''The Goliath Bone'' is the 14th entry in the

Mike Hammer Michael Hammer or Mike Hammer may refer to: *Michael Armand Hammer (1955–2022), American philanthropist and businessman *Michael Martin Hammer (1948–2008), engineer and author *Mike Hammer (character), a fictional hard boiled detective ** ''Mick ...

series by

Mickey Spillane Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer (character), Mike Hammer. More than 225 million c ...

. It was completed by

Max Allan Collins Max Allan Collins (born March 3, 1948) is an American mystery writer, noted for his graphic novels. His work has been published in several formats and his ''Road to Perdition'' series was the basis for a film of the same name. He wrote the '' Di ...

, and was first published on October 13,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. ''The Goliath Bone'' is one of three almost finished Mike Hammer novels that Spillane entrusted Collins to finish before his death in 2006.

Plot

Hammer is forced to put off retirement and his marriage to his longtime love and secretary, Velda, after he falls into the middle of an international crisis. Hammer saves a couple of archaeologists from unknown muggers in New York, who turn out to be

Al Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countr ...

agents who believe they possess a

thigh bone The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with t ...

of the Biblical character

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) a ...

. Hammer now finds himself going against Islamic terrorists, including a 7-foot agent code named "Goliath".

Note

Several pages into Chapter 11 of 12, Mike Hammer marries Velda Sterling at City Hall.

References

2008 American novels American crime novels Novels published posthumously Houghton Mifflin books Mike Hammer (character) novels {{2000s-crime-novel-stub