... an engaging, capacious and largely celebratory account, presenting the writer, his works and their multimedia adaptations as worthy of serious consideration ... “Spillane” emphasizes the gentler side of its subject, only fleetingly considering the charming writer’s crueller opinions and actions.
... a knockout biography ... Collins and Traylor do an outstanding job analyzing Spillane’s impact on the publishing industry, and they are equally sharp in assessing why the Hammer novels’ dreamscape vision of postwar Manhattan... was so attractive to alienated vets ... But there’s more to this story than Spillane’s books. The authors also detail his fascinating personal life ... A thoroughly engrossing life story and an indispensable account of the rise of paperback publishing.