"The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett

I've seen the 1941 movie adaptation of The Maltese Falcon probably nine or ten times.  And I've read this before, though not for like fifteen+ years.  So, what I'm saying is, I was not reading this mystery book to find out whodunit.  I was reading it for the joy of the hardboiled flavor, really.  And it did not disappoint.

One thing that I really enjoyed was how much of the dialog from this book got included in the Humphrey Bogart movie.  Like, all the good lines come from the book.  I love that.  Hammett's dialog is not as snappy as Chandler's (nor are his descriptions as staggeringly wonderful), but he writes plenty of zingers, and I dig that so much.

The basic plot is that Sam Spade, private investigator, takes a job that ends up tangling him with a very colorful collection of characters who are all trying to get their greedy little paws on a falcon statue of incredible value.  Bodies pile up here and there, but Spade figures it all out and sees that justice is carried out in the end.  Dark, cynical, bitter, and twisted as the story and the characters may be, justice is still upheld.  I love that.

Although I could hear Bogart throughout the book when Spade was speaking, it really cracked me up that Spade doesn't look anything like Bogart.  In fact, the way Hammett describes him, he looks a lot more like Vincent Price in my head.  But Price of the 1950s, not the 1940s -- he would've been just a little to boyish in the early '40s to play the role.  Still, I had fun imagining him in the role.

Particularly Good Bits:

Spade said nothing in a blank-faced definite way (p. 43).

Her eyes were cobalt-blue prayers (p. 57).

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-16 for lots of cussing, some violence, oblique references to sexual deviance, references to a female character sleeping with someone to gain their trust, and some coarse dialog.

I am contributing this review to my We Love Detectives Week blog party that I'm hosting over on my other blog.  If you haven't stopped by to join the fun yet, there are still a couple days of party left!

This is also my 35th book read and reviewed for my third Classics Club list.