whitneyborup's review against another edition
4.0
I love Dashiell Hammett. His prose is so fantastic, even if things do get a little repetitive in the short story format.
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent collection of hardboiled short stories, which in the end, I think I find more enjoyable than the novels about the Continental Op. I suppose I enjoy him best in small doses.
michaelromeo's review against another edition
3.0
Reading again. Better than I thought on first reading
carmenghia's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't realize this was a short story collection until I was halfway through the first story. I understand that the Continental Op character is the archetype for hard-boiled fiction and that Hammett wrote these stories based on his own experiences as a Pinkerton detective, but they aren't necessarily great. They feel like pulp magazine fiction and are generally straightforward 'and-then-this-happened-and-this-happened-after-that." I understand that Hammett's writing became more nuanced by the time he got around to writing Sam Spade novels but I haven't read them to compare. However, being a detective in an era of telegrams and telephone operators is a nice little time warp.
bearforester's review
3.0
The first Hammett that I’ve read. Some of the stories are good, some just ok. I’ll try more of his work.
robhughes's review
4.0
If you enjoy crime books and you're looking for something to read before bed that's exciting, full of twists and turns and easy as hell to read then this is the one for you! Short stories from the front line of the 1920's Continental Detective Agency, great stuff.
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