MALTESE FALCON/THIN MAN/RED...：Maltese Falcon, the Thin Man, Red Harvest

(BookJacketStatus:Jacketed)Thethreeclassicnovelspublishedhereinonevolumearerichwiththecrispprose,subtlecharacters,andintricateplotsthatmadeDashiellHammettoneofthemostadmiredwritersofthetwentiethcentury.Aone-timedetectiveandamasterofdeftunderstatement,Hammettvirtuallyinventedthehard-boiledcrimenovel.InTheMalteseFalcon,SamSpade,aprivateeyewithhisownsolitarycodeofethics,tangleswithabeautifulandtreacherouswomanwhoseloyaltiesshiftatthedropofadime.TheThinManintroducesHammett'swittiestcreations,NickandNoraCharles,whosolvehomicidesinbetweenwisecracksandmartinis.AndinRedHarvest,Hammett'sanonymoustough-guydetective,theContinentalOp,takesontheentiretownofPoisonvilleinadeadlywaragainstcorruption."DashiellHammettisamasterofthedetectivenovel,yes,butalsoonehellofawriter."—BostonGlobe”Hammettwasspare,hard-boiled,buthedidoverandoverwhatonlythebestwriterscaneverdo.Hewrotescenesthatseemednevertohavebeenwrittenbefore.”—RaymondChandler”Hammett’sprosewascleanandentirelyunique.HischaracterswereassharplyandeconomicallydefinedasanyinAmericanfiction.”—TheNewYorkTimes”Asanovelistofrealisticintrigue,Hammettwasunsurpassedinhisownoranytime.”—RossMacdonald”DashiellHammett’sdialoguescanbecomparedonlywiththebestinHemingway.”—AndréGide”HammettisoneofthebestcontemporaryAmericanwriters.”—GertrudeStein,