::READERS REVIEWS::

as an outsider exploring this genre... - I'm new to hard-Boiled Detective Fiction, so as an outsider looking in for the first time, there's a decent chance this review will invoke tons of 'not helpful' clicks because I probably don't "get it."

This is a collection of short stories, featuring an unnamed narrator known to fans as The Continental Op. (The exception is an unfinished novel fragment called 'Tulip'.) The stories range from everything from missing person recovery, cracking a blackmail scheme, to even a parody of a western.

The stories are fast-paced, probably because of the medium--each was published in a pulp magazine that almost certainly had a word limit. I also have to wonder at the intended target audience for these: if I had a guess, I'd say young adult males looking for a 'quick fix' action/adventure tale. I have a hunch that these are not stories one reads for the 'plot', in part because the plots are one of the weakest elements in these. Almost all rely on heavily contrived 'coincidences' that seem far-divorced from "real life." I have a low threshold for such stuff, but I'm willing to get over it. Indeed, I found myself enjoying these more once I decided to 'turn my brain off' and just go with the flow.

Hammett's prose didn't work for me; it was so sparse and description-free that it kind of reminded me of Hemingway. However, the best part about these books (I thought) was the hard-boiled street slang that permeates the dialogue and narration. Fun (and often funny!) stuff!

This is not "literature," but I don't think it's trying to be. I don't have much to compare this to, but I have a hunch these are really good "for what they are," especially when you put it in the context of having been written almost 90 years ago. That's why I'll give it 4 stars.

I wouldn't want a steady diet of these, but they're kind of fun as distractionary reading, especially since this collection is all quick-flip short stories. I might give one of his full-length novels a try some time in the future.

"I cocked both barrels before I stepped outdoors." - In her introduction, Lillian Hellman tells us that she knows that she's going against Hammett's wishes by editing and introducing this collection. He apparently didn't want these works collected and republished. I'm actually pretty glad that she (and the publisher) made this choice, because these Continental Op stories are wonderful.

Stolid detectives, lungers, puzzles and dames-- Hammett wrote some of the best tough guy fiction going. This is a great collection of that fiction. Whether it is a relatively simple puzzle story like The Gutting of Couffignal or the tantalizingly incomplete "Tulips" Hammett was a master writer. Sometimes I get the feeling that his best work is in the more strictly genre pieces-- but that may simply be because he never got the time to work out the ideas that he was reaching for in "Tulips".

By the way, it's popular to hate "$106,000 Blood Money", the sequel to the title story. While I grant you that it isn't as strong as "The Big Knockover" itself, it really isn't all that awful. I realize that is not much of a compliment, but I kind of liked it. The little memoir of Hammett that Hellman wrote in the beginning is also nice. But then I always enjoy Hellman-- grumpy old half-truthful Stalinist as she may well have been.

If you don't know Hammett, then I might begin with Red Harvest (my favorite!) or the more standard collection of The Continental Op stories. But they're all great-- this collection included.

San Francisco Op - This is clearly the best writing about the person, place and environment of the "City." Hammett did all his great work in twelve years -- I know of no author this could be said of. Outstanding use of the street talk of the day. He never wrote as smooth as Raymond Chandler, yet Chandler admired Hammett a great deal.

This writing is amazing, authentic work.Some say Hemingway stole the brevity of Hammett

The epitome of hard-boiled - I've been a fan of Hammet for quite some time and I really like the Thin Man and the Maltese Falcon but my favorite of his is the Continental Op. Here we have a hero whose name we are never told! He is the epitome of hard-boiled, a man who can dish it out as well as he can take it.

The Big Knockover is a nice collection of ten perfect short stories. The first, The Gutting of Couffignal, is the story of a small village under seige and has a neat twist. Fly Paper will keep you guessing.

GET IT- CRIME DOES NOT PAY - Dashiel Hammett, along with Raymond Chandler, reinvented the detective genre in the 1930's and 1940's. They moved the genre away from the amateurish and simple parlor detectives that had previously dominated the genre to hard-boiled action characters who knew what was what and didn't mind taking a beating to get the bad guys. And along the way they produced some very memorable literary characters as well. Nick Charles, Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe are well known exemplars of the action detective. However, on the way to creating these literary works of art Hammett did journeyman's work at the detective genre in various pulp detective magazines. The Big Knockover series of stories is from that period.

The unnamed universal Continental Operative who is the central character of the stories is the prototype for Hammett's later named detectives. He has all the characteristics that mark a noir detective-tough, resourceful, undaunted, and incorruptible with a sense of honor to friend and foe alike that sets him apart from earlier detectives. Although the stories are mainly set in San Francisco the Op branches out to other locales in some of the stories but he keeps those same virtues. If you want mainly well-thought out stories that are also well-written this is for you. Additionally, and this may be as good a reason to read this book as the stories is the Introduction provided by Hammett's long time companion the playwright Lillian Hellman.

