Rating: 
Summary: Fans of "Miller's Crossing" Will Love This, Its Inspiration
Review: This is not only one of Hammett's best books, but the obvious inspiration for the Coen Brothers' film "Miller's Crossing." Its cynical, nasty view of corrupt city politics is refreshingly contemporary, and the book stands as one of the best of the 20s/30s all by itself, even today-- but film fans will get an extra kick out of the Coen's wholesale appropriation of language and characters as well. After "Red Harvest," this is my favorite Hammett. Well worth reading every few years.
Rating:
Summary: Fans of "Miller's Crossing" Will Love This, Its Inspiration
Review: This is not only one of Hammett's best books, but the obvious inspiration for the Coen Brothers' film "Miller's Crossing." Its cynical, nasty view of corrupt city politics is refreshingly contemporary, and the book stands as one of the best of the 20s/30s all by itself, even today-- but film fans will get an extra kick out of the Coen's wholesale appropriation of language and characters as well. After "Red Harvest," this is my favorite Hammett. Well worth reading every few years.
Rating:
Summary: A Primer on Local Politics
Review: This novel is about politics, his only work that doesn't deal with the hard-boiled detective that he invented. But Ned Beaumont (nee Schoenberg?) gets fixed up as a special investigator to look into the murder of the Senator's son. Ned tracks down the bookmaker who welshed and skipped town, and uses "the hat trick" to claim his winnings; money is power. Afterwards he acts like a private detective as well as a political crony. Disagreeing with Paul Madvig, he meets Shad O'Rory; Shad tries bribery and torture to get Ned to betray his friend Paul. Ned escapes this trap, and helps to solve the murder of an eye-witness. In telling this, the book shows how a newspaper can slant the news: "they wouldn't print it if it wasn't true"!
This novel seems to be a variation on Hammett's detective stories, using "politics" as the "root of evil". But there is a relationship between political power and the love of money. This book shows government functioning as a feudal system: a ruler accepts loyalty from his subjects, and in turn helps and supports them. But the ruler may accept an election loss if that will punish disloyalty and keep his personal power. Could a blue-blooded aristocratic politician sacrifice his son, pimp his daughter, and attempt murder to keep political power? You can judge how this novel approximates the real world. (The book mentions that New York is a train ride away; does this imply Albany or Philadelphia?)
Rating: 
Summary: A change of pace for Hammett
Review: This time around, the main character is not a detective, but a gambler with political friends & enemies, one friend in particular. While there is a dead body early in the story, this protagonist doesn't seem all that interested in who the murderer is until the pivotal scene when he gets severely beaten for not turning on his former friend who he's temporarily on the outs with. I've noticed this plot gimmick more than once in Hammett. The rascally characters bring the protagonist's wrath upon them by needlessly attacking him. That happened in one of the shorter Continental Op stories and then again in Red Harvest and now in this one. One could put The Maltese Falcon in that class also. Personally, I had trouble liking the characters until that pivotal scene, and then only did I get involved with them. So I do feel that this had the weakest opening of Hammett's major works. However, once one gets through the first part, it becomes as riveting as any of Hammett's. So I do very much recommend this one along with Hammett's other books.
Rating:
Summary: A change of pace for Hammett
Review: This time around, the main character is not a detective, but a gambler with political friends & enemies, one friend in particular. While there is a dead body early in the story, this protagonist doesn't seem all that interested in who the murderer is until the pivotal scene when he gets severely beaten for not turning on his former friend who he's temporarily on the outs with. I've noticed this plot gimmick more than once in Hammett. The rascally characters bring the protagonist's wrath upon them by needlessly attacking him. That happened in one of the shorter Continental Op stories and then again in Red Harvest and now in this one. One could put The Maltese Falcon in that class also. Personally, I had trouble liking the characters until that pivotal scene, and then only did I get involved with them. So I do feel that this had the weakest opening of Hammett's major works. However, once one gets through the first part, it becomes as riveting as any of Hammett's. So I do very much recommend this one along with Hammett's other books.
Rating:
Summary: A change of pace for Hammett
Review: This time around, the main character is not a detective, but a gambler with political friends & enemies, one friend in particular. While there is a dead body early in the story, this protagonist doesn't seem all that interested in who the murderer is until the pivotal scene when he gets severely beaten for not turning on his former friend who he's temporarily on the outs with. I've noticed this plot gimmick more than once in Hammett. The rascally characters bring the protagonist's wrath upon them by needlessly attacking him. That happened in one of the shorter Continental Op stories and then again in Red Harvest and now in this one. One could put The Maltese Falcon in that class also. Personally, I had trouble liking the characters until that pivotal scene, and then only did I get involved with them. So I do feel that this had the weakest opening of Hammett's major works. However, once one gets through the first part, it becomes as riveting as any of Hammett's. So I do very much recommend this one along with Hammett's other books.
Rating:
Summary: The master at the peak of his powers
Review: When you've finished reading this novel (and if you care anything about the American detective story, you will read this novel), think back. Can you recall even the slightest hint of emotion, or the smallest display of caring by one individual for another? I don't think so, and this is the essence of hard-boiled detective stories. Don't get me wrong. You know Ned Beaumont cares about those he is trying to help, and gets beat up for. He's much too tough to show it, though, and that's the key. That's why they call it tough-guy fiction. This story is straight-on, airtight, wonderfully written. In one eighteen-month period Hammett wrote The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key. Amazing. We shall never see his like again. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The master at the peak of his powers
Review: When you've finished reading this novel (and if you care anything about the American detective story, you will read this novel), think back. Can you recall even the slightest hint of emotion, or the smallest display of caring by one individual for another? I don't think so, and this is the essence of hard-boiled detective stories. Don't get me wrong. You know Ned Beaumont cares about those he is trying to help, and gets beat up for. He's much too tough to show it, though, and that's the key. That's why they call it tough-guy fiction. This story is straight-on, airtight, wonderfully written. In one eighteen-month period Hammett wrote The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key. Amazing. We shall never see his like again. Highly recommended.
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