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The Maltese Falcon
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
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The Maltese Falcon
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Publisher's Summary
The definitive masterpiece of the hard-boiled detective genre, The Maltese Falcon first appeared in the pages of Black Mask magazine in 1929 and was almost immediately acknowledged as not only a great crime novel but an enduring masterpiece of American fiction.
Tough, cynical PI Sam Spade - a man who, as his creator explained, is "able to take care of himself in any situation, able to get the best of anybody he comes in contact with" - is hired by the story's irresistible femme fatale, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, to locate the client's sister by tailing her companion. Spade's partner, Miles Archer, takes on the assignment, and quickly both he 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 - all of them after a legendary statuette of a falcon fashioned long ago for King Charles of Spain.
Made of gold and encrusted with jewels, the falcon is worth a fortune. Missing for centuries, it resurfaced in Paris in 1911, covered in black enamel to disguise its value, and then disappeared again until it was traced to Constantinople - and now, it would seem, to Spade's own backyard.
What listeners say about The Maltese Falcon
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Jay (Vijayasimha BR)
- 01-03-23
found it dull
I like detectives.
Marlowe. Sin city stories, Sherlock Holmes, somehow I did not enjoy the story or the narration. Tried to listen to this on multiple occasions, could not get past 2 chapters.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- rose711
- 01-02-21
Narrator makes a classic noir story dull
Who could take a classic story and make me not want to finish it? This narrator has the enthusiasm of a wet mop.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- peter
- 28-08-20
How it’s done
Maybe a couple of scenes were a tad overwritten but the pace, action and story qualified this as a one-session listen. Great characters and a fast moving story makes this one of the greatest noir novels of all time.
4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kimberly Deans
- 23-09-20
Well read in the style of the genre
Outstanding book, presented in a classic style.
I highly recommend if you are a fan of the movie, or have not seen the movie.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Pete S
- 10-01-20
Not as good as I would have expected
I'll lead off with the fact that I have never seen the movie. That said, knowing that this book was made into the quintessential film noir I may have set higher expectations than I should have. The book is very good. I think perhaps I was expecting more mystery, akin to The Thin Man, than the raw, blue-collar detective work that fills this book.
3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- George
- 20-06-20
A classic
I’ve heard about this book and this author for a long time and of course I saw the movie. This was exactly what I expected.....even a little more hard boiled.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- F. Khan
- 12-01-21
Too drawn out?
I felt that some sections of the book just went on and on. The story was ok, this was perhaps my first detective book, and probably the last; not my cup of tea.
The narration though, was excellent. Probably the one thing that drew me in to the book was the narrator.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Christine M Merzario
- 07-03-23
Love the story
Story was great definitely a classic. The performance could have been better if there had been more than one narrator. Having a female narrate the female parts would have made it more believable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gary Paine
- 30-01-23
Sam’s motivation is women and money!
Fantastic and timeless story that just gets better with time. Greed, sex, betrayal, and crime are in constant competition in this crazy story. The narrator did a fabulous job.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kemp
- 27-01-23
Best of the hard-boiled detectives
Huston’s movie was great, and the novel is just as good. The dialog of Spade and Guttman have not been equaled. Egad sir!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mathew
- 08-01-23
Not the detective you’d expect
This story Is great. The detective does all the things that the best story book detectives do and he also does all the things they never do. Sam spade is a super interesting character. I highly recommend reading this story it will keep you guessing until the very end.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- D R
- 06-09-20
Watch the film seriously more enjoyable
My high expectations from watching the film over the last 50 years were quickly dashed .
The reader lacked any character was bland .
The story is complicated and i lost the thread on a number of occasions as i lost interest in the reading
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brian L.
- 18-02-20
classic
enjoyed listening to this classic detective story, so different from today's private eye tales so enjoy
1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joseph C.
- 06-01-23
Classic book/film, great narrator
Loved the original book & film.
The narrator made it sound just like Sam Spade, 'dead pan', just like Sam(character) and Humphrey Bogart(actor) in the film.
Loved every minute of it.
A classic from start to finish.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 18-12-22
Hell of a book.
I didn't know what it was all about through the entire plot of this book, but the conclusion made up for it 100%. Great katharsis you can expect from a good criminal novel. 5/5!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kathryn
- 13-01-22
Not my usual genre, but still a great read.
I downloaded this after a recommendation, I had no idea at the time that it had been made into an Oscar nominated film(!) but it was clear early on why it was.
We don't see a lot of this kind of detective drama these days, but it is very alluring and this was an excellent book that I got through very quickly.
A classic.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Combat Wombat
- 06-10-21
brilliant story murdered by performance
these are fantastic stories and some audio productions are 100 PERCENT. sadly this actor made it sound like a badly read shopping list.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Charlie Watson
- 13-09-21
So well known, I thought it must be good
Stupid, unlikely story read OK until the reader tried women or gay voices, when it was pathetic. I mean, sounded pathetic. Why not get a woman in to read women’s voices?
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 28-08-21
Someone check Mr Hammett’s pulse
I think I’ve heard more energy and enthusiasm at a funeral. Someone check Mr Hammett’s pulse to see if he’s still with us as he seemed to be drifting away as he was reading this.
I loved the film and the story but I just couldn’t get through this monotonous reading of the book. There’s almost no change in tone to express suspense or action, and he barely changes his voice with character dialogue.
I found myself really switching off of this audio book and almost falling asleep!
If you don’t mind his narration like I did you’ll enjoy the book if you’re enthusiastic about mysteries.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- S
- 18-08-21
Terrific
Thoroughly recommended. 5 stars great story well read. And at least as good as the movie
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Notally_Not_A_Robot
- 18-08-21
A true Noir drama, with all the good AND bad.
The narration is great. The story is okay. It jumps very much from one topic to the next without really stringing them together.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark Henwood
- 26-09-21
Classic
Listened to it over a few days - thoroughly enjoyed this classic crime novel with all it's twists and turns