The Maltese Falcon

| 4.06 | 86,973 ratings and reviews

Recommended by Armistead Maupin, James Twining, and 2 others. See all reviews

Ranked #2 in San Francisco, Ranked #7 in Pulp Fiction — see more rankings.

Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him? less
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Reviews and Recommendations

We've comprehensively compiled reviews of The Maltese Falcon from the world's leading experts.

Armistead Maupin The Modern Library named The Maltese Falcon one of the top 100 novels of the century. It was the first, and probably the greatest, hard-boiled detective novel. It pretty much invented the genre and its archetypes, including the femme fatale and the hard-drinking detective – in this case Sam Spade. Hammett created a prototype that’s been followed ever since. (Source)

James Twining In this one you’ve got an interesting central character, Sam Spade, who’s bitter and sardonic and plays each side off against the other. (Source)

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