand master, Mickey Spillane, at the very top of his form.

Amazon.com Review

It's not clear whether Spillane himself or his venerable detective hero Mike Hammer has been in a coma during the seven years since his last book, but loyal fans who discovered and fell in love with the hard-boiled genre because of his early books won't care. Hammer is back, along with his trusty sidekick/secretary Velma, and age hasn't slowed them down more than a step. Hammer wakes from his brush with death to find himself embroiled in a mess involving $89 million of missing mob money. Not the smoothest writer in the arena of mystery, but certainly one of the most popular -- and influential.

From Publishers Weekly

Mike Hammer is a hard guy to kill. Caught in a gangster shootout in New York City, Hammer takes two slugs in the gut. Triage teams leave the tough PI for dead, but a burned-out doctor, wasting away in dockside bars, reclaims his professional pride and brings Hammer back from the brink. Mending slowly, Hammer learns that his old war buddy, Marcos Dooley, has been shot. As he dies, Dooley gives a Hammer a clue regarding $89 billion in cash, crime proceeds hidden by old-guard mobsters fearing a power play by younger hoods. With his still-faithful partner, Velda, Hammer launches a treasure hunt that takes him to Florida and upstate New York, butting heads with the feds?they want the money, too?and the remorseless son of an old mob don. Spillane's hard-boiled hero has softened with time; he finally tells Velda how he really feels about her?but, on doctor's orders, he refrains from consummation. "You're really trying to ruin your reputation, aren't you," Velda complains. Not likely. Spillane keeps the pulpy action coming, with hot lead, male bonding and a sex kitten. Mike Hammer looks like he'll make the next century, even if it means bran flakes and 2% milk for breakfast. Mystery Guild main selection.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Mike Hammer is still shooting first and asking questions later, but the archetypal private eye reveals a bit more of his inner self these days. Hammer is recuperating from wounds suffered in a shoot-out when he is summoned to the hospital room of his wartime buddy Dooley, who relates a fantastic but believable tale regarding the existence of $9 billion in skimmed Mob money. Hammer only wants to find out who gunned down his buddy, but he uses the money as bait. Shading all of Hammer's moves are two factors: his physical condition, which forces him to use his brain rather than his brawn, and his impending marriage to his loyal and voluptuous assistant, Velda. The first factor enhances the mystery aspect of the plot since Mike can't just beat the hell out of everyone until they tell him what he wants. The looming nuptials provide comic relief as the always randy Hammer decides he and Velda had best "save" themselves for their wedding night. Hammer has always had his own moral code, but never has it made him seem so . . . prim. A wonderfully entertaining novel with a more complex and interesting Hammer. Wes Lukowsky