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The Maltese Falcon - Unabridged

By Dashiell Hammett & Kevin Theis
The Maltese Falcon - Unabridged by Dashiell Hammett & Kevin Theis digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

Dashiell Hammett was already a well-established hard-boiled mystery writer by the time he released what would turn out to be his masterpiece, "The Maltese Falcon" in 1930. But with the release of this novel, Hammett would be catapulted to the forefront of American crime writers. The novel has been adapted several times for the screen and the 1941 film version - starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor - has become a film noir classic.  

The story opens in the offices of Spade and Archer, a private detective agency run by partners, Sam Spade and Miles Archer. When they are approached by an enigmatic young woman - called "Miss Wonderley" - to follow a man who has run off with her sister, Archer opts to take the initial shift...and is shot and killed his first night on the job.  

Spade discovers that "Miss Wonderley" is, in fact, a treasure seeker named Brigid O'Shaunessey who, with several other disreputable characters, is on the hunt for a mysterious statue; a legendary, jewel-encrusted bird known as the Maltese Falcon. Multiple twists, turns, betrayals and complications ensue, resulting in one of the greatest crime novels of all time. Sam Spade is regularly cited as one of the most iconoclastic detectives in all of crime fiction.  

The book is presented here in its original and unabridged format.

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About 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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