The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett
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The Maltese Falcon

Author: Dashiell Hammett

Narrator: Robertson Dean

Unabridged: 7 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/15/2019


Synopsis

The definitive masterpiece of the hard-boiled detective genre, The Maltese Falcon first appeared in the pages of Black Mask magazine in 1929 and was almost immediately acknowledged as not only a great crime novel but an enduring masterpiece of American fiction.Tough, cynical PI Sam Spade—a man who, as his creator explained, is “able to take care of himself in any situation, able to get the best of anybody he comes in contact with”—is hired by the story’s irresistible femme fatale, Brigid O’Shaughnessy, to locate the client’s sister by tailing her companion. Spade’s partner, Miles Archer, takes on the assignment, and quickly both he and the man he was shadowing are murdered. As Spade pursues the mystery of his partner’s death, he is drawn into a circle of colorful characters—all of them after a legendary statuette of a falcon fashioned long ago for King Charles V of Spain.Made of gold and encrusted with jewels, the falcon is worth a fortune. Missing for centuries, it resurfaced in Paris in 1911, covered in black enamel to disguise its value, and then disappeared again until it was traced to Constantinople—and now, it would seem, to Spade’s own backyard.

About Dashiell Hammett

Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961) was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He is widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time. In addition to The Maltese Falcon, his pioneering novels include Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Glass Key, and the #1 New York Times bestseller The Thin Man.

About Robertson Dean

Robertson Dean has recorded hundreds of audiobooks in most every genre. He's been nominated for several Audie Awards, won eight Earphones Awards, and was named one of AudioFile magazine's Best Voices of 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, where he records books and acts in film, TV, and (especially) on stage.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Kevin

Sam Spade doesn’t need to go looking for trouble, trouble finds him. I found an interesting old hardbound version of this novel at a used bookstore and I couldn’t resist it. Dashiell Hammett wrote this story originally as a serial in the magazine Black Mask. It was eventually published as a novel in......more

Goodreads review by Glenn

My top ten reasons why this Dashiell Hammett is one of the greatest crime novels ever written: 1. The Voice – Tough, Crisp hardboiled – the story isn’t told in first-person but certainly has the feel of first-person since we are so close to Sam Spade it’s as if we’re peering over the detective’s shou......more


Quotes

“Hammett’s prose [is] clean and entirely unique. His characters [are] as sharply and economically defined as any in American fiction.” New York Times

“Jumps from the pages of its genre and into literature…Dorothy Parker, never a pushover,…claimed to have read the novel some thirty or forty times…Hammett was an original who created a profoundly influential literary template.” Guardian (London)

“Hammett virtually invented the hard-boiled crime novel…One of the best-known detective novels ever printed.” Washington Post

The Maltese Falcon is not only probably the best detective story we have ever read, it is an exceedingly well written novel.” Times Literary Supplement (London)

“Dashiell Hammett…is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer.” Boston Globe