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    The Maltese Falcon
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    The Maltese Falcon
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    The Maltese Falcon
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Maltese Falcon

    Written by Dashiell Hammett

    Narrated by Eric Meyers

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A beautiful woman asks private eye Sam Spade for his help. Spade doesn’t believe her story, and when his partner gets murdered it soon becomes clear that he’s right. As he digs deeper, he realises everyone is chasing the enigmatic falcon and is willing to kill for it. He also realises there is no-one he can trust – not the unctuous Fat Man, not the shrill Joel Cairo, not the suspicious police, and especially not the bewitching Brigid O’Shaughnessy. The Maltese Falcon – dry, uncluttered, witty and darkly unsentimental – is the finest book of its kind ever written.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateMar 1, 2011
    ISBN9781843794813
    Unavailable
    The Maltese Falcon
    Author

    Dashiell Hammett

    Samuel Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) was an American novelist and short story writer, best known for his "hard-boiled" detective fiction and the iconic characters he created for his books, including the Continental Op (Red Harvest and the Dain Curse), Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon), and Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man). Hammett is considered one of the finest mystery/detective writers of the 20th century. As a young man, Hammett signed up to be an operative for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, but the agency's role in strike-breaking soured Hammett to Pinkerton and he joined the Army in 1918 and served in World War I. While in the Army, Hammett contracted tuberculosis and the ill-effects of his consumption would plague Hammett for the rest of his life. In 1922, Hammett began to publish short stories in some of the popular mystery magazines of the era, particularly Black Mask, for whom he wrote a number of stories featuring his nameless private investigator, the Continental Op. He began producing these stories at a furious rate, eventually expanding into novels - Red Harvest and The Dain Curse - which he serialized in Black Mask prior to publication. In 1930, Hammett wrote The Maltese Falcon, which featured Sam Spade, one of the most popular characters in all of detective fiction. Then, in 1934, Hammett topped himself, creating Nick and Nora Charles, the protagonists of the wildly popular book The Thin Man. Both would later be adapted into successful motion pictures, the latter spawning five sequels. Once Hammett moved to Hollywood and began writing screenplays, his fiction writing almost entirely ceased. His activism in left-wing politics would eventually lead to Hammett being placed on the "blacklist." Hammett's career troubles were exacerbated by his alcoholism and his drinking, in turn, worsened his health. He died of lung cancer in 1961.Despite his life and career struggles later in life, Dashiell Hammett is still considered one of the greatest mystery writers of all time and his work proved to be an inspiration to an entire generation of young authors from Ernest Hemingway to Raymond Chandler and many others.

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    Reviews for The Maltese Falcon

