A coolly glittering gem of detective fiction that has haunted three generations of readers, from one of the greatest mystery writers of all time. A treasure worth killing for. Sam Spade, a slightly shopworn private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. A perfumed grafter named Joel Cairo, a fat man name Gutman, and Brigid O’Shaughnessy, a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift … whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime. These are the ingredients of Dashiell Hammett’s iconic, influential, and beloved The Maltese Falcon.
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THE MALTESE FALCON – In his best known book, Dashiell Hammett pens the stylish Sam Spade, protagonist of The Maltese Falcon. He’s tough enough to stand up to thugs or the police. He smells trouble when a buxom dame breezes into his office. Soon enough, his entire world will be turned upside down. Hammett wrote about detectives because he had been …
A classic of the hard-boiled detective genre. Sam Spade lives in a world with a very strict morality even though his isn’t always so moral.
Plus, they turned it into an awesome movie.
If you’ve never read crime fiction, or watched film noir The Maltese Falcon is a brilliant place to start. Reading the novel or the screenplay by John Houston will establish the genre for those interested in crime/suspense thrillers.
Essential reading for anyone serious about mysteries or hard-boiled crime fiction. Hammett is the grandfather of the hard-bitten private detective. While his Continental Op was the prototype for this kind of protagonist, Sam Spade is at the root of this now-large family tree, and The Maltese Falcon is his iconic case.
Expect sharp dialog, vivid …
A classic of the mystery genre.
This is a gem of a book and a terrific read. If you loved the movie, there’s good reason: The novel was turned into the screenplay almost word for word.
I have always loved the movie, so I thought I would check out the book. The writing is incredible, precise and yet weighty. This story is much darker than the movie, and I think it better displays Spade’s wit as a private investigator.
Personally I never fell for noir detective stories, but I was a kid, in an age, within which the overdose of available media had not yet happened. In the regular junk dished to us, back then, that movie was hyping the book splendidly well. And, even though crime fiction, nowadays, allows more book than one would need for university graduation, …
4 out of 5 stars to The Maltese Falcon, a classic mystery novel written in 1930 by Dashiell Hammett. If you ask a mystery fan when the genre started, a good chunk of them will say during the Golden Age (1920s & 30s) with authors like Dashiell Hammett, specifically with the creation of the Sam Spade character. Immediately what comes to mind is the …
Have you seen and liked the movie China Town? Well, when you read The Maltese Falcon you’ll step back into that type of world. A world of ruthless criminals who will let bodies pile up on their way to get what they want. A world of hard boiled skirt-chasing detectives who won’t quit a case no matter what.
In the beginning Sam Spade is described …
One of the masterpieces of the crime fiction/hard boiled detective genre written by one of the true masters, Dashiell Hammett.
Sam Spade is a PI, and when his partner is murdered, he starts to look at the case. Was it the case they’d just taken on for a beautiful client? Yes, it’s a giant of the genre, but I found it slow, especially at the end. Maybe that’s just how things have changed over the years.
A classic among detectives novels and inspiration for four film versions, The Maltese Falcon is required reading for any fan of the hard boiled detective. Sam Spade is on the case. A mysterious woman enters the offices of Spade and Archer with a case that got more holes in it than a pound of Swiss cheese. But she’s a looker so…Then Sam’s partner …