Product Description
THE MALTESE FALCON (1930) set the standard by which the private eye genre is judged. Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewel-encrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him?Amazon.com Review
Sam Spade, Dashiell Hammett's archetypally tough San Francisco detective,is more noir than L.A.Confidential and more vulnerable than Raymond Chandler's Marlowe. In The Maltese Falcon, the best known of Hammett's Sam Spade novels(including The DainCurse and The GlassKey), Spade is tough enough to bluff the toughest thugs and hold offthe police, risking his reputation when a beautiful woman begs for hishelp, while knowing that betrayal may deal him a new hand in the nextmoment.

Spade's partner is murdered on a stakeout; the cops blame him for thekilling; a beautiful redhead with a heartbreaking story appears anddisappears; grotesque villains demand a payoff he can't provide; andeveryone wants a fabulously valuable gold statuette of a falcon, created astribute for the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. Who has it? And what will ittake to get it back? Spade's solution is as complicated as the motives ofthe seekers assembled in his hotel room, but the truth can be a coldcomfort indeed.

Spade is bigger (and blonder) in the book than in the movie, and hisMephistophelean countenance is by turns seductive and volcanic. Sam knowshow to fight, whom to call, how to rifle drawers and secrets withoutleaving a trace, and just the right way to call a woman "Angel" andconvince her that she is. He is the quintessence of intelligent cool, witha wise guy's perfect pitch. If you only know the movie, read the book. Ifyou're riveted by Chinatown or wonder where Robert B. Parker's Spenser gets hiscomebacks, read the master. --Barbara Schlieper ... Read more

Customer Reviews (152)

An american (seedy) classic!
How good of a writer is Hammett? In the movie version of this classic '20's detective thriller, Peter Lorre steals the movie from Bogart in his role as the sneaky, sly, ambiguously sexual lowlife criminal Cairo.Lorre's performance is nuanced and edgy and brings a sexual edge to a film that was way beyond the social norms of the time.Reading this book after having basked in Lorre's brilliance for years, one finds that the sexual nuance, the ambiguity, the sending up of sexual norms in the face of a conservative society- are all here in Hammett's original work.Lorre was simply channeling the words of a master.
"The Maltese Falcon" is a gritty, sexual, violent, suspenseful, and at times quite funny, thriller.The infamous Sam Spade is the focus of the book- a private eye walking the fine line between being a self-preserving criminal himself and a outlaw extension of the law.He is not above lying, fighting, and loving in order to get what he needs, and though his ends usually align themselves with the law, the means are not as neat.
Without giving too much away, this story involves a mysterious statue- the Maltese Falcon- that a handful of shady characters are all seeking.Where alliances truly fall and who is telling Spade the truth and who is using him to further their own ends are the plot points that make this book a page turner.As can be expected, nothing is as it seems and it is up to Spade to figure out what is really going on.
If you have seen the movie, read the book too.It will be well worth your time.

The Best of Hammett
Of the Hammett books I've read (Glass Key, Thin Man, and now this), this is by far the most engaging and contains the most interesting characters. It reads almost like a play, with the core cast of Spade, Effie, Brigid, Gutman, Joel Cairo, and Wilmer. All but Effie periodically regroup for a convention to push things forward and unravel the complex plot.

A couple of things that relate to the John Huston/Bogart movie version (actually the third movie made of the book, according to the notes to the book).

The final scene between Brigid O'Shaughnessy and Sam Spade is as good as it gets. Spade, driven maybe by cynicism to the core, sees his predicament as requiring either his taking the fall or his giving up O'Shaughnessy, who is the actual murderer. That she is in fact the murderer seems less important a factor than you'd think -- remember that Spade was just as happy to offer Wilmer as the fall guy whether he deserved it or not (mainly because he just didn't like him). He does decide of course to give her up, but it seems mainly because she never played straight with him, not because she committed the murders. That he (may) love her only matters, because it makes it hard to give her up -- an unavoidable pain in the circumstances.

The other thing is the surreal feel of Spade's character in the book. It's surreal because the character's mannerisms, e.g., letting his cigarette hang from his lower lip while he talks, are what we take to be Bogart's mannerisms -- Bogart the person, not Bogart as portraying Sam Spade. Spade was Bogart before Bogart was Spade.

Hard-Boiled Yet Subtle - Superlative Detective Fiction
A girl in trouble. Deceit at every turn. An assortment of villains. And a hero who draws a fine, frayed line between professional loyalties and personal infidelities. The Maltese Falcon represents the hard-boiled detective mystery at its best.

The novel seethes with threats and danger, while dodging cliches of predictable action sequences and tough guy bravado. Surprisingly, both in the book and in the Humphrey Bogart version of the movie (There were two early film renderings, both forgettable.), protagonist Sam Spade exudes an air of menace without ever drawing a gun. He calibrates his dialogue to the audience and situation, knowing when to talk and when to hold back. Best of all, he never lets anyone else see all of his cards. This gives him the maneuvering room he needs to solve the mystery of the falcon's value while smoking out the murderer behind the case.

Dashiell Hammett, himself a former private investigator and Pinkerton man, translates the gritty reality of crime and its surroundings into a first class novel made immortal by the Bogart movie whose best dialogue was pure Hammett through and through. Today as back then, the Maltese Falcon stands in stark contrast to the heretofore criminal genius stories that gave us Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. With Sam Spade, we get a tough guy who has more depth and resolve than visible on the surface. Antagonists are ruthless and no strangers to bloodshed. Their plans may be sophisticated, but they aren't complex. People get killed for getting in the way. They don't get talked to death. The adventure comes in discovering all of this for ourselves, making this a classic detective story without peer.

"Don't be too sure I'm as crooked as I'm supposed to be."
One of those rare and flawless novels whose merits and satisfactions seem magically to multiply with successive readings. Ditto Dash's stunning Red Harvest by the way, which if anything packs an ever heftier punch each go-round. Still, The Maltese Falcon springs downright eternal and I'd be greatly surprised if in a couple of centuries from now amateur readers still weren't getting the biggest bang out of the priceless palaver of that pleasant blond satan, Samuel Spade. Must be about a dozen times now over something like twenty odd years that I've read this crisp and crafty caper and not a single line yet has let me down or failed to pay off. Dash may not be quite as hilariously snarky, sharply incisive or lyrically bittersweet as that colossal mahubba bubba waiting right round the corner--there was always ever going to be just the one and only Raymond Chandler--but he can stop you dead in your tracks just the same. After Sam is woken up at five minutes past two in the AM by a phone call informing him that his partner Miles Archer just got plugged there's this little sentence: "He scowled at the telephone on the table while his hands took from beside it a packet of brown papers and a sack of Bull Durham." Fair enough you suppose but then Hammett slips in this startling paragraph:

"Spade's thick fingers made a cigarette with deliberate care, sifting a measured quantity of tan flakes down into curved paper, spreading the flakes so that they lay equal at the ends with a slight depression in the middle, thumbs rolling the paper's inner edge down and up under the outer edge as forefingers pressed it over, thumbs and fingers sliding to the paper cylinder's ends to hold it even while tongue licked the flap, left forefinger and thumb pinching their end while right forefinger and thumb smoothed the damp seam, right forefinger and thumb twisting their end and lifting the other to Spade's mouth."

