Rating: 
Summary: One of the best hard-boiled novels ever written
Review: Dashiell Hammett's gritty created world is alive with slick original lingo and larger-than-life characters, most of whom are up to no good. The book opens with the now legendary gumshoe Sam Spade, described here as a "blonde Satan," in a style that has since been imitated several times over. A beautiful client enters his office and the rich dialogue that ensues begins an uphill tale of suspense and intrigue that makes for the wonderful page-turner that is The Maltese Falcon. A classic in truest form, Falcon is easily one of the greatest detective novels ever written, with its smooth, original language and fleshed out characters (notably Gutman and Joel Cairo). A must read for those of you who want to be entertained, and a gem for those who love good literature. Hammett at his best!
Rating:
Summary: As good as the movie, which is saying a great deal
Review: "The Maltese Falcon" is better known to most of the public these days from the movie -- which is as close to a perfect adaptation as any movie has ever gotten. The novel is just as wonderful, if not more. There is a certain muscular quality to Hammett's prose that is mirrored by Huston's graphics, but Hammett has to be read to see what marvelous sentences he constructed. There are a few significant differences from the movie: Sam Spade in the book is described as a "blond Satan," and the heroic quality that Humphrey Bogart projected is darker in the novel. There is a long story, told while Brigid and Sam wait, about a man named Flitcraft who disappears; the story is central to understanding Sam's view of humanity. And there is Gutman's daughter, who is cut completely from the film. There are other minor differences, but taken all in all, the movie served the book well. Fans of the movie will love the novel, and fans of the mystery and detective genre who haven't read Dashiell Hammett are missing the genesis of the hard-boiled detective. An outstanding read!
Rating:
Summary: One of Hammett's Best. Masterpiece of the Genre.
Review: "The Maltese Falcon" is one of Dashiell Hammett's most popular novels and one of his best. It originally appeared in serial form in "Black Mask" magazine, 1929-1930. The stories in Hammett's novels are typically a mite uninteresting and the characters a little underwritten. Readers don't complain, because story and characters were never the point. They are the vehicle for Hammett's delicious hard-boiled language and biting social commentaries. Published in 1930, "The Maltese Falcon" is a noir masterpiece that offers the best of both worlds. It's full of the blunt talk and pervasive cynicism that typify the genre. But "The Maltese Falcon" also gives us an intricate story and better-drawn characters than is customary in Hammett's work, and it's his sexiest novel as well. Our detective is Sam Spade, a San Francisco private investigator who, with his partner Miles Archer, owns his own agency. Sam's a man in his thirties who has been around, seen every side of the law, and come away unimpressed. He's hardened; he's practical; he only cares that he come out on top of each case he investigates, and richer than when he started. One day a striking woman walks into his office distraught over her younger sister who has run off with a ne'er-do-well. Sam doesn't believe her story, but he believes her money. He takes the case, and his partner Miles is murdered as a result. To make matters worse, Sam is suspected of murdering the man who was suspected of Miles' murder. So he's left with little choice other than to track down his mysterious client and solve both crimes. Sam's trying to extricate himself from this mess only leads him into an ever-widening web of deceit. A Greek named Joel Cairo, a ruthless international fence named Gutman, and the various identities of Sam's lovely and seductive client are all after something which they will stop at nothing to get. Sam must find out what it is and where it is before the police conveniently pin everything on him. The novel's sinuous story and trio of well-drawn characters elevate "The Maltese Falcon" from good entertaining noir to just plain good writing. Sam Spade, his client Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and her enemy Joel Cairo are almost three-dimensional characters. Hammett reveals more of their manners and personalities than he usually does for his characters. And I think it's enough. If these characters were completely flushed out, it would take some of the edge off the story. I'm sure that the last thing Dashiell Hammett wanted to do was write a character study. Noir is by its nature cynical, but Hammett's cynicism is more audacious than most. It seems that in every novel he finds a new way to smack the reader in the face. I've often wondered if he developed his stories around that purpose. In any case, it's what I love about Hammett's work, and "The Maltese Falcon" excels in its cynicism as well as its story. This time the shocker is the book's attitude toward love: Our hero doesn't hesitate to sell someone that he loves down the river out of pride. He admits it, and he admits that he'll regret it....for a while. Money might have made a difference. He admits that too. "What of it?" says Sam. The last chapter of "The Maltese Falcon" is Dashiell Hammett in full force. I recommend reading it twice. There's no question that if you don't like bold-faced cynicism you won't like Dashiell Hammett's books. If you do like it, Hammett can't be beat. I'm admittedly difficult to please when it comes to fiction, even noir fiction. I nitpick about Hammett's work, which I like, and which any fan of the Unsentimental will like. For all of Hammett's ability to rattle readers by throwing basic moral assumptions back in their faces, and for all of his ability to entertain, his writing is rarely perfect. But "The Maltese Falcon" is nearly so. It's got sex, violence, story, characters, hard-boiled dialogue (but not as many great one-liners as some other of Hammett's novels), and relentless cynicism. "The Maltese Falcon" is a brilliant and very readable work of noir fiction that fans of unceremonious detectives won't want to miss. And it's a great American novel that I would recommend to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: None Better
