The Maltese Falcon (novel) The Maltese Falcon (novel) The Maltese Falcon is a 1930 detective novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett, originally serialized in the magazine "Black Mask" beginning with the September 1929 issue. The story is told entirely in external third-person narrative; there is no description whatever of any character's internal 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
The Way Some People Die alarming rate, a handsome part-time actor found dead in his apartment, a newlywed husband on the lam, a boat piled on the rocks, fast-talking women, everybody with a handout or hidden agenda. This book introduces the second of two cities Ross invented and was to use commonly in his work, Pacific Point, located south of Los Angeles. Anthony Boucher described it as: "The best novel in the tough tradition I've read since "Farewell, My Lovely" and possibly since "The Maltese Falcon"." Dick Lochte wrote: "I'm not sure why I prefer "The Way Some People Die" to" The Moving Target'", the