Can't and won't speak for any of you punters out there but me I like that just fine. Or what about that Flitcraft yarn Sam tells Brigid while they're waiting for Cairo to show up? Now there's a sneaky and pleasingly teasing little pebble in the gumshoe of any attentive reader's mind. Then of course the Dash can crack you up too when you least expect it. Here's Sam in his crowded apartment late in the novel, trying to wangle a fall-guy out of Gutman and associates and getting more than a little exasperated with the assembled oddballs: "He scowled at Gutman and burst out irritably: 'Jesus God! is this the first thing you guys ever stole? You're a fine lot of lollipops! What are you going to do next--get down and pray?'" That's almost as good as Spade telling Casper Gutman earlier that a crippled newsie took Wilmer's pistols away from him! I guess you can't really talk about The Maltese Falcon either without mentioning John Huston's stupendous movie version so all I'll say is the 1941 film adaptation by Huston IS stupendous. Huston wrote AND directed this screen classic and what's more the movie was his directorial debut which gives you some idea of why this dude is generally revered by a slew of folks. Plus that astonishing cast he had to work with! Magnificent movie, any way you cut it. So by all means watch this wonderful film repeatedly but do yourself a favour and read Hammett's deft and dandy little book an equal number of times. This particular dingus first soared off the page roundabout 1930 and is assuredly flying high still.

Great Book
I read this for a class and it was really great, but I'm biased because I love film noir. The writing style is fantastic, reads more like a movie than a book. ... Read more

Product Description
Climb aboard, buckle up, and prepare to jump to hyperspace for a dazzling adventure aboard the ship that launched a thousand fates.

Two years have passed since the death of the brutal Sith Lord Darth Caedus–once known as Jacen Solo. The galaxy is slowly healing from civil war, while Jacen’s family and friends are left to mourn his loss alone. For Han and Leia, still grieving for their son, the only bright spot is Jacen’s daughter, Allana, who has been given into their care. Now Allana introduces new adventure into her grandparents’ lives when she discovers a strange device hidden aboard the Millennium Falcon–a discovery that sparks a fact-finding expedition to retrace the people, places, and events in the checkered history of the famous spaceship. But the Solos are not alone in their quest: Crime lords, galactic pirates, rogue politicians, and fortune hunters alike will race to a final standoff for a prize some will risk everything to find–and pay any cost to possess. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (56)

James Luceno-Best-selling author?Really?
The author has apparently had very good success with previous books.I haven't read them and don't plan to.Millennium Falcon was just 'okay.'I give 5 stars for the idea but must subtract 2 stars for poor execution.The writing is pathetic, however, tolerable.My interest in the story line kept me going.I frequently found that I would roll my eyes or shake my head in response to a poorly structured scene.

Stand-alone book
I've read almost all the Star Wars books.I enjoyed this one, and found it refreshing to read a stand-alone book not dependent on a long, drawn-out plot.It was fun finding out the history of the Falcon, although I was disappointed that there wasn't more of Han & Leia, and their granddaughter.

YT-1300
This is a great book to read if you're interested at all in the iconic YT-1300 that is the Millennium Falcon.

Love any stories with Han Solo
Unfortunately this one focused a lot on a character they introduced in the beginning. It is always interesting to see how a back story is created for characters, ships or scenes that define the Star Wars world. If you haven't read all the books proceeding this in the time line, then you will be exposed to developments with characters you may not want to know before reading the other books.Yes you could read it without having read any Star wars books. They do a good job with the paragraph type recap of past events. You just don't want to spoil it for the other books.

Worth reading but don't expect a lot
I was barely satisfied with this book. Worth reading, but don't expect any ground-breaking findings. This is the first James Luceno novel I read and I'll be hesitant to pick up another one. Going off this book, his writing style is very wordy and he uses a lot of annoyingly-short sentences . . .

The book uses familiar events from the movies though not in a manner I thought was creative or original - more like shoved in - like a reviewer noted "just happened to be there". Once the book got moving it was predictable - the ship's once-captain Jadak going forward in time and Han Solo going backward, tracking down various owners and listening to their stories. It was inevitable that they would meet somewhere in the middle. The plot was thin as some reviewers noted, hardly enough to tie the stories together.
I liked the little stories from various owners though none of them actually mattered in relation to the book - they did not tie into the plot other than "oh yeah, I owned the ship and then I sold it to this guy". Some were entertaining though.
The book took a while to get moving; I was considering skipping sections to get to some sort of turning point.

The action sequences were kind of false and tossed in. The most perplexing one was at the exotic animal show - seriously, what was the point of that? Just thrown in with no relevance to anything. And meeting that Jedi there, who we knew nothing about yet was somehow a bad guy and a danger to the Jedi Order . . . uh, sure?

I was disappointed in how the characters were portrayed. Han Solo was not in character - he seemed disconnected the entire book. He's not that "nice" of a guy and his dialogue (as well as most of the dialogue in the book) was hard to read. I found myself thinking, "Han Solo wouldn't do/say that . . . ". Seven-year-old Allana, who I was not familiar with prior to this novel, was likable though and she was a welcome addition. Something I did like about Han and Leia was how Luceno made them really care about Allana. That was needed since the Solo family was basically torn apart in the New Jedi Order series. Their concern for their daughter was very real.

Something else I liked was how the Falcon was almost a character throughout the book. Luceno kept the emphasis on the Falcon and I liked that - this book is about the Falcon and not anything else.
Something about this novel is that it's contained - a short little time period in the Star Wars universe and basically a family adventure. I think that's something to appreciate since every other Star Wars novel deals with saving the entire galaxy from some catastrophe.

The ending of the book was a big letdown, it made no sense based on what we were told at the beginning. At the very least, I thought it should have been better than *that*. As I read it I was like "that's it!?!? All this way for that!?!!?" It literally meant nothing. I can't say it left me hanging since there wasn't much of a buildup.

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In closing, Millennium Falcon is worth reading but should not be taken seriously. This book is fiction even in the Star Wars universe. I have dozens of Star Wars novels and this is the only one I have legitimately been disappointed with. ... Read more

Product Description
Written on the brink of World War II, Rebecca West’s classic examination of the history, people, and politics of Yugoslavia illuminates a region that is still a focus of international concern. A magnificent blend of travel journal, cultural commentary, and historical insight, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon probes the troubled history of the Balkans and the uneasy relationships among its ethnic groups. The landscape and the people of Yugoslavia are brilliantly observed as West untangles the tensions that rule the country’s history as well as its daily life.Amazon.com Review
Part travelogue, part history, part love letter on athousand-page scale, Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falconis a genre-bending masterwork written in elegant prose. But what makesit so unlikely to be confused with any other book of history,politics, or culture--with, in fact, any other book--is its unashameddepth of feeling: think The Decline and Fall of theRoman Empire crossed with Let Us Now Praise FamousMen. West visited Yugoslavia for the first time in 1936. Whatshe saw there affected her so much that she had to return--partly, shewrites, because it most resembled "the country I have always seenbetween sleeping and waking," and partly because "it was like pickingup a strand of wool that would lead me out of a labyrinth in which, tomy surprise, I had found myself immured." Black Lamb is thechronicle of her travels, but above all it is West following thatstrand of wool: through countless historical digressions; throughwinding narratives of battles, slavery, and assassinations; throughShakespeare and Augustine and into the very heart of humanfrailty.

West wrote on the brink of World War II, when she was "alreadyconvinced of the inevitability of the second Anglo-German war." Theresulting book is colored by that impending conflict, and by West'ssearch for universals amid the complex particulars of Balkanhistory. In the end, she saw the region's doom--and our own--in adouble infatuation with sacrifice, the "black lamb and grey falcon" ofher title. It's the story of Abraham and Isaac without the last-minutereprieve: those who hate are all too ready to martyr the innocent inorder to procure their own advantage, and the innocent themselves areall too eager to be martyred. To West, in 1941, "the whole world is avast Kossovo, an abominable blood-logged plain." Unfortunately, littlehas happened since then to prove her wrong. --Mary Park ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

This is an amazing book, love it!
If you love the Balkans and want to know more about it, this is a book for you.