Review: Why should anyone read THE MALTESE FALCON? The classic Bogart flick is a near-perfect redition of Dashiell Hammett's tough-guy dialogue. Director John Huston cast the film so well, that it's impossible to imagine the characters any other way. And in all its twists and turns, the movie captures every nuance of Hammett's plot, and even adds to the mix. So, again: Why should anyone read THE MALTESE FALCON? The same reason why the movie is so watchable time after time; If you haven't read it, you don't know how good it is, and if you have read it, it's so good, you can't wait to read it again. In THE MALTESE FALCON, Hammett nails every element of the detective genre so precisely, so superbly, that it's a wonder anyone ever tried to write another detective novel after him. There are simply none better, a detective novel that goes beyond its pulp roots, and enters the realm of 'capital L' Literature. The plot, for those three people who are unaware, is as follows; Detective Sam Spade has unwittingly become a pawn in a bizarre game of chess. After his partner Miles is killed, he finds himself immersed in a convoluted plot involving a double-dealing moll, a sly fat man, a creepy small man, and a treasured statue of a bird that, if it exists, is worth unimaginable riches. But Spade is unwilling to be used in such a fashion, and starts to set himself up as a player in the scheme, all the while trying madly to figure out exactly what he should do. I have always believed, in the best of the genre, that the actual plot comes second to the characters, and FALCON is no exception. Hammett's Spade is a remarkable resourceful character, living by a code that even he may not truly believe in. The characters of Gutman, Cairo, Brigid, and Wilmar are by turns despicable, evil, comical, and touching. Spade may be the driving force, but Hammett knows that Heaven is in the details; not one minor character is spared his sharp eye for character and ear for dialogue. But Hammett does not skimp on the plot, either. He is well aware of what Alfred Hitchcock named the 'MacGuffin"; the one object that motivates the characters. It doesn't matter whether or not the reader believes in it, it is only important that the characters believe. Hammett knows this, and uses the bird to unmask the evils that men do, the depths to which people will sink for greed, Spade included. They morally descend into murder, betrayal, and a surprising amount of sex (that the movie simply could not show, considering the age it was made in). But why is THE MALTESE FALCON so good? There are many other sterling examples out there, from Raymond Chander's FAREWELL MY LOVELY (a favorite of mine), to Walter Mosley's WHITE BUTTERFLY. But FALCON has that one elusive quality that will keep a reader coming back for more. I wish I knew what that was. I personally believe it is Hammett's understanding of the human condition, of the many contradictions that make up an individual. To use Spade as an example, Hammett has created a character who is cruel, and hard-headed, and greedy, and self-serving. Only a man who knows what a person is capable of could ever attempt to make someone like that the hero. P.S. Incidentally, unlike the otherwise perfect casting in the movie, Spade does not resemble Humphrey Bogart in the slightest. He is a tall, hulking figure, with thinning blond hair and sharp, angular features, often described as a 'blond Satan'. But it is remarkable that, despite this, Bogart's portrayal is so note-perfect that you can't help but picture him anyway.
Rating:
Summary: As good as the movie, which is saying a great deal
Review: "The Maltese Falcon" is better known to most of the public these days from the movie -- which is as close to a perfect adaptation as any movie has ever gotten. The novel is just as wonderful, if not more. There is a certain muscular quality to Hammett's prose that is mirrored by Huston's graphics, but Hammett has to be read to see what marvelous sentences he constructed. There are a few significant differences from the movie: Sam Spade in the book is described as a "blond Satan," and the heroic quality that Humphrey Bogart projected is darker in the novel. There is a long story, told while Brigid and Sam wait, about a man named Flitcraft who disappears; the story is central to understanding Sam's view of humanity. And there is Gutman's daughter, who is cut completely from the film. There are other minor differences, but taken all in all, the movie served the book well. Fans of the movie will love the novel, and fans of the mystery and detective genre who haven't read Dashiell Hammett are missing the genesis of the hard-boiled detective. An outstanding read!
Rating:
Summary: THE archetype of the detective genre
Review: Dashiell Hammett not only writes an amazing detective novel with the utmost suspense but also writes amazingly well -- detective novel or not. Perhaps he is undervalued in the scheme of things as far as his vast influence over the genre as a whole. Of late, however, he has received the credit he duly deserves since The Maltese Falcon is ranked as the #56 novel of the 20th Century by the Modern Library. Featuring the irrepressible straight-shooter Sam Spade and his unforgettably cunning and sexy female counterpart Brigid O'Shaughnessy, The Maltese Falcon has enough twists and turns to make your head spin. As if these two indelible characters and the super suave dialogue weren't enough, Hammett throws in such incomparable characters as The Fat Man (appropriately named Gutman), the effeminate weasel Joel Cairo, and, of course, the relentlessly maligned Wilmer, or The Undersized Shadow as the chapter is titled. Despite all of these great characters that complement the story, none shines as brightly as our gruff, cynical, and mercilessly shrewd hero and lady's man, Sam Spade. He means what he says and says what he means - you gotta love it. If you even remotely value fine (and highly entertaining) literature that is a great read even after having seen the equally great movie, then add this to your wish list today. "By Gad, sir, you are a character!" - Gutman to Spade
Rating: 
Summary: Counterfeit
Review: The mystery story is a morality tale and the tough guy genre started here. The very title is exotic. Dashiell Hammett was Raymond Chandler's model. Sam Spade is described as a blond Satan. His partner is Miles Archer. They are hired to secure the return of a Miss Wonderly's sister. Through the San Francisco PD Spade is called out because his partner is down, his Webley-Fosbery is missing a bullet. Miles Archer was supposed to be tailing Floyd Thursby. Thursby has been shot, too. Spade was involved with Archer's wife. There are, needless to say, complcations. Spade discovers that Miss Wonderly's name is really Brigid O'Shaughnessy. Soon Brigid is confronted with Spade's observation that she is feeding him rehearsed lines. A man named Flitcraft disappeared from a Tacoma suburb. When Spade found him in Spokane he and his wife divorced quietly. The man changed his life when he was nearly killed on a sidewalk by a falling beam. Brigid is surprised that Sam Spade takes such a high-handed manner with the police. Brigid claims that she and Floyd Thursby and Joe Cairo were involved in a plot to obtain the black bird, the Maltese falcon. She has not touched it and has only seen it once. It is possible police brutality was the norm in 1929 when THE MALTESE FALCON was written. At any rate, midway through the story, Joe Cairo receives a going over. Brigid is to stay with Spade's secretary, Effie Perrine, because it is feared she is in danger. The Maltese falcon has to do with tribute paid by the crusaders. The treasured piece ended up in the hands of a Greek dealer. It belongs to either a Russian general or to the King of Spain. It is discovered that Thursby was a bodyguard to a gangster, after all this is prohibition, who had immense gambling debts. Spade feels that his clients are entitled to a decent amount of secrecy and refuses to have discussions with the police who are attempting to disentangle the issues. Brigid, instead of staying with Effie, goes to the boat La Paloma, and the dying captain delivers the bird to Spade. In San Francisco I ate at John's Grill twice. From that location Sam Spade lurches into the finale of this crime novel, walking into a trap with Brigid. The story is high in atmospherics, ultimately dated, and curious. What is pictured is a man beset by evil forces on all sides. Under the circumstances a person has to take a line and stick to it. Brigid's attempt at trickery backfires and the treasure is a counterfeit.
