The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

If you are looking for a good detective mystery novel that ensnares your senses and leave you wanting for more at the end, then this novel may be the answer of your quest.

The protagonist Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer are private detectives cum muscle for hire who are always eager for any job until it is legit and pays well. So when the beautiful mysterious woman, Miss Wonderly shows up at their office and offers to pay hefty money for the simple assignment of keeping an eye on  a man, Floyd Thursby who allegedly eloped with her younger sister, Sam and Miles are more than happy to oblige Miss Wonderly, although Sam sense something troubling about this whole business.

Sam’s foreboding proves right. Soon Miles is found murdered and sooner than later Floyd also turns up dead. To make matters worse, Sam makes it to the top of the suspect list with the police for these murders and a little inquiry into the background of Miss Wonderly reveals that she is none that she claims to be. In fact, she could be more resourceful and dangerous than Sam ever imagined.

Moreover, other enigmatic, ruthless and dangerous men start visiting Sam, looking for a lost artifact called “The Maltese falcon”. Their offer is very simple, handsome payment in return of the artifact or deadly consequences of permanent nature if the artifact is not returned, but since Sam does not even know about the existence of this artifact then how possibly he can have it.

Now Sam must use all of his wit, skill and cunning to save his skin and solve the complicated puzzle of “The Maltese Falcon”.

This novel has an adrenalin-pumping story that delivers pure entertainment in no nonsense, to the point way. The plot is gritty, has plenty of twists and turns, and keeps you guessing until the end.

The one thing that I liked in particular about the character of Sam Spade is that he is a mean selfish kind of the detective unlike the white hat detectives found in most of the mystery novels. Sam is the kind of guy who loves money, can do anything for his survival and given an opportunity he can take advantage of anyone. He gets by each day knowing that at the end of the day he does more good than harm. This grey morality of Sam works very well for the plot and events depicted in the novel.

At the end, I can only say that from the depths of imagination and pulp fiction, Mr. Hammett has conjured up a novel, which is one of the best novels ever produced in detective mystery genre, and no doubt, it is a compulsive read.

My rating is five out of five stars.

       

The Big Sleep

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

First novel in the critically acclaimed Philip Marlow series, this novel is regarded as the best work of Raymond Chandler to this date and in fact, in 2005 this book was even included in “TIME’s list of the 100 Best Novels.” The story of this magnificent novel opens up as follows:- 

 

Harassed by the wild adventures of his amorous, amoral, young, beautiful daughter, Carmen; the wealthy retired general, General Sternwood, employs the dashing quick witted private detective, Philip Marlow to sort out a blackmailing attempt on Carmen that may ruin the hard earned good reputation of the Sternwood family forever. During his meeting with the general, Philip also learns that the husband of general’s older daughter has vanished without a trace. Now this may or may not be related with the blackmailing business. 

To clean up the mess, Philip first decides to investigate the greedy blackmailer, Arthur Geigor who also happens to be the leader of an underground sex racket.

On a dark lonely night as Philip stakes out the house of Geigor, he sees Carmen Sternwood enter the house and then a little later he hears a blood-chilling scream followed by several gunshots. Before he can comprehend what is really happening, he watches two cars flee from the spot with lightening speed.

Philip runs to the house and discovers a disturbing scene. He finds Geigor in a grotesque state, apparently dead from multiple gunshot wounds and Carmen unconscious, posing nude in front of a camera from which the film has been stolen.

As a favor to the general, and to save the Sternwood family from great embarrassment, Philip rescues Carmen and takes her home, but when he returns to Geigor’s house to check out the crime scene, he is shocked to see that Geigor’s dead body has also been stolen. Fearing the worst, Philip too immediately flees from the house but it does not take cops long to call upon him to question about these morbid incidents.

Set in Los Angeles California, this dazzling hardboiled detective mystery is a fantastic tale of family bond, corruption, debauchery and the persistence of one man, Philip Marlow, to uncover the truth at any price. The complex plot of this astonishing novel is driven at a fast pace by powerful characters, clever dialogue, secret relationships, plenty of unexpected double crosses, and frequent dead bodies that keep piling up.

Contrary to the choice of the title name, this novel keeps the readers on an edge and keeps them from sleeping while they enjoy it.

My rating four out of five stars.