The Consummata

August 8, 2011
Collins (Road to Perdition) once again successfully completes an unfinished Spillane crime novel, this one a sequel to 1967’s The Delta Factor. In the late 1960s, Morgan the Raider is on the run in Miami, after the Feds mistakenly ID him as the mastermind of a $40 million theft. Fortunately, Cuban exiles come to Morgan’s rescue in the city’s Little Havana neighborhood. Their leader asks him to recover $75,000 stolen from the anti-Castro émigrés by double agent Jaimie Halaquez, who infiltrated their movement on behalf of the Cuban government. When Morgan learns that Halaquez has been banned from Miami’s bordellos because of his violent tendencies, he explores rumors that a legendary dominatrix, the Consummata, is coming to town, to see whether she’ll lead him to Halaquez. There are ample servings of the sex and violence Spillane fans have come to expect, and it’s impossible to tell where Spillane’s work stops and Collins’s begins.

September 15, 2011

Collins again channels Spillane in this revenge-driven outing featuring Morgan the Raider (who appeared originally in Spillane's 1967 The Delta Factor). Here, Morgan is out to clear his name in a $40 million heist he didn't pull and to put a hardball slug from his trusty .45 between the eyes of whoever is making him the patsy. Hiding out in Miami's underbelly, Morgan is aided by exiled Cubans, who enlist him to help recover $75,000 they've amassed to help overthrow Castro, which was stolen by a trusted member of their group in a double cross. As soon as Morgan agrees to help, assassins begin trying to kill him, but that doesn't prove too easy. VERDICT Spillane/Collins furnishes just enough good old-fashioned sex and violence to keep the story flowing without overkill. The men are tough, the women are sexy, and the pages turn faster than the bodies pile up--what else could you ask for in a hard-boiled thriller? This should prove a satisfying read for either author's fans.--Mike Rogers, Library Journal

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2011
Morgan the Raider is on the run from the Feds, who think he was the mastermind behind a 40-million-dollar heist. But running gets boring, so he accepts a job from Cuban exiles operating out of Miami to retrieve $75,000 stolen from their revolutionary fund. Jaimie Halaquez was once a member of the group, but he's interested less in revolution than in cruising S&M venues, where he likes to take a beating and then turn the table on his partners, often leaving them dead or wishing they were. Key to finding Halaquez may be finding the Consummata, a legendary dominatrix rumored to be setting up shop in Miami. The late Spillaneof Mike Hammer famebegan this novel in the 1960s, then passed the unfinished manuscript to Collins with the hope that maybe someday we can do something with this. The prolific, award-winning Collins finished it, and the end product is all one would expect of a Spillane caperviolent, sexy, funny, and very cleverly plotted, with a wonderfully satisfying conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)