A Croat's Return to Yugoslavia
This book recounts a journey made by the author and her husband as they traveled through Croatia, Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Old Serbia, and Montenegro at a time when Hitter threatened to engulf all of Europe in a World War.

Describing and analyzing the journey, the author fills more than a thousand pages.

The highlight of the book is the epilogue which recounts the author's thoughts of the impact her travels made on assessing the politics of Germany and the Balkans at a turning point in history.

For All That
Yes "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon" is wonderful for all the reasons stated in these reviews, but for all that it must be said that the dominant theme of Ms West's masterpiece is the eternal human condition. She sees with the eyes of a woman and the eyes of a genius. She has seen humanity's troubled soul, and gently brought it to the surface in the fabric of her marvelous linguistic tapestry. "Black Lamb and Grey Falcon" is in a class by its self.

a fascinating mess
BLGF is a gigantic grab bag of a book.If yourinterested in the former yugoslavia,it is a fascinating read.Although i don't think anyone would wish it longer than it is.West offers sharp and at times profound insights.However the reader needs to be careful.West's prejudices distort much of what is on view.The first of these is her near pathological hostility to all things german.One might think that would not be all that important in a book on yugoslavia.It turns out to be of critical importance.West combines this anti-germanic perspective with a pronounced anti-catholic bias.Once you realize this the opinions expressed in the book as well as its omissions begin to make a kind of sense.It's telling that West virtually ignores slovenia except to point to bad conduct by the catholic church.Slovenia is mostly catholic and even worse the most"austrian " of yugoslavia's nations. As such i think she considers it unworthy of her attention.Croatia is a place she has to write about but one can infer she'd rather not.The croats are too catholic and somewhat german influenced.Almost as bad they are also italian and hungarian influenced.They just aren't "slavic" enough! Well it is fairly easy to guess who is slavic enough,the serbs.This is a very distorted picture.Westdoes seem to think that the serbs are noble savages by virtue of their freedom from non slavic influences.Whereas the northern south slavs are tainted by foreigness.To say the least,this is a strange viewpoint for a writer of"advanced" views.It smacks of an odd provincialism.Italy was at one point one of the most creative and dynamic societies on earth.It's croatias neighbor.Does West really think that the croatians should have turned their back on italy inorder to cultivate slavic purity?I think the answer is ,yes.West dissmisses late imperial austria as an intellectual and cultural wasteland.That can only beexplained as a by product of ignorance.This was afterall the land of klimt,mahler,freud and wittgenstein.Joseph Roth would wind up downright nostalgic about it.West says austria-hungary was the most repressive state in europe after russia.This is oddin two ways.One i doubt it's true.Austria was more repressive than the ottoman empire,spain,portugal,romania and bulgaria?Also even if true no one with a straight face could argue that austria was comprable to russia as a tyranny.That said this peculiar book is fascinating.Although like some of the other reviewers i too wondered what's the story on the husband and what's allthis talk about the positive benefits of the absence of homosexuality?(and where did she get that idea from?).

Another misconception of Balkan realities
A nice read but highly romanticized outlook of the old Yugoslav Kingdom and the people of Yugoslavia. The book is based on the authors interaction with the Yugoslav intellectual elite and her observation of the people of old Yugoslavia. Her interpretation of the Slav character needs to be understood in the context of the orientalist approach of the time- as a result - the Slav character in the book is idealized in the same manner that modern day nationalist in the same region see themselves. Namely, the great Slavic nation of the Serbs who defended Europe from the Turks and saved the rest of the Southern Slavs from the Austrians. Given the time in which it was written (late 30s) the author suffers from an extreme germanophobia in every possible sense! She seems to come across only irrational, pompous and arrogant Germans who can't appreciate the Yugoslav people in the same way that she and her husband can. The book is extremely pro-Serbian, so much so that the Croatian and Macedonian discontent and wish for separation is seen not as a solution to the Serbian dominated Kingdom but as, sometimes Vatican sometimes Austrian and sometimes Italian inspired propaganda to divide the otherwise brotherly relations between the Serbs and the Croats! How much of this brotherly love was genuine - we saw in the WWII that followed as well as the bloody brake up of Socialist Yugoslavia.As much as she has made a conscious attempt not to become another British traveler in the Balkans that picks her pet-nation and promotes their interests - she falls under the Balkan trap of victimization and myths and becomes in the process an ardent pro-Serb - as indeed her political activities would later reveal. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (16)

A great read!
A very well written book that is among the author's best. Exciting with great characters. A must read.

What a story!!!!
After waiting a number of years to see a new thriller by James W. Huston, I found it to be every bit a page turner as his previous books that I have read. I will be purchasing his other that I have sitting in my save for later file very soon. James Huston ranks right up there with Dale Brown and Stephen Coots.

Wrong about President Obama
Mr. Huston seems to ignore the fact that under President Obama, we have attacked and killed more terrorists than under Bush. He seems to make an assumption that Obama would cower to the ICC and I found it completely ridiculous. Yes, it is popular to believe that Obama would bow down to the international community and leave american fighter pilots to hang for performing a top secret mission for their country, but it is very silly when you think about it. As an American soldier, I can't support this book for that very fact.

Alternate Title: Flight of the Straw Man
If you like a good thriller, you'll mourn Huston's inability to see enough grey to make a compelling idea into a worthwhile story.Europeans are naive or evil.The main female character is a "good" liberal because she's pretty and willing to reconsider her misguided ideas in the face of protagonist Jack Caskey's manly certitude.The only other woman who shows up is bitter at the Air Force because she didn't have what it takes to fly and bitter at lawyers because of her divorce, which was supposedly predictable and funny.Those women, can't live with 'em and can't ignore they exist when you write a novel.Anyone who questions Caskey's point of view deserves a good beating, though he doesn't bother with such miscreants.He just kicks them out of the room.

The sad thing is Huston has a legitimate point to make about the International Criminal Court, and he has a pretty good knack for plot.So if you're on the far right or far left and want to confirm your biases in an entertaining way...this book is for you!

Just When You Think the Afghan War Can't Get Any Worse, It Does
After Marine One (a terrific book in which the President dies in a helicopter crash to begin the story), Huston returns to what he does best, sort of a military aviation version of the wildly successful Law & Order franchise. Just as Law & Order has survived for years on TV by blending the chaos of New York streets with the order of New York courts, Huston blends the chaos of modern war (especially the war on terror) with the order imposed by the Rule of Law. In Falcon Seven, the Rule of Law is represented by the International Criminal Court at the Hague. When characters playing by the rules of the Afghan war become caught in the ICC's rules, Huston unfolds a thrill ride of a plot that spans three continents.
For some, the plot might seem somewhat unlikely, especially at first. But by the time Huston has used his extensive knowledge of the military and the legal system to flesh out the characters and the settings in which the characters find themselves, most readers will come to the conclusion that the plot is not only reasonable, it could happen at any time. And even if it doesn't happen, the mere threat of it happening is something about which we need to be concerned. Falcon Seven will not just entertain you, it will make you think about issues that really matter. What more could a reader want in a book? ... Read more

Product Description
F is for Falcon...When Josh discovers a nest of young falcons in the forest,

he, Dink, and Ruth Rose start visiting every day. Until the morning they find

it empty! Then the kids discover a wounded falcon with its wing feathers

clipped, and they know someone's up to no good. Can they figure out

what's going on before it's too late to save the falcons?




... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A to Z Mystery Series
I am reading this entire series with my six year old son.He read the Absent Author in school and talked about it so much at home that we started buying all of the books.The reading level is above his abilities (1st grade), but it makes for a quick read together.Perfect length for reading a couple of chapters together before bed at night.He has passed each one on to a second grade friend who is reading through them on his own very quickly as well.It's a fun series with age appropriate material that my child and I both can enjoy together.

Birds and Pencils
I liked the Falcon's Feather because Josh likes to draw the birds and I like to draw too.He likes birds and so do I.I like A to Z mysteries because you always have to find out who the criminal is.But I'm not going to tell you who the criminal is in this story!I'm in second grade and I think this book is really cool.

Goodandfastreadingbook.
Excitingmysterybookaboutrarebirds. Theendingwasless surprisingthenthe priorforbooksinthe series.Theauthor introducedtwonewcharacters:GraceLockwoodandDocHenry. ... Read more

Product Description
Rhianna Lancaster has always been 'different' - and not in that quirky, small-town Texas way. Nope, Ria's unique qualities are downright bizarre, which is why she tries to keep them to herself, thank you very much. So maybe she should be glad when, out for a run, she encounters a guy even weirder than she is - not to mention naked. What Ria learns from this 'Prince Kristor' person is that he's an alien sent to help her get in touch with her powers and rescue her from a mortally unfulfilling life here on earth. Good to know. Also good to know the local law enforcement, whom Ria calls after macing Good Prince Naked and running for her life. Problem is, she can't stop. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Falcon Prince
Rhianna Lancaster, known as Ria, has always been a little different from the other residents in the small Texas town where she grew up. She always knew she was adopted, but that voice inside her head made her stand out, and always led her parents, and others, to think she needed to "visit the doctors" in Dallas.

Prince Kristor Vallkyir is on a quest to find Ria, who is actually part alien, and bring her back to New Symtaria to help repopulate the planet. Maybe jumping out in front of her naked, while she was jogging, wasn't a good idea; especially since she sprayed some foul thing on him and called the police.

But the police are used to strange things coming from Ria, and they dismiss her accounts. When she finds out Kristor is staying with her parents, she's furious. He's crazy, after all, thinking he's an alien and he can shape shift into a bird. Even more crazy is he thinks she can shape shift, too. But alien or not, Ria is very attracted to the sexy man.

Can he convince her who she truly is, and take her back to New Symtaria before it's too late, for the both of them?

The Falcon Prince continues Karen Kelley's tales of the princes of New Symtaria, and like its predecessor, this story is light-hearted and fun. The town in which Ria lives is full of quirky characters who obviously love her, despite her differences.

Kristor is a sexy, to-die-for hero who doesn't expect to fall for Ria, but when he does, it's a no-holds-barred love that makes a reader sigh. The shape-shifting elements of this book, and the animal guides, add an extra layer of fun that provided great entertainment.

The Falcon Prince is a great addition to Ms. Kelley's series, and is a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Amelia
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

zany fun romantic science fiction
In Miller Bend, Texas the naked male hunk comes out of the fog to the amazement of Rianna Lancaster.He insists he came for her to bring her home to the planet of New Symtaria.She reacts like any American female would; she sprays him with Mace and dials 911 as she runs away from the intruder.

The residents believe dog groomer Ria is a fruitcake as she behaves so different than a Texan; the sheriff ignores her insistence of a streaker and her adopted parents betray her when they rent her bedroom to the wealthy Prince Kristor.Ria detests his arrogance, but finds she also wants him.He insists she is a royal from his orb and they belong together forever.She insists she is a Texan and they belong together for a tryst.

The second Prince of Symtaria romantic science fiction (see The Jaguar Prince) is a zany tale of an illegal alien and a citizen with questionable legal status fighting, fussing and falling in love.This lighthearted frolic may be over the top of New Symtaria and contains a rushed climax, but fans will relish the star-crossed amusing yet heated tale of love in small-town Texas.

Harrier Klausner

Sizzling Light Hearted Paranormal
The Falcon Prince will be the second book in Karen Kelley's series about the Princes of Symtaria. Ms. Kelley has again weaved a paranormal shape shifting story that will take us to great heights, and can be a stand alone read.

Rhianna Lancaster lives the small Texas town of Miller Bend.Having been adopted at an early age, she knows nothing of her biological parents and has always known she was different from others around her.Ria has always had a special connection with animals and uses this to her advantage by running a successful dog grooming business.Now if only she could get a handle on the voice in her head who could be very opinionated. When a naked man appears before her when she is out for a jog with a bizarre story about aliens and secret powers she begins to wonder if they are as far fetched as first thought.

Prince Kristor Valkyir had been sent from his home planet of New Symtaria to bring Ria back to their planet.This mission was soon becoming impossible to do, as he found Ria not very co-operative to his suggestion. As he settles into her home town until he can change her mind he is unaware of the dangers that would come. What he did know was his intense desire for Ria and how he had to hold it at bay, or did he?

Ms. Kelley has weaved an enjoyable read that will keep you in suspense, but also mixed in her humor and then there are the sparks that only intensify between Ria and Kristor and make the pages sizzle at times.I enjoyed this read and would recommend it and look forward to the next in this series coming in the fall.
... Read more

Product Description
Astride her white palfrey, surrounded by a nimbus of silver-blond hair, Jasmine was a vision to strike a man mute with desire.But the violet-eyed love child of King Richard's half brother had vowed that no man would ever rule her heart.Until she saw the face of the Devil himself in her crystal ball--the dark, brooding knight who would kill to make her his own.She would risk a dissolute court and a maddened, lustful king to keep destiny at bay, anything to keep her from the hypnotic eyes and burning caresses of...The Falcon.

A wickedly handsome warrior who lived by blood and the sword, Falcon de Burgh wanted to wed no woman--until he laid eyes on the exquisite Jasmine, and he vowed to possess her, to teach her all the wondrous ways a man could love a woman, no matter what it might take to conquer her fiery, unyielding heart. Falcon knew only blind, reckless passion as he swore to tame, at the risk of his life...The Flower. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (38)

the knight and the ninny.....
My Review:


A great old school"bodice ripper" 80's historical romance. The hero, Falcon, is way alpha male and the heroine, Jasmine, is pretty much a stubborn twit who continually gets into scrapes that the hero must rescue her from. All that being said-the back story of King John and the machinations of his court were such that the book was still quite enjoyable.


This book would have been 5 stars if not for the stupidity, stubbornness, and just plain bit@hiness of the heroine. The book constantly goes on about her "exquisite, flaxen beauty" and the heroine uses that to manipulate most around her. The most unusual, and implausible thing, is that, even though Jasmine is supposedly a skilled white witch, she has virtually no knowledge of the marriage act and is literally terrified of bedroom relations for over two thirds of the book? She actually cringes when the hero touches her! The hero is crazy about her but at several points he wonders why he puts up with her abuse. And yes-he does strike her a couple of times in the book-after her selfish antics put many others in jeopardy and in one instance almost get a man killed. I give props to Virginia Henley's writing that she can make two leads who are VERY unlikable but still weave an interesting story in spite of them. This is my first Virginia Henley and I hope that most of her heroines are not dingbats like Jasmine, if so I'll skip those books as she is cringe worthy.


3.5 stars.

