From Mickey Spillane, the hardest-boiled of detective writers, comes ... a sea story? Surprising but true, and a fun yarn it is. Mako Hooker is enjoying retirement from a life of lethal undercover work, fishing the days away on the remote Caribbean island of Peolle. But his idyll is shattered by the "eater"--an unknown presence in the deep water that bites the bottoms out of boats. As the attacks intensify, the outside world converges on Peolle: the media, a Hollywood film company, and some of Hooker's old colleagues from the Company, one of whom once put a bullet in him. As the intrigue thickens and the action gets nasty, Hooker reluctantly reactivates his old "kill or be killed" skills while trying to solve the riddle of the eater and kindling a romance with a beautiful heiress from a neighboring island.

Spillane published his first Mike Hammer novel in 1947, and though his pace has slowed, he has continued to publish into his 80s. Here, his touch here falters at times, with phrasing or pacing that seem off kilter. But the prose is often vigorous, the characters are well-drawn, the settings are vividly evoked, and the plot contains more angles than a geometry test--capped by an ingenious solution to the central mystery. Something's Down There is a pleasing concoction from a storied writer. --Nicholas H. Allison


From Publishers Weekly
Eighty-five-year-old Spillane (I, the Jury; Erection Set; Tomorrow I Die) shows little evidence of advanced age in this entertaining island adventure featuring ex-spook Mako Hooker and his Carib fishing partner, Billy Bright. Mako, retired on remote Peolle Island, devotes himself to drinking Miller Lite, fishing and boating, but he soon learns what aficionados of spy fiction already know well: you never really retire from the Company. Trouble arises on several fronts: a malevolent leviathan of unknown species begins slashing huge chunks out of the bottoms of fishing boats, and still-functioning WWII-era mines from sunken ships appear on the surface of the ocean, prompting the U.S. government to send in a team of agents and re-activate Hooker. Also in on the fun is ex-mobster Tony Pallatzo, now known as Anthony Pell, the head of a movie unit determined to capture the sea-dwelling monster on film, and lovely agent Chana, an old enemy against whom Hooker still holds a grudge: "for a second he wished he had been packing his .45 and the piece was in his hand with the hammer back so he could turn and shoot her guts right out of her beautiful belly and it would finally be all over with for all time." In Spillane's world, men still call women kiddo and baby and refer to each other as pals and buddies. True to his tough-guy heritage, Mako slays the dragon, finds himself a beautiful dame in the process and receives his just reward: "Muscles in her stomach rippled against his hands, saying quiet things that he could hardly believe." Classic Spillane.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
This shaggy-shark story of maritime espionage and dangers lurking in the deep follows government assassin Mako Hooker out of a beer-soaked Caribbean retirement straight into a fishing net of intrigue. Rife with silly subplots, stock characters, and sloughed-off story lines--exactly how did hotheaded young agent Chana Sterling once accidentally plug Mako with hot lead?--this search for a boat-eating behemoth nonetheless proves a salty noir treat. Here's a taste: "Hooker didn't turn around. He simply let his eyes slide up to the dirty old back bar mirror and he saw Chana at the same time she saw him and their eyes met and for a second he wished he had been packing his .45 and the piece was in his hand with the hammer back so he could turn and shoot her guts right out of her beautiful belly and it would finally be all over with for all time." There might not be any prehistoric predators marauding through the ocean, but one pulp dinosaur is still chewing the scenery and reminding readers of a glorious era in American fiction. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
The Buffalo News Salty and satisfying....for Spillane fans, Something's Down There will hit like a slug of Old Crow from the bottom-drawer bottle.

Denver Rocky Mountain News A fun, fast read...from one of the all-time greats.

Publishers Weekly Entertaining....classic Spillane.


Review
Publishers Weekly Entertaining....classic Spillane.


Review
The New York Times There's a kind of power about Mickey Spillane that no other writer can imitate.


Book Description
Mako Hooker may look like any other grizzled fishing-boat captain trawling the Bermuda Triangle -- but he's much more. Hooker is in fact a retired government operative taking a break from his highly secret, highly lethal career. When local fishermen begin to fall prey to a monstrous sea creature the islanders dub "the eater," he investigates -- with the help of his off-kilter circle of friends -- and uncovers a sinister conspiracy that will resurrect Hooker's violent past, and pit his legendary (if a bit rusty) skills against a powerful adversary who's out to prove the old spy saying: You're not retired from the Company until you're dead. A riveting novel of criminal intrigue, greed, and the mysteries of the heart -- and of the deep -- this is Mickey Spillane at his hard-boiled best.


