The Maltese Falcon

By: Dashiell Hammett

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade is hired to locate a client's sister by tailing the sister's companion. Spade's partner Miles Archer takes on the assignment, and quickly both Archer and the man he was shadowing are murdered. As Spade pursues the mystery of his partner's death, he is drawn into a circle of colorful characters, and they are all after a legendary statuette of a falcon that had long ago been made for King Charles of Spain. Encrusted with jewels, it is worth a fortune. Missing for centuries, it resurfaced in 1921, when it was covered in black enamel to disguise its true value.

The Maltese Falcon is the definitive masterpiece of the hard-boiled detective genre. Humphrey Bogart immortalized tough-guy Sam Spade in the classic 1941 film.

©1956, 1957 Dashiell Hammett (P)2003 The Audio Partners Publishing Corp.

Critic reviews

"Dashiell Hammett...is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer." (The Boston Globe)
"The Maltese Falcon is not only probably the best detective story we have ever read, it is an exceedingly well written novel." (The Times Literary Supplement)
"Hammett's prose [is] clean and entirely unique. His characters [are] as sharply and economically defined as any in American fiction." (The New York Times)
"William Dufris is a one-man band, covering the entire cast of diverse characters with unbelievable ease....just short of amazing." (AudioFile)

Amusing. Writer’s Study

If you’ve recently quit smoking or used to smoke cigarettes you might want to avoid this one altogether as tobacco use happens frequently. I found the descriptive language excellent, the story pretty simple and hokey… it was entertaining enough.

mostly spectacular

the story and the reading were great... film noir, lots of suspense, early 20th century style. those who feel the characters, especially the women, were overacted are not familiar w/the genre... all women in detective stories of this era were somewhat melodramatic by today's standards. lighten up... it's fun!
my only complaint is why weren't the "end of Disc 1; beginning of Disc 2" notices edited out?

One of the Best Narrations I’ve Heard

William Dufris gave one of the best recordings I’ve heard with this performance. His ability to play multiple characters that include female roles amazed me. Of course the story is classic noir. It was sad to hear of his passing earlier this year.

Well read! Buy this version!

This is the unabridged version you are looking for. Buy this one. Well-read and acted.

Great Listen for a Good Book

If you enjoy this genre or you are a Sam Spade fan, you will enjoy this read. The narrator was good and sounds as if he saw the film version more than once, but doesn?t go overboard with it. You that Sydney Greenstreet voice for Gutman, but he isn?t wrapped up in trying to do Bogart.
It is well worth the price and one I would enjoy listening to again.

Better than the Movie.

Very few movies are better than the book and this is no exception. The book is deeper, more nuanced, more detailed, and more interesting that the (quite good) movie. The characters are pulpy, but interesting, the story and tone are particularly excellent. Although I liked the movie, I did not expect to like this book, but was pleasantly surprised. There are more interesting character and plot twists than in the movie, making the book quite enjoyable.
Although this may be boarder-line "must read", I would recommend it to most readers, as a great example of Noir, a cultural touchpoint, and an enjoyable read.

The narration is mostly quite good, but the female characters were a bit over done.

Good book, but the narration is a pain in the ears

This noir classic is full of archetypal characters -- the hard-boiled detective, the femme fatale, the loyal Girl Friday, the Fat Man, the sinister, oily foreigner, etc. Not all of these archetypes have aged well, but Hammett's writing is lean and descriptive and tightly plotted, and it helps to remember that this is the book all the cliches are imitating.

Most people have probably seen the movie, and even if you haven't, the "twist" at the end is so old and (by now) such a cliche that it probably won't surprise many readers, but how detective Sam Spade gets there is still deftly executed. Enjoyable if dated, and better than most modern mysteries.

Unfortunately, I cannot speak so highly of the narration, which was bad enough to make me knock my rating down a whole star. I'm usually pretty tolerant of narrators -- some do a better job than others of doing accents, depicting voices of characters of the opposite sex, etc. But William Dufris's narration is the MOST ANNOYING I have ever heard! He does fine with most of the male characters, like Sam Spade, but when it comes to the foreigners and the women, I almost wanted to yank my earphones out. Joel Cairo sounds like Dr. Frankenstein's henchman Igor, and he portrays every female speaking in a breathless squeaky whisper, when their voices aren't rising to hysterical shrieks. So, the book is worth listening to, but I'd find a different audio version if you can.

Excellent

i am familiar with this title, because of the Humphrey Bogart film. I decided to get the audio book because I like the film and because a friend loves Dashiell Hammett. I'm not a big fan of detective novels, but I loved this one...the twists and turns, the character development, and the writing style in general. William Dufris' narration was done so well, that it was almost like listening to the film. I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book.

One of the best I’ve heard

In the performance, I could hear Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet! Excellent performance.

One of Hammett’s best stories.

Excellent Detective Story

The plot is exactly what you would expect from a classic nior setting detective novel. The characters fit so well with the dated but enjoyable concept, and i personally loved the performance of the narrator. I felt like his voice acting matched perfectly what we all, or perhaps just myself, try to imagine while reading and putting the personalities to each character.