This was the worst book ever!
I can't believe I wasted hours of my life reading this book!!The main characters were absolutely AWFUL to each other.Like many male protagonists of the romance genre, he was very arrogant.Arrogance/confidence is okay to some degree, but Falcon was mean...downright mean and hateful to Jasmine.Jasmine was a complete and spoiled rotten brat, as well as a first degree witch.I know a good story needs some conflict, but GOOD GRIEF!I found myself hating both characters because of their deplorable behavior towards each other!!I honestly don't even know why I bothered to finish the book.I guess I kept hoping it would get better, but it truly never did.

Don't waste your money on this one!If you want a well-written love story, try Julie Garwood, Hannah Howell, Monica McCarty, Kinley McGregor, or Galen Foley.

bodice ripper
i read the book before and spilled fruit punch all over my original copy, so i wanted another. the cover on the first publication was more interesting then this one. the story is typical of the genera and era of bodice rippers, so if you don't like them, this book is not for you. Also, the book villianizes prince john of England/ and even invokes robin hood, so if you're not interested in either of these characters fictionalized, once again this book is not for you. I enjoy the charachters strong sense of self and firm directions they choose for themselves. the story is a setting in which two people who are complete individuals form a very strong bond despite the chaos around them. In this generation the story is a bit out of touch and far fetched, but true medieval life was gritty and violent, and if you keep that in mind you'll fit right in.

Lust, Love and Lunacy
Let me first start off by saying that I've read a few of Virginia Henley's books and I have grown to like her writing style and how she plays around with historical event and real people in history, now on to the book review.
I have to be honest and say that Falcon and Jasmine are my least favorite couple of all her books. I find them to have a dysfunctional and at times violent relationship. I felt like through most of the book there was a lot of antagonism between the two, and Falcon used a lot of he-man tactics to get what he wanted i.e. Jasmine at the expense of everything. I also felt like Jasmine was an airhead more times than not and that she really believed that she was some kind of white witch. I could not stand that she kept being portrayed as some fragile flower who was so "weak" that she hadn't been taught to run a household and was never expected to marry because she had been a bit of a runt at birth and her mother had died in chid birth so it would stand to reason that she would befall the same fate. I just could not stand that she was treated like some hothouse flower and through most of the book she kept being referred to as this "ethereal beauty".

I also didn't like that Falcon hit her a couple of times but then was so apologetic after he did it, it didn't wash with me. I mean this man was described as being over 6ft tall and muscle bound giant. Just the though of him shacking or slapping someone who was described over and over again as fragile, made my teeth raddle. I didn't by that they fell in love with one another after being lot in a room for four days about 3/4ths ways into the book, even though up until that point they were at each others throats like to rabid dogs. I do however believe the found lust and a lot of it. I also think that Falcon had a unhealthy obsession with Jasmine, and she in turn was a very young girl being overtaken by a much older man.

The only reason I gave this book the 3 stars is because of the way the author played around with history and the death of King John, using her characters as possible murderess, because in reality historians are not sure how he died, also I liked that she made Falcon de Burgh a nephew to the actual Hubert de Burgh, so it made it rather interesting being that he (Falcon) was a fictional character.

One of my favorite EVER!!!
This is one of my favorite romance novels EVER!!! I love the characters and the story. Henley writes so vividly it is easy to visual the world in the story and truly get lost in there world. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

The missionary embraces the slaver?
Warning, spoiler:

I admit, I did not finish this book. I just could get this past event on page 70:

The female doctor protagonist is an avowed opponent to slavery on a missionary trip to Africa.She uncovers evidence that the boat on which she is sailing is a slave boat, captained by a slaver intending to fill the hold with human cargo.

She sneaks into the captain's vacant cabin and waits for him with 2 pistols, intending to end him and his business in slaving.Instead,when he arrives she hands over the pistols and actively participates in making passionate love. At one point, he "pulled abruptly away and she almost screamed to him not to go away again - but he had crossed to the door and locked it."

It continues:"Then, as he came back to where she lay, his own clothing seemed to fall away from his body like morning mist from mountain peak, and she came up on one elbow to stare at him openly.She had never seen anything so beautiful, she thought."

That's why I stopped reading this book.

Love wilbur smith.....
this was good, but not great....a little slow, but i still bought all the remaining ballantyne novels.I loved his egypian series, loved his courtney series, so i expect the same here.....

Good read.
Robyn Ballantyne and her brother, Morris, have waited years to return to Africa. They are determined to locate their father, a missionary, who had disappeared within the African wilderness.

Following a map left by a madman, the siblings track their father's footsteps. Hope slowly fades from the duo. Even so, they continue onward through dense wilderness and fierce wildlife with little time to take in the area's rough beauty.

When they find themselves amid a horrible slave trade, Robyn and Morris split up. Both are being tracked and time is running out.

*** This is book one of four. I found it to be a bit long-winded at times, but well written and loaded with suspense. Definitely worth you time. ***

Reviewed by Scott for Huntress Reviews. ... Read more

Product Description
Bane the Bastard is the illegitimate son of the Rigante king who men called Demonblade. Born of treachery, Bane grew up an outcast in his own land, feared by his fellow highlanders, and denied by the father whose unmistakable mark he bore–the eyes of Connavar, one tawny brown, the other emerald green.

Hounded from the country of his birth, Bane found acceptance across the seas–only to have it stripped away in an instant by a cruel and deadly swordsman. Now fighting as a gladiator in the blood-soaked arenas of the Empire, Bane lives for one thing: revenge. And he pursues his goal with the same single-minded determination that won his father a crown.

But more is at stake than a young warrior’s quest for vengeance. The armies of the Stone are preparing to march on the lands of the Rigante. The fate of human and Seidh alike will be decided by the clash of swords–and by the bonds of twisted love and bitterness between a father and a son . . .Amazon.com Review
Following Swordin the Storm, Midnight Falcon is David Gemmell's secondnovel in the Rigante sequence. This volume can stand alone, though theseries will be more accessible if read in order.

Seventeen-year-oldBane, illegitimate son of King Connovar, comes to the city of Stone, aplace of gladiatorial combat, corruption, and religiousterror. Embittered by his father's refusal to acknowledge him, Bane'swildness leads to bloodshed before friendship and betrayal force himto accept the complexities of power and responsibility. The novelbuilds to an epic climax, as Bane must accept who he is in order tolead his people in a desperate battle for their very survival.

David Gemmell has created a detailed and realistic world in which theaction is vividly described and often thrilling. Yet there is amelancholy tone, for the author is as concerned with the consequencesof war and the nature of men of violence as he is with conflictitself. There is a sense of the tragedy of war, lending the sadgrandeur of history to a strongly characterized and intelligentadventure. It is something the series has in common with StephenKing's haunting fantasy western epic The DarkTower. --Gary S. Dalkin, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Fantasy Testosterone!(Spoiler Free Review)
This book makes me want to go to the gym!

Midnight Falcon is the action packed sequel to A Sword in the Storm, Book 2 of 4 in Gemmell's Rigante Series.

Midnight Falcon picks up right where A Sword in the Storm left off.It chronicles the story of Bane, the illegitimate son of the Rigante King and his turbulent life.Shunned by his fellow tribesmen, Bane accompanies his friend Banouin, to the Land of Stone on a quest for knowledge.Across the sea, Bane quickly makes friends, enemies, and a whole heap of corpses.

This 430 page book actually feels like 2 books in 1 and the story takes many unexpected twists and turns.All of the surviving characters from the previous book are back as they try to survive on the brink of war and the threat of cultural extinction.