Download Description
"The master of hard-boiled detective fiction is back -- and better than ever -- with Something's Down There, a blade-sharp thriller set among the islands of the Caribbean. To the casual observer, Mako Hooker looks like any other grizzled fishing-boat captain trawling the Bermuda Triangle. He's content with his nets in the water and a beer in the cooler, but he's hardly your typical fisherman. Hooker is in fact a retired government operative taking a much-needed respite from his highly secret, highly lethal career in the States. But when local fishermen begin to fall prey to a mysterious sea creature the islanders dub ""the eater,"" he discovers the truth in that old saw about the spy game: You're not retired from the Company until you're dead. Is the monster a prehistoric beast rising from the depths? Or mines from a sunken WWII destroyer, only now shaken loose by the U.S. Navy's depth charges? Or the work of someone with an agenda even more deeply undercover than Hooker's? Hooker quietly begins to investigate with the help of his unwitting fishing partner, Billy Bright; a local movie heiress, the seductive Judy Durant; and Hooker's old nemesis, Chana Sterling. The Company sent her as backup, but Hooker doesn't trust power-hungry government agents too far -- especially Chana, who once put a bullet in him for no good reason. As more boats are mauled and the islanders begin to panic, the action heats up and the players multiply: a Hollywood film company arrives on the scene, eager to turn live footage of ""the eater"" into box-office payoff, and the heavyweight film executive in charge looks suspiciously like Tony Pallatzo, a Brooklyn mobster from Hooker's violent past. As he moves steadily closer to the truth, Hooker realizes that someone (or something) is plotting to stop him, and only his rusty instincts will save him this time.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"To the casual observer, Mako Hooker looks like any other grizzled fishing-boat captain trawling the Bermuda Triangle. He's content with his nets in the water and a beer in the cooler, but he's hardly your typical fisherman. Hooker is in fact a retired government operative taking a much-needed respite from his highly secret, highly lethal career in the States. But when local fishermen begin to fall prey to a mysterious sea creature the islanders dub "the eater," he discovers the truth about the spy game: You're not retired from the Company until you're dead." "Is the monster a prehistoric beast rising from the depths? Or mines from a sunken WWII destroyer, only now shaken loose by the U.S. Navy's depth charges? Or the work of someone with an agenda even more deeply undercover than Hooker's?" Hooker quietly begins to investigate with the help of his unwitting fishing partner, Billy Bright; a local movie heiress, the seductive Judy Durant; and Hooker's old nemesis, Chana Sterling. The Company sent her as backup, but Hooker doesn't trust power-hungry government agents too far - especially Chana, who once put a bullet in him for no good reason. As more boats are mauled and the islanders begin to panic, the action heats up and the players multiply: a Hollywood film company arrives on the scene, eager to turn live footage of "the eater" into box-office payoff, and the heavyweight film executive in charge looks suspiciously like Tony Pallatzo, a Brooklyn mobster from Hooker's violent past. As he moves steadily closer to the truth, Hooker realizes that someone (or something) is plotting to stop him, and only his rusty instincts will save him this time.

FROM THE CRITICS

The Washington Post

The best thing about it is the writing on the sea, which Spillane clearly loves. — Patrick Anderson

Publishers Weekly

Eighty-five-year-old Spillane (I, the Jury; Erection Set; Tomorrow I Die) shows little evidence of advanced age in this entertaining island adventure featuring ex-spook Mako Hooker and his Carib fishing partner, Billy Bright. Mako, retired on remote Peolle Island, devotes himself to drinking Miller Lite, fishing and boating, but he soon learns what aficionados of spy fiction already know well: you never really retire from the Company. Trouble arises on several fronts: a malevolent leviathan of unknown species begins slashing huge chunks out of the bottoms of fishing boats, and still-functioning WWII-era mines from sunken ships appear on the surface of the ocean, prompting the U.S. government to send in a team of agents and re-activate Hooker. Also in on the fun is ex-mobster Tony Pallatzo, now known as Anthony Pell, the head of a movie unit determined to capture the sea-dwelling monster on film, and lovely agent Chana, an old enemy against whom Hooker still holds a grudge: "for a second he wished he had been packing his .45 and the piece was in his hand with the hammer back so he could turn and shoot her guts right out of her beautiful belly and it would finally be all over with for all time." In Spillane's world, men still call women kiddo and baby and refer to each other as pals and buddies. True to his tough-guy heritage, Mako slays the dragon, finds himself a beautiful dame in the process and receives his just reward: "Muscles in her stomach rippled against his hands, saying quiet things that he could hardly believe." Classic Spillane. Agent, Philip G. Spitzer. (Dec.) Forecast: There are surely enough of Spillane's original fans left to rack up respectable numbers for this enjoyable flashback to an earlier age. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Former government agent/assassin Mako Hooker now spends his days in a more relaxing atmosphere, running a fishing boat in the Bermuda Triangle. His peaceful lifestyle is interrupted when several local fishermen start falling prey to the "Eater," an unknown entity that can only be described by its surviving victims as a large and foul-smelling monster. Soon, agents from the Company-Hooker's old employer-are swarming the area in an effort to investigate the mysterious creature. Reluctantly, but with no real choice in the matter, Hooker is pressed back into service. Complicating matters is a Hollywood film crew hoping to use the events for a film, a group that has connections to Hooker's new love. As this book comes from the creator of P.I. Mike Hammer, it's not surprising that the writing occasionally sounds dated (e.g., Hooker's tendency to refer to women as "broads" or "dames," as though an older man couldn't learn new tricks). However, a well-constructed plot and perfect pacing more than make up for minor shortcomings. An excellent read; recommended for public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 8/03.]-Craig Shufelt, Lane P.L., Oxford, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews