Rating: 
Summary: More Than A Detective Story
Review: Several reviewers have said it's impossible not to picture John Huston's cast when reading this novel, even though Humphrey Bogart, for example, doesn't look like the Sam Spade described in the novel. It's true! You CAN'T not picture Bogart and Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet.
But that's not a minus. Just keep picturing them (which you won't be able to help) and read this book. It's like seeing an unexpurgated edition of the movie.
This book anticipates every detective novel written afterwards. If every character is a stock character, the unique thing is that each character is three-dimensional. Spade's secretary is dutiful and makes us laugh. But, Hammett shows why she is significant to Spade.
Some reviewers say Hammett doesn't let you know what any character is thinking. That's not true. The whole tale is filtered through Spade's mind. Crucial actions are left out so that we may be surprised at a few points, but we're never without Spade. It is entirely from Spade's view. The reader is alone with him when he searches an apartment. If we're not supposed to have an inkling of Sam Spade's thoughts, I've misread the whole book.
It is not amoral. Call Spade an anti-hero till you're blue in the face. He's a tough detective who does necessary things to solve his cases. As thrilling as his work is, he's not a thrill-seeker. If Spade takes some pleasure in the cruelty of his methods, it's because Hammett knows that an excellent detective can't despise his job.
On top of all this, the THE MALTESE FALCON has an almost Confucian moral.
Get it. Read it. You won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing, from chapter one to the end
Review: When I first saw this book at the store, I thought to myself "Hey, isn't that the movie with Humphrey Bogart?" I grabbed a copy off of the shelf, and put it in my reading pile. When I finally got around to it, I couldn't put it down until I reached the back cover.I think that the reason this book works so well is because of the characters (not that it's slacking in any other departments). From the first few paragraphs, you get a feeling that Samuel Spade is like no other fictional detectives. As you read further into the story, this becomes true. The other characters, mainly Brigid O'Shaughnessy and Casper Gutman, are unique in their own ways and help move the story along. The description is above reproach, giving the reader a true feeling for the setting, San Francisco, and the characters as well. Several tense scenes are relayed particularly well, and once resolved the readers feels some good relief. The dialogue in "The Maltese Falcon" is amongst my favorite. the book is quotable throughout, realistic and interesting. One famous and favorite line comes to mind, "When you're slapped, you'll take it and you'll like it!", which sums up a lot of Sam Spade himself. Highly recommended for mystery lovers, and readers in general.
Rating: 
Summary: Great writer, mediocre story
Review: As many other reviewers point out, Hammett's prose is about as clean and tight as it gets, and I love that aspect of the book. The problem is, the story is not very entertaining, and the characters are boring and lifeless. I didn't care who got that bird. I just couldn't wait for all of the zombie-like characters to go away. If you want to read a very skilled writer's prose, have at it. If your looking for entertainment, skip this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I am sorry but I am going to have to disagree with almost everyone who has written a review for The Maltese Falcon. Whether it is because I am used to reading Crais and Lehane and found a real shortage of action in this book, or whether it was because the characters were so unbelievable (if Gutman had said "By Gad sir" any more, I may have had to slit my wrists!) I know this book is 70 years or more old, but I just didn't find the conversations realistic. Anyway, I am sure my review won't put people off once they read everyone else's five star reviews, but just a word of warning, if you are used to people like Elvis Cole, you will just be disappointed by Sam Spade.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Detective Story
Review: I am not usually a huge fan of the detective genre but this book is great because it not only is a quick-paced, clever mystery, but it is a work of literature. I found it fascinating that Dashiel Hammet was able to develop excellent characters without ever revealing a subjective, internal thought. I had a profound sense of every character simply from Hammet's electrifying descriptions of their outward movements and dialogue. The interplay of the characters, along with the build-up of the plot, had me on the edge of my seat. I always had the impression that this would be a stale, one-dimensional book just because the old black and white films bore me (including the Maltese Falcon movie). Not even Humphrey Bogart was able to capture the complex, multi-dimensional flavor of the character of Sam Spade, which is so brilliantly thought out in this novel. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The classic detective novel
Review: A beautiful red-head walks into private detective Sam Spade's office one day, and he is soon neck-deep in the hunt for a fabled black bird that is supposed to be incredibly valuable. This is one of the most significant novels ever written in the mystery genre. Protagonist Spade is the epitome of the hard-boiled private dick, and author Dashiell Hammett's lean, economical style has influenced many of the writers who followed him. For me, the main attractions of this novel did not include the resolution of the mystery. I didn't really care about what happened to the black bird. I enjoyed Hammett's style, the sharp dialogue, and the intricate double-crosses that the various characters pull on each other with varying levels of success. The lengthy scene near the end of the story wherein Spade has all the principle characters together in one room and tries to hammer out an agreement that will allow most of them to get what they want while satisfying the police's need for a fall guy as well is a real highlight. This novel is cheerfully amoral and very entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: The stuff dreams are made of...