From two-fisted brawls, to gladiator fights, to skirmishes, to large scale battles with thousands of soldiers, this book is crammed with quality action, violence, and some brain splattering gore.But there is much more to this book than left hooks and battle axes to the face.It's also a study about human nature and man's need for conquest, glory, revenge, and peace.It's an entertaining book that also makes you think about what drives the human spirit.

If you're looking for a fantasy action novel that parallels the bloody BC Battles between the Romans and Celts with some emotion behind it, you need to pick up this book.

If you like your fantasy with very linear stories, simple plots, elves, dwarves, and tons of magic, then you may not enjoy this book because it's based on history and folklore.

Overall, this is one of David Gemmell's best books and a real crowd pleaser for fans of epic fantasy.

Thoroughly enjoyable, legendary characters with flesh, intelligent ideas, engaging morality, coherent plot
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

There's a lot to enjoy, not the least of which is that he doesn't get anything wrong. There are so many books that have some good ideas and execution but are undermined by some annoying flaw: not so here. I made similar comments about his excellent The Legend of Deathwalker, but there I said `he never soars'. And, yes, there are other writers that are more liable to reach out of the page to slap you with wit (Wodehouse) or incident (Banks) or insight (Hornby) or ideas (Bear) or dialogue (Heller) or something, but here Gemmell managed to land a couple of very palpable hits on me. This on top of the usual dignity and solid plotting. Indeed, the way he wove so many elements together here is a real triumph.

I like the way he seems to wrestle with his heroes - having them ask the very questions of themselves and each other that surface in your own mind. They don't always agree, or even convince themselves. I like the charm - he writes characters you grow to like, and occasionally throws a nice line or scene to a minor player, such as Brother Solstice's wake up call, or Persis and his elephants. I like the way he doesn't utterly demonise one enemy (although the Crimson Priests are your standard one dimensional Spanish Inquisition nasties), having, for example, Bane find his closest friends in the evil empire. There seems to be more room than usual for traditionally opposing ideas.

This book foregrounds its historical influences, outright saying that Stone is parallel to Rome, leaving us in no doubt as to the early Christian nature of the source, and the audacity of throwing a female messiah into the story. Meanwhile we've got wicca and, what, some sort of Gaia figure. In another book this would just be a big mess, but somehow Gemmell makes it all work for a coherent story - albeit one that moves (sometimes) in unexpected ways.

I could have lived without the anti-industrialisation/urbanisation/'globalisation?' message, a bit simplistic, but at least he's tried to be a bit less vague about good and evil here.

I like hanging out in Gemmell's worlds. They're not insulting but they still give you swords and sorcery.

A fascinating clash of cultures
On the face of it, this novel seems like little more than a rousing tale of swords and sorcery with a faux-historical sheen. But it's more, and better, than that simple description would indicate.

David Gemmell's Rigante series (at least in the first two volumes) seems akin to the (excellent) fantasy of Guy Gavriel Kay - places from real-life history, re-named and fictionalized, become the settings for epic adventures rich in intrigue, magic, and derring-do.In this case, we have the Keltoi, a loose confederation of tribal peoples patterned after the Celts, complete with god-like nature spirits called the Seidh (Sidhe), and the city and ever-expanding empire of Stone, patterned after the Roman Republic/Empire. For good measure, he throws in the tree cult, a persecuted religion that meets in secret and preaches peace, love, and harmony, very much like first- and second-century Christians.

And that's where "Midnight Falcon" becomes so gripping and enjoyable. As the Keltoi culture clashes with the culture of Stone, and subcultures within each of those societies clash with each other, Gemmell is able to portray in a fascinating light the eternal struggle between man's innate nature of venality and violence and selfishness, and our ever-present impulse towards something better, more generous and peaceful. The conflict between our nature and our BETTER nature is played out in an oh-so-satisfying manner in the political maneuvering, bloody death bouts, and emotional batterings (intentional and otherwise) in which Gemmell's oh-so-human characters are engaged here.

And there are so many wonderful and important characters. Despite the somewhat misleading description on the book's back-cover, the hot-tempered Bane (the son of "Sword in the Storm"'s main character Connavar) is but one part of this story. We also meet young Banouin, torn between two cultural identities and living too much inside his own head; Rage, a famed gladiator whose nature belies his deadly skills; the surprisingly sweet and funny Persis Albitane and his snarky servant Norwin; the darkly inscrutable Seidh goddess called the Morrigu; and scores of other significant supporting characters.

"Midnight Falcon" is not just some random blood-and-thunder Conan knockoff. It is a layered and infinitely effective portrayal of cultures at war, peopled with memorable and believable characters who live through the crucible in which their characters, and the ideas we all must contemplate but ultimately never can fully resolve, are tested to the fullest. A thoughtful and immersive read, highly recommended.

(I would, however, also highly recommend reading the first Rigante book, "Sword in the Storm," first. While not quite the equal of this second volume, it is definitely enjoyable in its own right, and also provides a valuable introduction to both the Keltoi and Stone without which I think this story would suffer.)

Super Reader
Bane is the illegitimate son of Connavar, Demonblade. His father made a deal with the goddess Morrigu so that he would live.

Involved with the gladiator world, the teenaged boy sets out on a quest. He must come to terms with who he is, and with his own people (not to mention relatives), to aid them in their coming fight.

Fantastic follow up to The Sword in the Storm
Midnight Falcon by David Gemmell is the second book in the Rigante Series. The first book was; The Sword in the Storm. And that book follows Connavar growing up and becoming known as Demonblade. This book chronicles the tale of his [...] son Bane and the trials he goes through to become a man. Along the way Bane faces many challenges and learns many lessons.

The plot of this book is much more encompassing than that of The Sword in the Storm. This book is actually two book sin one when you dissect the plot arc. The first piece of the plot is Bane's quest to become a gladiator in the arenas of Stone. Along this quest he also seeks out revenge against someone. (Not going to say who or why, because of spoilers). Throughout this course of revenge Bane learns many things about himself and about life in general. The second half of the plot deals with the impending attack of the armies of Stone on the Rigante people and the role that Bane plays in fending them of and the choices he makes.

This book differs from other Gemmell books I have read in that there is a great deal of character development. In most Gemmell books there is a human element that of facing impossible odds and fighting for what someone believes in regardless of the perceived outcome. Yet, in this book, Mr. Gemmell, seems to make a very strong effort to bring Bane and a couple other characters out of that mold and really flesh them out. I would really like to say more and give examples, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. Suffice to say that the character development in this book is second to none and I was very captivated by it.

Fans of Gemmell will no doubt find elements in this book that are both familiar and enjoyable Readers who have yet to read Gemmell should really get started. He has written many fantastic books. The first one I read, and many people will recommend this book, is Legend - which is the first of the Drenai Saga books. The two books I have read in the Rigante series thus far are more epic in nature than the Drenai books. Both are very good, but are different formats. Regardless, if you are a fan of the fantasy genre don't hesitate to jump into the world of the Rigante. I have little doubt that you will not enjoy them. They are truly fantastic books and well worth the time reading them.
... Read more

Product Description

The Land of the Pharaohs harbors more secrets than any tomb can hide.

