I, the Jury
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I, the Jury Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Mickey Spillane (Author), Mike Dennis (Narrator), Simon & Schuster Audio (Publisher)
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 890 ratings
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Here's Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer in their roughest and readiest—a double-strength shot of sex, violence, and action that is vintage Spillane all the way. It's a tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans!

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  1. Listening Length
    5 hours and 28 minutes
  2. Author
    Mickey Spillane
  3. Narrator
    Mike Dennis
  4. Audible release date
    July 28, 2015
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster Audio
  7. ASIN
    B011J5DRV8
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 5 hours and 28 minutes
Author Mickey Spillane
Narrator Mike Dennis
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date July 28, 2015
Publisher Simon & Schuster Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B011J5DRV8
Best Sellers Rank #82,447 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#7,124 in Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals)
#35,757 in Mysteries (Books)

Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
890 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Rick O
5.0 out of 5 stars Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer transcends toughness...
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2013
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Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer transcends toughness in his 1947 debut novel that sets the tone for this vigilante Private Investigator. Hammer's attitude towards criminals is defined on page sixteen when he says, "They crack down on society and I crack down on them. I shoot them like the mad dogs they are and society drags me to court to explain the whys and wherefores of the extermination." Is he tough are what? Clint Eastwood's movie character, 'Dirty Harry', is close, but no cigar. Sam Spade in Dashiell Hammett's 'The Maltese Falcon' (1930) is strong, but fair. Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler's 'The Big Sleep' (1939) is resilient, but not a wrongdoer. Basically, Hammer displays a vicious rage against any violent crime. This 190 pound P.I. loves a brutal, vomit inducing stomach punch as much as he loves his sexy secretary, Velda. Although Hammer chooses to take the law into his own hands, he does respect the police, especially his best friend, Captain Pat Chambers of the NYPD Homicide Department. Hammer is very patriotic and an anti-communist. Okay, now you know what makes Mike Hammer tick.

In the opening chapter, Hammer finds out that his World War II Army buddy, Jack Williams, has been killed with a shot to the gut in his apartment. Williams saved Hammer's life in the war by sacrificing his arm in a fight against a Japanese soldier in the Pacific Ocean Theatre. Hammer swears that the killer will die the same way Jack Williams did. The suspects were all at Jack's apartment for a party on the night of the murder. Someone came back after the party and shot Jack to death. Why? The murder suspects include Hal Kines (supposedly a medical student), George Kalecki (a ex-bootlegger), the twins, Mary and Esther Bellemy (Mary being a nymphomaniac), Charlotte Manning (a beautiful psychiatrist), and Myrna Devlin (Jack's fiancé). In the ensuing chapters, some of these people will be killed and one is the killer. Now I was fortuitous, because I figured out who the killer was, but I chalk it up to beginners luck. The text and terms was very reflective of the times; such as, the automat (the coin operated eatery), a divan (a couch), a wench (a girl), a fin (a five dollar bill), dames (ladies), and of course everybody is smoking cigars and cigarettes. This was special reminiscing of the times, but not the racism of the period. The terms "darky" and "colored" are not endearing words. On page 62, Big Sam, a bartender says to Hammer, "Howday, Mistah Hammah. Glad to see yuh. Long time since yuh done been in dis part of town." Did Spillane have to use that lingo? Unfortunately, it was common for those times.

The 1920s-1950s produced many detective novels, featuring (other than the above mentioned), Lew Archer in Ross Macdonald's 'The Moving Target' (1949), Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' (1920), and Nero Wolfe in Rex Stout's 'Fer-de-Lance' (1934). But none of these P.I's had Mike Hammer's unforgiving attitude. It's best displayed on page 73, when talking to Charlotte Manning, he says, "I got an obsession though." She says, "You have? I can't imagine what it is." Hammer says, "I want a killer. I want to shoot a killer." There you go, that's Mike Hammer. This novel was recollective of the times, even though some of the text was chauvinistic. I enjoyed this novel and recommend it to any reader who wants to be a student of the different genres and times in American literature.
25 people found this helpful
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Chris S
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book. Moves along at a good clip with ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2016
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Good book. Moves along at a good clip with very exciting moments. A tough no holds barred thrilling book & a tough as nails detective (Mike Hammer) in his 1st appearance (as far as I know). I would have given it 5 stars but for the (in my opinion) weak drawing together of conclusions. Stil a great book, but summation of events a little weak. Would definitely recommend! I give this 3.5 stars.
3 people found this helpful
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Paul Cassel
3.0 out of 5 stars He Ogled My Rod
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2014
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The most intriguing aspect of this book is if this is what books were like in America, post WWII. The protagonist make John Wayne by comparison, at his most swaggering, seem like an effete morbidly obese metrosexual. This fellow Hammer can't go anywhere without beautiful and wealthy women throwing themselves as his feet. He is invulnerable as well.

