The Maltese Falcon

Written by Dashiell Hammett

A detective hunts a priceless artifact, facing deception and danger at every turn.

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254 pages

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Bookroo's summary

In a gritty world of deception, detective Sam Spade is on the hunt for the elusive Maltese Falcon. As he navigates a web of lies and betrayal, Spade's relentless pursuit of justice is tested. Will his cold detachment and sharp instincts be enough to unravel the mystery, or will the quest for the falcon lead to his downfall? Dive into a tale where every word and action holds a clue, and nothing is as it seems.

From the publisher

The Maltese Falcon is a 1930 detective novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett. The story is told entirely in external third-person narrative; there is no description whatsoever of any character’s thoughts or feelings, only what they say and do, and how they look. The novel has been adapted several times for the cinema. The main character, Sam Spade (who also appeared later in some lesser-known short stories), was a departure from Hammett’s nameless detective, The Continental Op. Spade combined several features of previous detectives, notably his cold detachment, keen eye for detail, unflinching and sometimes ruthless determination to achieve his own form of justice, and a complete lack of sentimentality. In 1990 the novel ranked 10th in Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time list by the Crime Writers’ Association. Five years later, in a similar list by Mystery Writers of America, the novel was ranked third.

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