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)

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.

Excellent Narration

I so enjoyed William Dufris’ performance, it brought even more depth to Hammett’s cast of characters. So engaging! Great book with great narration.

A Great Story in Mystery Genre

I love mysteries and had never read/listened to this one. It's likely the real beginning of the genre...smooth, lots of twists, great characters. An engrossing listen!

Awesome performace

What did you love best about The Maltese Falcon?

The story is great and William Dufris' performance, voice characterizations and cadence really brings the tale to life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Maltese Falcon?

The wit of Spade when encountering the detectives. Each time he is playful and frustrating at the same time.

Have you listened to any of William Dufris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first book I've listened to by William Dufris. I will look for others, he's great.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I chuckled a few times and completely engaged in the story all the way through. I listened to other narrations before purchasing this one and I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much without the character voices and feeling. It's a story that deserves emotion and I think is written to incite it one's mind if read.

Any additional comments?

Though older and slightly muffled compared to the other Audible unabridged offering. This one stands out with Mr. Dufris' performance.

Perfect match of text and narrator

THE MALTESE FALCON is a fabulous book, and the Humphrey Bogart movie version is, of course, a classic. Here, William Dufris does an amazing job bringing each character to life. He wisely doesn't imitate Bogart for his Sam Spade, but there's a lot of Peter Lorre in his Joel Cairo and more than a dollop of Sydney Greenstreet in his Kasper Gutman. He brings all the overwrought duplicitousness to his Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and the other female characters -- especially Effie Perrine -- are handled well. Hammett was a master of dialogue, and the lines crackle in this terrific reading by Dufris. An absolutely first-rate production of one of the greatest noir novels of all time. Five stars across the board.

Performance!

Simply superb performance of this timeless classic. I liked it better than the Humphrey Bogart movie.