Frex, when he visits a bar, he enters the back room. Two 'Negroes' (one a 'high yellow' (?) and the other a 'coal black') jump him from behind. They are armed with knives. They have him at their mercy but he manages to break one of their wrists and then beat them both up - a feat which would make the 1960 version of James Bond envious for his athleticism.

Hammer is a loudmouth braggart who, at the outset, not only promises to kill a person on sight, but the newspaper publishes this boast which the police endorse by supporting his efforts to locate someone to kill. In his quest to kill, he has no issue intimidating, beat up and generally pushing his way through anybody who either he doesn't like (such as 'fairies') or who, for whatever reason, he thinks merits a beating.

The title of this review is a line from the book. When Hammer sat down to get a haircut, the barber did the title line according to Hammer. I had no idea (or the wrong idea) about what the barber was ogling until I remembered that 'rod' was an archaic expression for firearm. Such odd usage runs through the book giving it a nice ancient flavor.

The attitudes are interesting too and for all I know are depicted accurately for current thought, America, circa 1946. For example, one woman is considered a 'nymphomaniac' for enjoying a rather free intimate life. Another woman, much more interestingly, is considered psychologically unbalanced for having a career and thus having lost her natural innate desire to be utterly dependent on a male.

The killer is obvious from about the 20% mark of the book but supported by how we know it has to end more than any plot elements. This is not Sherlock Holmes, folks. The resolution is summed up by a long exposition which is farfeteched to say the least.

Overall a poor mystery, a rather tedious read but an interesting look into a period of history which probably wasn't exactly this way, but teenaged boys of the era likely hoped it would be for them.
5 people found this helpful
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Thomas B. Junell
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book even if it was written 50 years ago.
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2015
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I read this book about 45yrs ago, in the late '60s. I didn't remember the plot nor outcome, so it was like reading a new book. I have read numerous "Mike Hammer" books, also about 45yrs ago, and all I remember is that I enjoyed them all. One thing I noticed is some of the terminology and dialog that was common way back then would not be permissible nor used if the book was written today, particularly about black characters, but also about women and "handicapped" people. None the less, Spillane was a good mystery writer, he supplies the pertinent clues along the way, the plot flows logically without any big gaps, and he doesn't give away the ending until he gets to the end. I grew up in the late '40s and early '50s and have always been fascinated with mystery movies and books from that time period. So, if you like a good straight forward, no nonsense, tough-guy detective story, this is one of them.
13 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Noir fun
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2014
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Love the 1940's feel of this book. Fascinating to read about the attitudes (racial, gender, legal) of the not-so-distant past. Plot was a bit convoluted at times with so many possibilities, but I get that feeling more often than most, I suspect, so don't let that dissuade you. Maybe reading at the beach distracted me a bit. Great twist at the end. Quick read. Looking forward to reading more Spillane.
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Top reviews from other countries

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The Beardy Leughadair
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome reads
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2024
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You forgot how good some books are until you read them again. This is one of those books. You feel yourself being taken back in time as you read the book.