Other books in the Peabody series available in paperback are The Ape Who Guards theBalance, TheCrocodile on the Sandbank, The Curse of the Pharaohs,and The HippopotamusPool.--Dick Adler ... Read more

Customer Reviews (182)

The Beginning of a Quest?
The Falcon at the Portal by Elizabeth Peters is packed with deeper emotions and bigger surprises than the other books of the series, but this just makes it all better and the work stands well by itself.If you haven't read any of the series this tale is darker and more dramatic than the usual "happy go lucky, oops, we're in big trouble again", archeological adventures of the Emerson family.The love story that weaves through the tale is very gothic.The dangers are larger and more sinister.The villains are not the usual greedy, dumb crooks, they are evil people filled with malice and this gives the story a more epic feeling.I read a lot, so usually I just wait until I come across the next book in a series, but this time I sat down and ordered it.

Oh so perfect(ly) BORING
This might be the end of my
affair with Amelia. In this
book she is a flattened cardboard with stiffs running amok to nowhere around her all so politically correct and the bad guy so obvious... Oh bosh. I'm wasting my time...

An old friend
I'm a long-time fan of Peabody, Emerson (wow to have a man like that), Ramses (ah Ramses!) and Nefret and was thrilled when I got to the book where they are finally together.I can hardly wait until the two or three books not yet on Kindle are entered.The books are not the kind of mystery that Agatha Christie served her fans.Rather, they are the kind of light reading that keeps one interested in the characters themselves, which Peters does with a deft hand without any gratuitous sex; Peters implies, not describes.The mysteries are easily solvable but I don't try to solve them, I just read them for the pleasure they give me.But yes, I also enjoy Follett!

Family Takes Center Stage
Elizabeth Peters has a strong wrap up to make THE FALCON AT THE PORTAL a satisfying mystery, but this is a novel about the family and how various relationships evolve. Well maybe, with Peters one never knows which is what keeps us reading, there are enough loose threads to bring us back for more.
Nash Black, author of QUALIFYING LAPS.

Already read it.
This was a book I read years ago, but it was presented as new.I was very disappointed ... Read more

Product Description
When the vertically-challenged Johnny Naples entrusts Tim Diamond with a package worth over three million pounds, he’s making a big mistake. Tim Diamond is the worst detective in the world. Next day, Johnny’s dead, Tim feels the heat, and his smart younger brother, Nick, gets the package—and every crook in town on his back! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

so far good what ive heard
i have not read this book but have heard it is really good and my friends love it! also i saw that it was innapropiate ( im 9)

It's OK
No great shakes, but all the same, if you are under stress at your workplace and want to relax at home, then this is a good book to forget your troubles. It is little dated, though!

Nick, the wise-cracking brother of incompetent detective Tim Diamond, pulls punches that we have heard many times in innumerable movies, books, TV shows etc etc. Mr. Horowitz's Nick Diamond was clearly "inspired" by Archie Goodwin character created by American writer Rex Stout! If the original was so insipid don't expect fireworks of the ersatz.

BTW, I have ordered Books 2 and 3 of the series because I may plan to travel soon.

A Great Book
The Falcon's Malteser is a great book. It combines all of the elements needed for a real winner. For example, it has a great first line, which is "There's not much call for private detectives in Fulham". Also, it's very exciting and interesting. It has a great plot, while holding you in suspense and keeping you there. Finally, Anthony Horowitz is an amazing author and you know to expect something great.

Great Book
THE FALCON'S MALTERSER Philomel Books,
Anthony Horowitz

The plane excelled off the runway, leaving Nick Diamond behind with his dimwitted, detective brother, Tim. Nick should have been on that plane heading to Australia but instead he snuck away, to help his brother with his first case. The life changing adventure begins when a short stranger comes in and drops off a box of chocolates. A few days later, he's dead. Nick and Tim soon lose control of they're lives as they jump in and out of danger trying to figure out the mystery of the box of chocolates.

Anthony Horowitz does a great job keeping you on the edge of your seat wondering what's around the next corner. He also does a great job capturing the thrilling climax of the book. This book is filled with action, humor and dangers as well as the world of crime in London. You get to solve the case with Nick and live his life in full color. Right when I finished it I wanted more, which is just what Anthony Horowitz does with the next three books in the series. I recommend this fast-paced book to anyone who wants a good read, not just mystery lovers.

By: Trevor P.

THE FALCONS MALTESER
THEFALCONS MALTESER
Do you like mysteries withthe biggest robbers and bandits
you have ever heard of ?It starts out slow and suddenly it turns into an exciting Sherlock Holmes - like mystery in England. The two Diamond brothers (Nick and Tim) find them selves being chased by the biggest robbers from all around the world. A dwarf walks in to the Diamond brother's office he gives them a package and tells them to never open it. Will they open it or not? Find out and read the book. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

Worth Reading!
I really liked this book!I was very disappointed by Into the Mist's character Tyana, but I had bought both of them together so I read Into the Lair.I was so glad that I did! I loved Katie, Ian and Braden.Katie was such a refreshing change from Tyana.I love Maya Banks books and usually it just takes her name to make me purchase one.Into the Lair was definitely worth it in my opinion.

Into the Lair (Falcon Mercenary Group)
Outstanding book and series.A definite must read and addition to your library.Cannot wait for this series to continue.Can't put it down.

Twice as good as In the Mist
I much preferred the Into The Lair story than In The Mist. I say skip the first book. The first book had lovable characters; but, the story was drawn out, underdeveloped. This book is action packed. I could have used another hundred pages of story. There was so much the author could have ran with like more of Kate's relationship with thedrug pin brothers, more info on Gabe, more on Esteban (background, struggles, plotting to get Kate). Ahhh I just wanted more. Good job, Ms. Banks.

Not as good as Mist
I would still recommend this book - but I did like Into the Mist better.

Well, we did not really get to know Gabe in the last book and after reading this book I think the guy was basically a jerk.Katie has never had a good or loving relationship - so I can get the trust issues, but please... the constant running was overkill for me.

Now Ian and Branden do make it worse - heaven forbid that they open their mouths and actually talk with Katie.

Keeping the shifting a secret is not possible and Katie does react pretty well.But if you think that Ty was tough, I think that Katie is actually alittle tougher.She is put through the wringer (over and over).

The sex takes a bit of a dark turn, Katie likes it rough and Ian / Branden are up for that.This is not a little spanking, more rough - you better be ready.However Ian and Branden are also loving and willing to give Katie some soft moments.

Loved the D teaser in this.Really want to read his story.

The twist with Esteban was alittle hinky for me.Wish they really explained how he escapes with Katie and more back story on him.Almost wishing for a different ending.He goes from a creepy smary insane guy to hmmm - if only...

Wish Ian had more of a breakthrough like Branden does.But did love that all of the main character from In the Mist were in this book.So, guess that we have not seen the last of Ian/Branden/Katie.

intriguing plot and erotic
Overall a fun wild escape.Won't go into a summary of the plot since the other reviewers did a great job of it already.The book is well written and the plot is strong.The intriguing part is people having the ability to change into powerful wild beasts.Katie, Ian, and Braden make a great threesome.Maya Banks makes the love triangle erotic and harmonious, with all 3 having equal power, no wimpy characters.