    4/5

    2,366 ratings122 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This is my introduction to classic hard-boiled detective fiction. Sam and Miles are rough characters from go, to demonstrate that heroes can be as lethal as the villains and an even match for them. Chapter Two has an incredible hook, and then it's off to the races. Sam understands very little about who is hiring him or why they think he's the best man for the job, introducing a layered mystery plot. He demonstrates his skill at taking things as they come, and so must the reader. Either Sam knows more than we do, he is figuring it out faster, or he is just really quick on his feet. Any of these interpretations works, but the last is well supported by the wrap-up. The fantastic battle-of-wits dialogue reminds me of Asimov but with a thick layer of emotion spread over it; there's nothing robotic about these characters.
    • 5/5
      A wonderful crime novel from the 30's. I've wanted to read this novel for many years now and finally got around to it and I am so glad that I did. I am a huge fan of noir films and this novel really made me think of that. Vivid story line with clear and interesting prose. Full of poignant imagery and great plot twists.
    • 4/5
      A classic of the genre. A novel so influential that you can't help but notice all the pop-culture references to it as you are reading.
    • 3/5
      Well, it was as stereotypical of hard drinking, cigarette smoking detectives as Nick and Nora embodied the roaring twenties, I suppose. The only thing Spade didn't do was call all women "dames." For all the reasons I liked [The Thin Man], I had to dislike this book. The characters were so flat it was ridiculous. Only Spade had any dimensionality to him, and I was never certain that he was the good guy he played at, or the bad boy he flaunted.I am glad, though, that I read both sides of Hammett.
    • 2/5
      The story is of it's time. The characters are flat, especially the women who all just seem to drape over Spade within moments of meeting him, which was annoying. I can see why this is a "classic," as it sets a mold for so much of the noir genre. Not my cup of tea.
    • 3/5
      There's something slightly compelling about the style in which this hardboiled detective story is written--it's very filmic, largely just showing the reader the action without commenting on it or getting into characters' heads. But the slight interest I had in the style did not make up for the rest of the thing, which was homophobic, misogynistic, and kind of boring. I was never interested in any of the characters, the plot never really takes off (there's little detecting, little following clues or figuring things out on the page), and the end makes me crazy. Meh.
    • 2/5
      I was fortunate to begin reading Hammett in more-or-less chronological order, meaning I read his Continental Op tales first. This was a good thing because had I read Maltese Falcon, Glass Key, or Thin Man first I would never have read Op. Hammett started out so well on Op, but he went steadily downhill after that. Falcon is bad, really bad...but Key and Thin are increasingly worse. His stories and prose deteriorate with each passing paragraph. Hammett for me has always been the type of author whom I enjoy HOW he writes more than WHAT he writes. In the Op Hammett gave us an interesting enigmatic character. Unfortunately he fizzled out quickly after that. Sam Spade is a thug who somehow thinks he's an intellectual. And for the life of me, I still don't know what was the point of the "falling beams" story.
    • 3/5
      The hardboiled P.I. modelSam Spade may have been predated by Hammett's "The Continental Op" but the anonymous nature of the Op agent doesn't leave the same firm picture in your mind that Sam Spade does. That image is also indelibly linked to the iconic Humphrey Bogart in the onscreen role.There are so many later stereotypes fixed in place by this one novel that to look back on it now can make you think it is a parody of the style rather than the original boilerplate. I've read it several times now and this late revisit was due to an opportunity presented by the Audible Daily Deal. The reading by Eric Meyer was excellent, especially for the boss-man role of Casper Gutman, the sidekick Mr. Cairo and the gunsel Wilmer Cook.
    • 5/5
      I have always wanted to read this book. I am glad our library book club chose this one. It is about a detective that gets hired by a woman who is part of a ring of thieves. The twists and turns the story takes made for an interesting ride.
    • 3/5
      I'm rather conflicted about this book. On the one hand, it kind of gave birth to a new genre, and the film with Humphrey Bogart is legendary. But on the other - the action almost entirely happens off-screen, leaving the reader to imagine what is going on; and the writing is almost comically sexist and homophobic. Is this still a book we want to be celebrating in 2017? Can we forgive the time in which it was written? It's hard to be sure.
    • 2/5
      This is supposed to be a book that helped create and define a genre, but I was completely underwhelmed.There was so much promise to the book, but I felt in a lot of areas it really fell short. There was certainly a lack in character development and absolutely no suspense or climax to speak of. There was no spark to keep me interested and I only finished it as it was a book club pick.
    • 4/5
      I'm a mystery kinda girl, and this hit the spot.
      Sam Spade is the kind of person I don't like...a real private (figure it out) in more ways than one.
      But despite the characters flaws and the heterosexist privilege rampant in the book, I really enjoyed it. The mood, the language, the clever ways of getting around the censors--this is a book worth reading.
    • 2/5
      Old fashioned, poor dialogue, stereotypical behavior. Too much description of Spade rolling many cigarettes. And stupid descriptions like "her lip was between her teeth" instead of "she bit her lip".
    • 3/5
      I haven't had the opportunity to read many crime detective noir novels and this one was an interesting one to start out with. I've never seen the movie version so I honestly didn't know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's all macho men, witty dialogue, damsels in distress, stolen goods, and lots and lots of drinking. So honestly, why am I just now getting into noir novels?!? They seem right up my alley!! This was a fun, albeit semi slow paced introduction for me into the world of the hard nosed detective. I'll definitely be coming back for more.
    • 5/5
      What makes this book interesting is the main character, Sam Spade. It's an interesting and enjoyable noir story, but Spade's ruthless personality gives the story a different edge that really makes it interesting.
    • 5/5
      What can you say about Sam Spade that hasn't already been said? Dashiell Hammett spawned a whole genre of rain-coat wearing, smoking, drinking, hard-nosed, no-nonsense private detectives....
    • 4/5
      I don't know why I avoided reading Dashiell Hammett. I knew he was an influence on Raymond Chandler, whose work I love, but I only had the vaguest idea about what The Maltese Falcon was about. Turns out, it's not that different to Raymond Chandler's work, and Sam Spade is in the same mould as Philip Marlowe (well, the other way round, technically). It's the same sort of world, the same sort of morals, and though I think Raymond Chandler's writing was a lot more sharp and clear, a lot more new, Dashiell Hammett is nothing to sniff at. And, actually, I think his plots are that mite easier to follow.