If you love the OG private investigator types then this is the book and the series for you without a doubt
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Canada on December 5, 2020
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I love detective novels. I use to watch Mike Hammer on TV and wanted start reading the original novels by Mickey Spillane.
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Carlos Vazquez Quintana
1.0 out of 5 stars Decalaje total
Reviewed in Spain on August 17, 2018
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Parece ser que en 1947, las novelas de Mickey Spillane y su detective Mike Hammer fueron un éxito, pero hoy, en pleno año de la Mujer, pues como que no encaja. Hay mucha acción, pero no toda es a base de tiros y yo al menos no he conocido ningún otro detective incluyendo James Bond a quien todas las que se le presentan son prostitutas de buen corazón, despampanantes y con una tendencia a caerseles la ropa asombrosa (sería la confección de las hilaturas de entonces) descarriadas que cobran poco, por lo menos a MIke, que el hombre ni necesita a su amigo el capitán de la policía de New York, ni jueces ni jurado ni nada, porque todo lo arregla él a tiros y mamporros. Pero hoy día el defase de valores mal que nos pese a los varones, ha cambiado tremendamente y Spillane tampoco es un genio literariamente hablando. Hasta puede entretener un poco
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FictionFan
4.0 out of 5 stars Turn up the air-conditioning…
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2021
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Ex-cop and ex-soldier Jack Williams is found shot dead. The police detective in charge of the case knows Williams was a friend of PI Mike Hammer, so calls Hammer in. To Hammer, Jack was more than just a friend, though – during the war Jack saved Hammer’s life and in the process got injured so badly that he lost an arm. Hammer owes him, and swears an oath that he will find Jack’s killer before the police, and take his own deadly vengeance. So the race is on…

You have to give Spillane credit for being thorough – I don’t think there’s a single ’ism missing from this one! Sexism, racism, sexism, homophobia, sexism, misogyny and did I mention sexism? Then there’s the violence, the sex, and the guns – good grief, so many guns! The odd thing is: I quite enjoyed it! It’s kinda the pulp version of hard-boiled with all pretence at subtlety stripped out, but lurking in there somewhere there’s quite a good plot and the writing, while not as slick as I seem to remember from reading some Spillane long ago, is pretty good for the style of novel.

Hammer realises that first he needs to find out the motive before he can identify the murderer, so he starts by talking to the various people jack has recently spent some time with. Because of the loss of his arm, Jack hadn’t been able to go back to his career in the police, but Hammer knows he was still a cop at heart, and might have got involved in trying to break up some kind of criminal enterprise. There are plenty of options – Hammer’s investigations soon take him into the criminal underbelly of New York, in amongst the gangsters, brothel keepers, drug runners and a variety of two-bit hoods (I think that’s the technical term). The men all want to beat Hammer up, or occasionally shoot him. The women single-mindedly want to get him into bed, or marry him, or both. Lord knows why! I can only assume there must have been a severe shortage of men in New York at that time. Although Spillane doesn’t mention it, I also assume there was a major heatwave in process, since half the characters spend most of their time stripping their clothes off. I’m sure it’s purely coincidental that it’s the female half. One of the women is an actual nymphomaniac, but it was fortunate that Hammer told us which one, because her behaviour wasn’t significantly different to all the other women.

Despite all of that there’s a strange kind of moral innocence in the book. Hammer resists the blandishments of the naked women for the most part, turns out to be a bit of a romantic at heart, and although he happily shoots people, he only shoots bad ones, so that’s all right then. Apparently it’s all right with the American justice system too, since he never even gets arrested for it. I suppose it saves on costly trials and prison sentences. The racism is the standard casual stuff of the time (1947) as is the homophobia. Happily neither plays a big part in the story so I was able to tolerate it, just, as almost all crime fiction of that era, especially hard-boiled and noir, is infested with language or stereotyping that is rightly considered unacceptable today.

I had a pretty good idea who the villain was from about halfway through, but the motive stumped me so that kept me interested. In the end, it’s all highly unlikely at best and complete tosh at worst, but that’s the joy of pulp! And the end is so over the top I found it hilarious, which I assure you it wasn’t supposed to be.

This was his first and all-in-all I enjoyed it, but would be hesitant to know who to recommend it to. I imagine many people found it pretty sleazy even at the time, and it really hasn’t improved with age. However, if you enjoy the pulpy end of hard-boiled crime and can make allowances for the ’isms, then it’s well worth a few hours of your time for the sheer entertainment value. I’d be interested to try one of his later ones to see if he gets rid of some of the rough edges in this one, or if this is typical of his style throughout his career.
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tom meszaros
4.0 out of 5 stars “There’s Nothing Like A Dame”!
Reviewed in Australia on July 22, 2021
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All the ingredients for a timeless, hard-boiled classic: ahead of its time! It certainly put the “P” into pulp: graphic, violent, oozing sexual tension, throw away lines and plenty of “stiffs”!
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