I am sorry to report that after only a few weeks of dedicated service Bertha has been replaced. Lennie has now entered the game and he is proving to be rather a flashy character with a mind of his own. Suffice it so say that Windows8 and I are not the best of friends just yet.
I have had some time recently to read some more and I am starting to get a backlog of books again so let us begin our review journey today and see how far we get. I think I have about an hour or so before the telly calls so let's get cracking.
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
Let me start of by saying that this would have been a far more enjoyable read had it not been for the many spelling errors in it! I am pretty sure they are not Hammett's.. Bad editor... bad bad publisher!!
This story introduces us to Sam Spade, a hard boiled detective trying to make sense of a confusing situation where everyone is trying to get one over on the others. In a way Sam is caught in the middle, in a way he is the one who gets out with his life pretty much in tact and his bank balance vastly improved.
Sam is approached by a woman with a hard luck story which turns into a search for a statue that is believed to be invaluable. There are so many twists and turns in this one that I almost lost track of what was going on and doubted that our Sam even knew what was going on. But, him being the hero that he is, naturally he knew exactly what to do and who to try and con.
So, we have Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer who are hired by a lovely young lady, Miss Wonderly who tells them she wants to find her sister who has fallen in with the wrong guy, might be in danger etc etc. Spade can smell a ruse a mile off but still decides to take the case. Archer is sent off to find out the target, bullets fly and Mr Archer snuffs it about 7 pages into the story. Leaving Sam to console the widow Archer whom, so we find out later, he knows quite intimately already. Next we find out that Miss Wonderly is actually Miss O'Shaughnessy) and that she is trying to get her hands on a little item that was lost. Also after said item is Mr Joel Cairo. He is described as a queer little man, and he comes across as a bit of a weasel. He also comes across as a man who would do anything for money and double cross his own mother in a heartbeat. Mr Cairo wants Spade to help him locate a little ornament that has been misplaced. Joel is working for a man who is very eager to get this ornament back and is willing to offer Sam $5000 to help him. Sam seems to have no problems taking money from either party in this little game so he promises to see what he can do for Joel's boss Mr Gutman. Sam and Mr Gutman play a very nice game a bluff poker and in the end Sam finds out what he needs to know about what it actually is he is trying to find. By some weird coincidence the item in question lands itself right on Spade's doorstep and we can go to the final play.
In a brilliant few chapters Spade and the others involved together decide on how the game is to be played and who is going to be sacrificed to the cops. Then, just when you think there is going to be a happy ever after for Sam he turns the tables on you again and lays into Miss O. In the end we get the whole story from her side and even she is sacrificed to the cops as she turns out to have killed his partner Miles. As Sam says... "I won't play the sap for you".
I loved this one. The dialogue is snappy and lively, Sam has a great sense of humour and a real presence in the book. the other characters are great fun to read and the interactions between Sam and Mr Gutman and Joel Cairo are really well written. There is fun, blood, people being knocked out and betrayed. We have the bungling policeman (classic good cop - bad cop) who get spun a story and buy it and above all we have Sam who gets away with his life in tact... Go Sam!
Title: The Maltese Falcon
Author: Dashiell Hammett
197 pages
Thinking Ink Media
ISBN #978-1-907590-32-0
Books to be read: 149
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