      Sam Spade's a good character -- it's hard to follow his motivations at times, hard to figure out what he'll do, but he also makes his own kind of sense. And he has some excellent lines.
    • 4/5
      About halfway through this classic, I realized I had never read the book, only seen the movie. John Huston is credited with the script but key dialogue seems to me to have been lifted from the book verbatim. And why not? Even knowing how it ends from the film, I enjoyed the puzzle and the intricate-seeming but straightforward plot.
    • 5/5
      Hammett uses a completely different style of writing than the typical detective novel: he describes scenes, wardrobes, and characters in such detail that a photograph or sketch would be completely unnecessary.
    • 4/5
      Well, as a detective story, while it's often talked of as one of the best ever written, I would give it only three stars. However, and it really only becomes this in the last few pages, I realized this book, almost as much as it is a detective story, is about the very complicated relationships between men and women, and of loyalty. The figure of Sam Spade and the women around him is so much deeper when thinking about that. He's a terrible misogynist, as a hard-boiled 1920s detective would be expected to be, but he's not shallow, and he's not cruel, not really. Very interesting.
    • 5/5
      Ah, this book is a blast. It's so, like...you go in expecting a hard-boiled detective, all that stuff you heard about, and it totally delivers. Sam Spade is everything you want him to be. And so is the femme fatale. Just glorious shit.

      One thing: Maltese Falcon catches flack for being homophobic: Cairo is of course gay, and Wilmer is not-so-subtly his...let's call it a catamite just to be old-school. They're both sneered at, certainly by Spade and probably by the novel. But: the men in the book are constantly and carefully and physically described. The women, not so much. There are an awful lot of references to men's chests and such; but even when Brigit gets herself naked, it's not exactly lingered over. I mean this seriously: is this book kinda gay?

      The other fun question, and the more obvious one, is to what extent Spade is a good guy. Is he improvising the whole time? Would he have taken the money, had he had the opportunity? The only way I can read him is as a guy who's honestly not thinking about what comes next, which makes him more or less suicidal; he's utterly fucking around for the whole book, with little thought as to what his own end game is. That jibes with the final scene, where - all more risky conclusions featuring gobs of money or death having not worked out - Spade wearily faces Iva. Dude doesn't actually even have a life; everything that really happens to him is terrible. He gives Brigit up because he can't bear the possibility of someone getting over on him, or of jail...but if he'd just gotten his ass shot, I don't think he would have minded as much.