Twenty Detective Stories - Nightmare Town, Dashiell Hammett

William F. Nolan wrote the `Introduction' to this largest collection of Hammett's short stories. It gives a short history of Hammett's life and problems. None of these short stories in "The Continental Op" or "The Big Knock-Over" are included here. Six of these stories are in the "Crime Stories & Other Writings". Nolan wrote three novels with a character named "Dashiell Hammett": "The Black Mask Murders", "The Marble Orchard", and "Sharks Never Sleep". You can read echoes of these stories in Hammett's later novels. Raymond Chandler also used some of his short stories for his later novels.

"Nightmare Town" is the small hamlet in the desert that mines and transports a chemical. There is trouble in this rough boom town from corruption and crime. Is there an incredible amount of horror here? "House Dick" tells of a short-time job in a hotel of the better sort. Then three dead men are found in a closet, they weren't robbed. There were no clues, but they got a list of hotel guests to investigate. "Ruffian's Wife" is a story about a man who travels to foreign lands but leaves his wife behind. One day a man comes looking for him. "The Man Who Killed Dan Odoms" escaped from jail and stole a horse to carry him far away. Will they catch him? "Night Shots" were fired at a sick and wealthy old man. A detective is hired to stay and watch. The old man had many enemies. Another shooting wounded his nurse. The mystery is solved.

"Zigzags of Treachery" begins with a mysterious suicide. But the wife was arrested for the murder. Her attorney hires a detective. The truth is discovered at last. Then there is a final act of treachery. "The Assistant Murderer" describes a job for a private detective to find out who is following a young woman. This leads to incredible complications. "His Brother's Keeper" is about boxing. Does one fighter need more experience? How will he do against a better boxer? "Two Sharp Knives" tells about the arrest of a man wanted for murder. After his suicide in jail they learn the wanted circular was a forgery. This man's wife had earlier disappeared without a trace. Now she shows up. "Death on Pine Street" (or "Women, Politics and Murder") tells about the shooting death of a politically connected contractor. If no one was seen at the crime scene who did it?

"The Second-Story Angel" is about a failed burglary in a writer's apartment. Can a burglar provide material for new stories? "Afraid of a Gun" is the story of that man and what he learned one day in the street of a rural town. Was it too late? "Tom, Dick or Harry" tells of an investigation of a home robbery. The robber disappeared somewhere in the building. Can he be caught? "One Hour" is about a stolen car that ran down and killed a man. Can a detective solve the crime quickly by discovering the motive? "Who Killed Bob Teal?" is about the death of a Continental detective. He was shadowing a real estate developer suspected of embezzlement. After gathering information they solved the crime.

"A Man Called Spade" received a call from a client, but Sam found him dead when he arrived. The investigation solves the crime. "Too Many Have Lived" is about the search for a missing poet. When his body is found Sam Spade questions the acquaintances to solve the crime. "They Can Only Hang You Once" begins when Sam Spade tries to meet Timothy Binnett. There are two shooting before Spade solves the mystery. "A Man Called Thin" is a private detective called to a robbery for an insurance company. After questioning the witnesses they quickly solve the crime. "The First Thin Man" was the start of a novel that was later re-written in its final form. It is similar to the short stories, but has no ending.

Great Hammett stories - I love Dashiell Hammett, and this is a terrific collection of some of his short stories. They mostly star his nameless protagonist, the Continental Op, a determined and insightful detective, and they are generally based in or around San Francisco. Almost every one is a stellar example of Hammett's hard-boiled prose and cynical sense of humor. Occasionally, the scene changes, like "Corkscrew," which is a bizarre Western noir that has the Continental Op shuffling off to a dusty Arizona border town to bring some Law to the area, or "This King Business," in which the Op involves himself in a complicated political revolution in a tiny fictional European country. I found these stories to be weaker than most of the others, since the Op is such an urban character who gets by on his underworld connections and intimacy with the geographical and social/moral landscapes of San Francisco. Hammett also has a bit of a misfire in "Tulip," which other reviewers have said is an incomplete novel that never should have been published, so I didn't feel any guilt when I skipped the second half of it (in the first half, Hammett writes with, oddly enough, Flannery O'Connor's accent, and he tries some ambitious storytelling techniques that are not well-executed).

This is not the best place for a reader to be introduced to Hammett - each story is brilliant, but reading one after another can get a little overwhelming, and a new reader is better off starting with The Maltese Falcon or The Thin Man. For a fan of Hammett, though, these stories are essential, and I highly recommend them.