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by Max Allan Collins
Hardboiled noir that picks up where legendary author Dashiell Hammett left off, telling the story of iconic private eye Sam Spade and the quest for the priceless Maltese Falcon.
The greatest private eye of all time returns to finish the job. Legendary mystery writer Dashiell Hammett only wrote one novel about detective Sam Spade: The Maltese Falcon, the most famous private eye story ever told. But the case was never really solved – the priceless golden, bejeweled bird that men and women had been dying to possess turned out to be a fake. Now, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Max Allan Collins (author of Road to Perdition) brings closure to this crime classic, reuniting all the surviving members of the original cast alongside femme fatales, crooked collectors, and greedy gangsters for one more thrilling, deadly chase through the streets, wharves, morgues, bars, and back alleys of 1920s San Francisco – and finally answers the question, Whatever became of the Maltese falcon…?
"Lean and sharp, true to Hammett's style…a clever, well-executed tribute to the hardboiled tradition." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Collins' dialogue sounds pleasingly like Hammett's; his plotting is even twistier… Fans convinced that nobody could possibly continue a tale that ends so definitely owe it to themselves to give Collins a try." ―Kirkus Reviews
"Superb... Essential reading for Hammett's fans and for readers of noir mysteries." ―Booklist
This information about Return of the Maltese Falcon was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Max Allan Collins was named a Grand Master in 2017 by the Mystery Writers of America. He is a three-time winner of the Private Eye Writers of America's Life Achievement award (2006), the Eye. His graphic novel Road to Perdition (1998) became the Academy Award-winning film directed by Sam Mendes and starring Tom Hanks. His other comics credits include the syndicated strip Dick Tracy, Batman, and (with artist Terry Beatty) his own Ms. Tree and Wild Dog. He has completed fourteen Mike Hammer novels begun by the late Mickey Spillane, and his Hammer audio novel The Little Death with Stacy Keach won a 2011 Audie. Recently he adapted the first of his Nathan Heller novels into a ten-part audio drama, True Noir. For five years, he was sole licensing writer for TV's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, creating bestselling novels, graphic novels, and video games. His movie tie-in novels have appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists, including Saving Private Ryan, Air Force One, and American Gangster.
Max has written and directed two documentaries and seven feature films, including the Lifetime movie Mommy (1996); and he scripted The Expert, a 1995 HBO World Premiere, as well as the film-festival favorite The Last Lullaby (2009) based on his innovative Quarry novels, which were also adapted as a 2016 TV series by Cinemax, for which Max wrote two scripts. Collins properties have also been optioned by Skydance, Lionsgate and CBS Films. His most recent self-scripted/directed indie films are Mickey Spillane's Encore for Murder (2022), Blue Christmas (2023) and Death by Fruitcake (2024).
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