      Kinsey Milhone would have dumped him, but Spade is a better character. Thumbs up; this book is great.
    • 4/5
      Could not help but envision Bogart, Peter Lorri, Greenstreet, etc. in the rolls as I read the book. Sure it is very cliche-ish, but that is sort of like saying the you don't read Shakespeare because it is full of cliches. Well worth the ride.
    • 5/5
      In a little over 200 pages, the Maltese Falcon is a complete and engaging murder detective story with believable characters and a lot of loose ends well tied up at the end. It's too bad there aren't more crime/mystery/suspense books being written these days that can do all that with less than 600 pages. Recommended! Much better as a mystery than The Thin Man, the other Hammett book I've read so far. Both are enjoyable reads, but the Maltese Falcon is more of an actual mystery.I've never seen the famous movie, and can't imagine why the goofy Bogart was cast to play Spade.
    • 5/5
      I reread this in preparation to read Spade and Archer, an unofficial prequel to Hammett's story. It remains an excellent read, with an incredibly complex plot, filled with twists and double crosses, but always held together by the ambiguously amoral heart beating in Sam Spade's chest.

      The book begins by describing him as diabolic and it's hard to argue that he doesn't always act in his own self-interest. But at the same time, he never strays from his own personal code, tirelessly pushing to be sure that the guilty are punished and the innocent avenged. Hammett's brilliance is that his devil isn't evil, but rather endlessly aware of and seeking out the evil in other men.
    • 4/5
      When in doubt, read some noir. There's nothing like a mystery filled with bad people to reaffirm that all is right with the world.
    • 4/5
      The Maltese Falcon is pretty much the epitome of the noir detective novel, with Sam Spade playing the part of hard-boiled detective and Brigid O'Shaughnessy the femme fatale that leads him into intrigue and danger. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the first (because I have not clue as to whether that's true or not), but this book when it came out certainly gave to the popularity of the genre, influencing a number of books and movies that would come after. This influence in understandable, as the writing is snappy and the mystery quite fun. My only complaint is that since it was published in 1930 it presents a backwards view of women, as well as brief moments homophobia and racism. Every time Spade patronized his secretary or other women in the novel by talking down to them, patting them on the head, whispering in their ear, or in other ways performed acts of touching that would have been inappropriate today, I couldn't help but cringe. The sexism is just so present and accepted. While I understand that this is a result of the era in which it was written, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be talked about or pointed out. Despite this, The Maltese Falcon is full of twists and turns and action and suspense, and is absolutely a quick and fun read.
    • 4/5
      My first Dashiell Hammett book. It was a quick, easy read that I really enjoyed. Sam is a detective who takes a case that seems slightly odd and suspect and there the story goes. Lots of enjoyable turns in the story and none of the sappy positions women are so often in of books written before I was born.
    • 4/5
      As it always does, it starts with a dame. Tough as nails PI Sam Spade is hired by Miss Wonderly to find her sister. It seems like she's taken up with the wrong sort of man and is refusing to see sense and won't even talk face to face so Sam is employed to follow the man and find her. Miles, Sam's partner, volunteer's to take the duty and soon ends up dead so are things quite so straightforward as the client made them seem?Spade is quite cold and detached to pretty much everyone in his life but manages to string along the three women involved in the story even though he doesn't exactly treat them well. The characters are never fully explored as not once do you get inside the head of any of them including the main character of Spade himself. Even so, the writing is descriptive enough to manage to form your own opinions of how they are developing and so adding the interior thoughts may actually detract from the whole. The dialogue and prose are very evocative of the time and the setting of late twenties San Francisco is used to create a vivid atmosphere. It's been many years since I've seen the movie adaptation but from what I can remember the film follows the book quite well so it might be worth allowing some space in-between reading and watching your chosen media.
    • 3/5
      Great book but this "reading" seems like a wonderful idea that didn't pan out. Michael Madsen actually sounds like he is reading a script (normally the audio book narrators do NOT sound like they are reading.) Having different actors read the third person description of their character isn't workinf for me either.
    • 3/5
      I'd never read any hard-boiled fiction before, but I feel like I got the gist of the genre from reading this. It was very riveting (cliffhangers galore!), but as a whole it left me a little flat. The story was interesting, but I felt it definitely could have been fleshed out a bit more, and the ending was a little too abrupt. In any case, Hammett spun a pretty decent yarn which I'm sure was even more exciting back when it was written.