Spade & Archer

Spade & Archer: The prequel to Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon."

by Joe Gores

 

    I have to admit that I haven't ready Hammett's work in many, many years. I read the Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man when I was in my 20s and exploring the world of crime and detective novels seriously for the first time. I recall enjoying them, but wasn't moved to read any of Hammett's other work (for the record I have Red Harvest, The Glass Key and The Dain Curse all with arms reach as I type this).

At any rate, this book is a prequel (a word that too often rhymes with MONEY) to the Falcon. It is well written, fast paced, and a fun slice of classic Detective fiction that will and should sate readers looking for more Sam Spade. The book is structured in three acts, each one a mystery partly built on the previous act, and each one showing us the development of Sam Spade into the tough guy we all have come to know from the book and the movie versions of The Maltese Falcon. We see Spade start his agency, bring on staff and interact with the police. We see him develop long lasting relationships and connections. The crimes that he works on are your typical Detective jobs; missing persons, dock side corruption and lost items. Along the way we also get several nods to Hammett's other work, the appearance of names that might be familiar to some, and locals that already have their built in cashe'. The writing style is sparse and terse, with quips and attitude, along with a wink and a nod.  Overall I enjoyed the book, and look forward to the true test of it's power, reading The Maltese Falcon to see how this book flows into it... or not.

There are they Now or Death of Innocence

Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas

A Hard Case Crime Novel

The surface of Little Girl Lost is the story of murder and missing money… the standard stuff of pulp… however it’s the underlying story of PI John Blake and his uncovering of not only the truth of the murder of his High School girlfriend on the roof of the strip club that she ended up working it… it’s also his coming to terms with the way the way life doesn’t always work out the way you think. Or want it to. There is action a plenty, there are skuzzy thugs and low life scumbags, fallen women and even a twist ending… which really wasn’t much of a twist. The language is fine, I do wish that it had a little more zing, or edge, but as some who looks back and thinks about the past and often finds the question of …. How did I get here?…. is worth a few hours of contemplation, I found this book to be more than just an diverting time passer. Now I tend to post these reviews on multiple sites, and sometimes I have to come up with a title for my review, and partly out of laziness and partly out of trying to draw the lines of connection I often pick a illusion to another media… in the case of Little Girl Lost, I find myself torn between citing the song ‘Death of Innocence’ by LA Punkers Legal Weapon or ‘Where are they  Now’ by Brit’s Cocksparrer… so I will let you chose your own..