Book Review: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Interesting story, strong main character

Cons: Pacing slow at the end, writing style needed some polish

The Bottom Line:

Famous noir novel

Doesn't quite stand up today

But still a good read

A Genre Defining Novel

It's a normal afternoon when a beautiful woman walks into the private eye office of Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer. She shared with them a tale of woe about a sister who has run off with a horrible man. The woman hires them to follow this man, and Archer jumps at the job.

Spade is awakened that night to learn that Archer has been murdered. A little while later, their target is also murdered. The police are intent to place the blame for one of these to crimes squarely on Spade's shoulders, a thought he doesn't relish in the least.

It's the next morning when the client walks back into the office. Sam quickly learns that her real name is Brigid O'Shaughnessy. But she still claims to be in real trouble, with men after her. It's very slowly Spade learns that she is involved in a quest to gain a statue worth millions. Many people would kill to gain this statue. Is Sam in over his head? Who has the statue? And who really killed Miles Archer?

Anyone who reads my reviews knows I prefer the cozy or comic mystery over the noir genre. But my curiosity about this classic got the better of me, so I listened to it on tape on a recent car trip. There were parts I enjoyed, but over all, it felt a little empty to me.

Of course, part of that could be the time difference. When the book first came out in 1930, the loner PI who struggles with his conscience while smoking and drinking his way through a case wasn't a cliche. In fact, Spade has many literary sons in the PI's of page and screen over the last 65 years. Even though he's now a cliche, I found I actually grew to like Sam and wanted him to find a way out of this mess alive. His quick wits and smart deductions made me like him, even if his moral flaws turned me off.

The storyline was interesting as well. There were several nice twists that I halfway expected but wasn't completely certain about. Others caught me completely off guard. There was enough action to hold my attention most of the time. Ironically, as the book neared its climax, the story seemed to slow down. The last two chapters, especially, were much slower then I would have liked.

The writing style seemed choppy to me as well. Since I listened to the book instead of reading it, some of the fault may lie with the reader. Still, the final scene seemed overly melodramatic to me. And at times, the dialogue was choppy as one character was monologing when it felt natural for another person in the scene to respond to what they were saying.

Of course, I'm more then willing to admit, the biggest problem with The Maltese Falcon could have been me. My natural dislike of PI novels could have made me pickier when evaluating it. Those who enjoy the genre should certainly give this undisputed classic a chance. The rest of us will likely not be as enthralled by the tale, although there's certainly no harm in its consumption.