Rating:
Summary: A True Classic
Review: What makes a classic? Perhaps that in itself is more of a discussion than is allowed in the Amazon word allotment, so I will limit myself to my personal definition: a classic has to be (a) good, (b) a work that has withstood the test of time and (c) make a mark in its genre. By this definition, the Maltese Falcon is a classic and I think few would disagree. This is the story of Sam Spade, who is hired along with his partner Miles Archer, for what should be a routine tailing job. When Archer winds up dead, followed shortly afterwards by his supposed killer, Spade himself winds up under intense police scrutiny, and that's only part of his problems. He is also entangled with a series of criminals after the black bird of the title. What makes the book special is Spade, the original tough-guy private eye. Spade is not so much tough physically - although he can hold his own - but in attitude. Spade's healthy belligerence towards the world is not the façade of a cowardly bully but rather a reflection of his strengths. He handles his problems with a mix of stoicism and faint amusement and presents an air of amorality that may be more pretense than reality. In brief, he is a well-developed character who moves the story along. Hammett is not a perfect writer but this book is good enough and significant enough to rate an easy five stars. Although it may seem tame or routine to modern readers, in the context of its time, this book was groundbreaking. This is a classic of not only mysteries but also American literature.
Rating:
Summary: Prime noir
Review: Smoky offices with names on the doors. Femme fatales begging for help. Sinister men in trenchcoats. Mysterious shootings. A cultured Fat Man, a conflicted PI, and a mystery object everyone wants. Hardboiled detective fiction was exemplified in "The Maltese Falcon," and now it's the standard. "Shoo her in, darling." A beautiful red-haired woman comes into Miles & Archer's detective agency. She claims to be looking for her sister, who has supposedly gone off with a guy called Thursby, and pays the two private eyes too much money. Later on, Miles is shot -- and no one knows who did it. Since Spade has been dallying with Miles' wife, he's a prime suspect. Things go from bad to worse when Spade is kicked around by little weaselly Joel Cairo and the mysterious Fat Man. They, like the red-headed Brigid O'Shaugnessy, are searching for the priceless Maltese Falcon, a jeweled bird statue covered in black enamel. Who has the Falcon? Who stole it? Who killed for it? And who might kill again to get it back? Everybody's seen the movie adaptation, starring Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade. So it's a little hard to not see him as Spade, however different Bogart looked. The same atmosphere is here, but it's much more sinister than the movie, or even of Hammett's other detective novels. The writing is fantastic. Hammett's style is sharp and lean, without a lot of description where it isn't needed. Instead of giving us a feature-by-feature description of Spade, he just says that Spade looks like a "blond Satan." Interpret that as you will. The dialogue is sharp and often a lot more realistic than you'd expect. What's astonishing is that Hammett shows us the characters just through their actions. Not a single thought is revealed. Antiheroes are hard to write, but Hammett did it best. Morality is a palette of grays here; nobody is really good. If they're not outright despicable, then they have hidden creepy depths. Brigid O'Shaugnessy's little-girl act hides a nasty interior; Sam Spade, the "blond Satan," is as tainted a person as some of his enemies. Perhaps the only truly likable person is the smart secretary Effie. Lapse into the smoky, shadowed world of old San Francisco, where men and women from across the world pursue a priceless treasure. Sharp, dark and very twisted, this is a fantastic mystery and a great study of human nature.
Rating:
Summary: A hallmark of American detective fiction...
Review: This novel remains one of the original masterworks in the genre of American detective fiction-a genre Hammett virtually created single-handedly. Hammett captures the darkness of the underworld with such a subtle touch that it leaves the reader somewhat tainted and wiser for the experience. Perhaps even more influential than his ability to cast long shadows is his ability to capture the singularity of mind with which his champion takes on his case; Hammett's character development embodies simple brilliance and brilliant simplicity. Like all good detective novels, the morality is stark, and the purpose of each character is clearly defined. Unlike many modern writers, Hammett focuses more on the motivations of those struggling to do the right thing, not those who fecklessly step over the line and then lament about their self-inflicted conflicts. Absent from Archer and Spade are the clumsy, moralizing speeches so common in today's mystery fiction. Appropriately, the only reward for Hammett's detectives is in doing the right job and doing the job right. For those who like detective novels, this work is definitely worth some close scrutiny. Hammett gets high marks for originality, and his influence is clear even sixty years later. Careful readers will see the same stark, principled discipline in characters such as Travis McGee, Spenser, Lou Boldt, Lucas Davenport, and Harry Bosch, to name a few. All of these modern characters owe a great deal to the path blazed by Hammett in his ability to create a character worth caring about and a cause worth believing in. True fans of the genre can do little else than tip their hat to the master-and perhaps re-read this masterpiece every few years.
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