Review: A fan of noir?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 19, 2014
It's much agreed by those that are that Hammett is the founder of this genre, though Raymond Chandler might bid for this honor. However, Hammett preceded Chandler,soooo. Decades ago I read Hammett's primary novels and was not too terribly impressed. Very convoluted. It took me all these years to give him another try in the short story format.Happily, I took the chance. I pretty much read the whole book in one sitting. Many, if not most of these stories otherwise comprise a "stand-alone" book titled The Continental Op(erative). The hero is not at all the stereotypical handsome, 6'2",  190 lbs. beat'm all to Hell. He's around 5'7", 190 lbs., admits to being chunky, not very swift of foot and decidedly not a ladies man. He's got a nationwide organization behind him, but there stories take place in the 1920's. Don't expect a GPS, cellphone, tv, jet aircraft, anything remotely related to computers. Most "detecting" was done with "shanks-mare," or, rather, by foot, slower cars, trains, pay-phones often requiring an operator, buses and yes, streetcars!If you'd like a taste of an entirely different age, plenty of fast page-turning action, that reads well and makes sense, without all the rampant,raging, insatiable sex leading nowhere of today's crime story, yet be surprised at the knowledge even then possessed by the "Dicks, gunshoes, peepers," grab a copy, flop back, yank a cork from a bottle of cheap hooch, fire up an unfiltered Camel, rest your .38 gat on the nightstand, toss your moll on the carpet and enjoy!