The Dain Curse

By: Dashiell Hammett

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

The Continental Op is a short, squat, and utterly unsentimental tank of a private detective. Miss Gabrielle Dain Leggett is young, wealthy, and a devotee of morphine and religious cults. She has an unfortunate effect on the people around her: they have a habit of dying violently. Is Gabrielle the victim of a family curse? Or is the truth about her weirder and infinitely more dangerous? The Dain Curse is one of the Continental Op's most bizarre cases, and a tautly crafted masterpiece of suspense.

©1928, 1929 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGo

A Literary IMPOSSIBLE bottle.

I think Dashiell Hammett made this novel into a type of literary impossible bottle. I admire his work, and generally followed the puzzled steps, but at the end just think he went a strata too deep. Don't get me wrong, I DO love Hammett and liked this book a lot. It just isn't in the same class as: Red Harvest, The Thin Man or The Maltese Falcon.

The Continental Op Does An X-File

The Dain Curse is probably the weakest of Hammett's novels, and definitely the strangest. The overall arc is told via three detective stories: the first is about the Op investigating a diamond burglary, the second has him investigating cult weirdness, and the third has him investigating small-town weirdness, with a short detour that reveals a more compassionate side. The stories, being so different, give the whole thing a off-kilter feel. The characters don't always convince, and there are quite a few of them to keep track of by the end.

That said, I still enjoyed the book. It may not be The Maltese Falcon, or even Red Harvest, but it's still three hardboiled yarns written by one of the greats. It benefits from Hammett's splendid prose, constant plot twists, a surreal atmosphere, and Richard Ferrone's gravelly narration. I don't regret spending a credit on it, and I think that's the main thing.

gotta love classic detective stories.

From the Maltese Falcon to the Dane Curse I love the convolutions of the classic detective story. It also reaffirms my belief that nothing really changes and that people aren't any better or worse as time goes by...m

Hard-boiled Classic

The adaptation from short stories to novel makes it feel like such, but I could not stop listening.

Complex plot but slow paced

Semed like three novellas stitched togerher. Almost lost interest in the last third but getting to the end was worth the wait.