Review: Dashiell Hammett describes private-eye Sam Spade as "a blond Satan." The description applies to more than just the detectives physical description. I once heard James Ellroy claim to have been heavily influenced by Hammett, while not caring for Chandler. I think I understand that now. Ellroy's fiction contains no good guys. In fact, goodness itself seems absent from his world. He gets that from Hammett. Chandler's Philip Marlowe is always the lone good guy in a world filled with corruption. Spade is not a good man - he is demonic - but, like Satan, it is his lot to dispense justice. He doesn't care a lick that his partner is killed - why should he? He is having an affair with his wife. Hammett is also as eloquent as Chandler. The novel is filled with unforgettable characters like Cairo, Gutman, and even the black bird itself. The dialogue is classic noir: one can quote Spade like Shakespeare. The novel is as good a taut thriller as ever written. It, along with The Big Sleep and Double Indemnity, and the best works in the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Classic of objective style
Review: Hammett's classic tale of Sam Spade and a mysterious statuette is widely lauded as the "greatest detective novel of all time." While we should always be suspicious of such claims for a novel ("the greatest" by what standard?), "The Maltese Falcon" is certainly one of the most significant. It defined the 'hard-boiled' style, and inspired an entirely new genre in which the anti-heroic detective is just as tainted as the villains. What strikes the reader most about this novel is the absolute absence of interiority: there is not a single moment when the narrator takes us behind the eyes of a character and gives us direct access to his or her thoughts. Not once are we given this privileged position which, as readers of contemporary fiction, we're likely to take for granted. Any sign of what characters are thinking is given through facial expressions, gestures, or tone of voice. Even then, Hammett's descriptions are so cold and clinical that they read more like the stage directions for a screenplay or the dutifully enumerated details of a police report. Surprisingly, this makes the novel extremely visual - the absence of florid description forces the reader's imagination into action (note the number of reviewers who say, 'I hadn't seen the movie, but I could clearly see every moment of the story in my mind.'). It's a clever choice for a detective novel, too. It makes us proceed entirely from sensory clues, much like Spade has to. Showing us the world as the disenchanted Spade might see it - without feeling, without moral reflection, with nothing but objective physical reality - Hammett tells us more about his famous protagonist than two-hundred pages of purple prose could ever do. But by withholding from the reader vital details that Spade has long ago deduced, he is imbued with a frightening power which gives his early depiction as "a blond satan" a chilling resonance. Perhaps this is more than a detective story after all. Hammett's prose style certainly takes some getting used to. It's an adjustment that some readers might find difficult to make, and a novel they might enjoy more on reflection. It stays with you, that's for sure.
Rating:
Summary: One Great Story!!!
Review: When powerful men and beautiful women all share an interest in a legendary treasure, the results are lies, murder, deceit and treacherous behavior. When this plays out against the background of San Francisco, what you have is one of the great classic detective novels ever written!! Sam Spade works his way through all the lies and false trails to discover the truth. Even with the distraction of a beautiful young client, the death of his partner and the pursuit of Spade by the widow, he manages to determine what is really going on surrounding the Maltese Falcon and whether it exists at all. This is one great story, that will be enjoyed by all ages!!
Rating:
Summary: On Its Own Wings
Review: As for myself, I was entirely captivated and enthralled with reading this book. It was a book that, for once, I enjoyed reading as an assignment. First, a major plus of this particular novel was that for the entirety of the story, it kept my attention. Even the way that Hammett described with such amazing peculiarities, the nuances of our everyday existence, made me pay attention. Commonplace occurrences: telephone calls, walks to a restaurant, waiting for an elevator, looking at someone; all of these were written so that a person could identify with their own quirks that they realize they commit when engaging in these acts. Another pro of this book was the suspense. The way that Hammett kept hinting that Spade had the whole problem under control, but would not let the secret out, made me edge closer to the book, eager to see how the thing worked out. Besides those, the book even had exciting action. I have read stories where the action scenes were recognizable as action scenes, but were not intense or thrilling. Not so with The Maltese Falcon. The action sequences were riveting and contributed to the entertaining ability of the novel. Personally, I have a dry sense of humor. That is why I found the book so amusing. Hammett used the same kind of dry sarcasm in Spades dialogue, which was quite entertaining to read.
With that said, there were things that I found a little awry with the novel. First was the superhuman ability of Spade. Like Sherlock Holmes, he had everything pieced together before all the facts were in, and he had an uncanny ability for being in the right place at the right time, and getting anything that he needed. I do not know whether this was done on purpose or not, it just caught me by surprise when I was reading. Another problem I had was with the story. It was not with the story itself, as much as it was with the side stories. It seemed like Hammett introduces possibly another concurrent plot or storyline and then abandons it, as he did with the love affair between Sam Spade and Eva Archer, the widow of his partner Miles. Hammett also ties to explain the love affair between the siren O'Shaughnessy and Spade, but in doing so only confuses the reader. They conversed in the book about previous episodes that went unmentioned in the book until then, but the book ends and leaves strings untied. Honestly, those are the only quandaries I have found with this novel. It was a joy to read. It is highly recommended by me to anyone else to read.
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