The Maltese Falcon is the definitive masterpiece of the hard-boiled detective genre. It introduces legendary PI Sam Spade, a loner who follows his own code and the rules of the street as he zeros in on his partner's killer and the famous jewel-encrusted bird. Humphrey Bogart immortalized the tough-guy detective in the classic 1941 film.
All the characters in this story are famously despicable. Private eye Sam Spade is motivated by personal gain and his own ego. His clients are no more moral--they are selfish, dishonest, double-crossing, greedy, and sometimes even violent. At the heart of this classic "noir" is the search for the valuable jewel-encrusted falcon. Despite the repugnance of the characters, William Dufris's reading is tremendously likable. His enthusiasm is well suited to creating distinctive voices for each character and an overarching atmosphere of distrust. Dufris's use of timing is impeccable--forcing slow, tortured silences that increase the suspense just when a print reader would be flying through the pages to discover the ending. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
AudioFile...
"Reader William Dufris is a one-man band, covering the entire cast of characters with unbelievable ease."
About the Author
Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) spent his early twenties working as a detective in San Francisco. He began writing fiction after serving in WWI, and had his first success in the popular crime magazine, Black Mask. He went on to write five novels, including Red Harvest (1928), The Maltese Falcon (1930), and The Thin Man (1934).
Digital Rights Information
OverDrive WMA Audiobook
Burn to CD:
Not permitted
Transfer to device:
Permitted
Transfer to Apple® device:
Permitted
Public performance:
Not permitted
File-sharing:
Not permitted
Peer-to-peer usage:
Not permitted
All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.
...
Getting Started