The only part that fell short was the number of times several experienced professional soldiers keep letting Katie escape...duh. ... Read more

Product Description
Tense, intriguing, & darkly compelling, this is a true story of murder plots, betrayal, & the consequences of impulsive decisions. Bright & idealistic, the son of a former FBI agent, 21-year-old Boyce was adrift in the malaise of the late 1960s. His friend Dalton Lee had become a successful drug dealer looking for the big score. In 1974, Boyce's father helped his son get a job at TRW, a co. that was developing & manufacturing satellites used by the CIA. Less than a year later Boyce & Lee launched a plan to sell the CIA's secrets to the Russians & began a career as Soviet agents. This book draws on 100s of interviews with all the principals involved, on letters, & on materials from Boyce & Lee's eventual trials. A gripping & suspenseful real-life spy story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Great classic!
This movie is a classic!While Timothy Hutton is excellent in his role as the "Falcon", it is Sean Penn who commands respect for his incredible ability as a young actor."Fast Times at Ridgemont High" is a contemporary of this movie and it is fascinating to see the range of Sean Penn's abilities.(A few short years before this role, Penn was playing small parts on the TV series "Little House on the Prarie" -- small parts that already hinted of the iconic actor he would become.}

Young actors would surely benefit from studying the career of Sean Penn.This movie is a cornerstone of his career.Compare and contrast his range in this movie with "Fast Times", "I am Sam", and "Dead Man Walking" to fully appreciate the brilliance of Sean Penn as an actor.

A Fascinating True-Spy Thriller
THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN: A TRUE STORY OF FRIENDSHIP AND ESPIONAGE by Robert Lindsey is a very engaging story of two well-off young men who become spies for the Russians in the years after they graduated high school in an elite community in southern California.

Daulton Lee and Christopher Boyce were the men who found themselves as unlikely secret agents in their early 20s, but for very different reasons. Lee was a drug dealer (the "Snowman") trying to stay out of prison as charges against him kept adding up and Lee was a defense-industry worker who had lost his Catholic faith in high school and struggled to find his way in the world. (Lee was an avid falconer.) Lindsey traces their families back to their parents' early relationships and their family lives before the pivotal time in their lives when they made the decisions that made them infamous -- for these two young, aimless men created one of the United States' greatest security breaches and cost their government more secrets than any espionage operation before them.

I was engaged by Lindsey's crisp and concise writing, as he reports on the lives of Lee and Boyce, and he presents two individual portraits of the men, their personalities and their actions, helping the reader understand how this situation took shape. The book reads like a highly plot-driven novel and was hard to put down, but knowing that it was a true story made it even more engaging -- that these two men, essentially kids, could engineer this espionage scheme is amazing (and not very complimentary of security measures in place at the time!).

I really enjoyed this book, not only for its topic but for the study it provides on the state of the world in the 1970s when these events took place. I highly recommend it!

What you did NOT do in the 70's!
This tale of young white males with connections, brains and some despair shows just how those qualities can generate WMD's.Drinking, drugging and sexing at the innermost hubs of the worlds' satellite data centers - taking and returning top secret documents barely concealed in potted plants and searching always searching for a reason to care- these kids went over the edge. They sold secrets- incomparable ones- to Soviets without a sense of humor, one boy coincidentally captured falcons and flew them in what were probably the last of the open areas on the California peninsula. They were clueless, their families were clueless and they had barely the sorts of trauma and alienation that the average street hustler has on a good day.

Now that I've read quite a few of these US spy things, it seems, and this is no surprise to others, I'm sure, that we Americans are as dogged in destroying ourselves as we are the environment and those who keep us rich. Then, we have systems that compete with each other and do the same to us by acting unaccountably and keeping these sorts of alienated criminals from being found out and prosecuted to the fullest.
Well, was it the 70's, the wealth or the post- Vietnam era?None, if we look at the current state of affairs, its human and we still haven't seemed to find a way to factor for that in our security and our passions for those who 'seem on the surface to be like us.' Read it.

Stumbling Into High Treason
Of all the major spy stories to break open in the last thirty years, the case of John Boyce and Andrew Dalton Lee has to take the prize and the most troubling in its larger implications.Other spies like Aldrich Ames or Robert Hanssen were disillusioned middle aged bureucrats whose spying was an outlet for their frustration as well as a source of additional income.Boyce and Dalton, however, were young men who blundered into the spy game mostly because of boredom with their comfortable upper middle class upbringings.Their betrayal of the country that allowed them to live such an easy life is as baffling, if not as horrific, as the later actions of the shooters at Columbine High School.

Those who enjoyed the popular movie starring Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn based on this book will particularly enjoy the details that the movie had to leave out.Of the two, Boyce's story is the most tragic.He was highly intellegent with a potentially bright future, and secured a position at defense contractor TRW with a Top Secret security clearance because of his retired FBI agent father's connections.Lee, on the other hand, was a dropout and a drug dealer whose life was spiraling downward toward the inevitable bad conclusion.One of the astonishing facts revealed in the book is just how many second chances Lee squandered along the way.A child of less affluence would have ended up in prison long before he even had the chance to join Boyce in his spying.

Author/journalist Robert Lindsey is an excellent writer and he tells the story in such a way that it reads like a fiction thriller.Lindsey reports astonishing facts such as the incredibly lax security at TRW without editorial comment, letting the events speak for themselves.Lindsey's extensive interviews with all of the principals, including Boyce in particular, make for particularly compelling reading.

Overall, a well-written journalistic account of one of the most unfortunate of America's spy cases.

The Cold Falcon
Robert Lindsey's "The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of friendship and Espionage" was a true story about Chris Boyce and Andrew Dalton and how they were selling secrets to the Soviets in the middle of the cold war.You see how simple this was, how they did it, and why they did it.I can't tell you much more with out giving something away.Once you pick it up you can't put it down. ... Read more

Product Description
In January 1912, Britain's Captain Robert F. Scott reached the South Pole, only to find he had been beaten by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. Scott and his companions faced an 850-mile march to safety. All perished on the return. A few months later, a search party found Scott's body and the journals that told his tragic story.
Scott's own account was published to extraordinary acclaim in 1913. This new edition draws on ninety years of reflection on the Antarctic disaster to illuminate Scott's journals, publishing for the first time a complete list of the changes made to Scott's original text. Drawing on previously unused papers from the John Murray archive, Max Jones tells the story of this remarkable book and charts the changing fortunes of Scott's reputation. The first fully annotated edition, it also includes appendixes on J. M. Barrie's Biographical Introduction' and The Finding of the Dead, plus a glossary of names and a full index.
The story of Captain Scott and his team is sure to captivate modern readers just as much as it did almost one-hundred years ago. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A marvelous collection of real life journals
For anyone interested in the history of the Antarctic, these journals are essential reading. Dolores Geisler's Review here on Amazon beautifully captures the appeal of these fundamental documents and the character of the men involved. And, of course, there are many other excellent sources on not only the Scott expedition, but the Amundsen's side of the race to pole as well.

One of my greatest travel experiences was a tour of the Shetland Islands, a short visit to the continent itself, South Georgia and the Falklands. Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton filled the lectures, those three and dozens of others who explored Antarctica. Of all of these, Scott's wonderful prose endures:

"We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last [...] Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale, but surely, surely, a great rich country like ours will see that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for."

This is a book to savor, to read in small bits of time, perhaps over a month or so. It is incredibly detailed, but its great strength is how it builds to its dramatic climax in small, incremental steps. There are much shorter versions of these events, including some of the greatest books of exploration like The Worst Journey in the World: With Scott in Antarctica 1910-1913 by Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Look to books like those for the big picture. But if you have the time to spend exploring the details of a great expedition, choose this volume.

To whet your appetite for the area, The American Museum of Natural History, along with French and Canadian museums, have produced an exhibit about the two separate 1800 mile journeysof Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Brit Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole.

The web exhibit has many different multimedia features, including an"Interactive Map", along with "Other Interactives" that includes a picture of Captain Robert Scott's rather luxurious hut that contains a leather briefcase containing the works of Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes.

The Norwegians Under the Ice interactive shows them in their ice shelters, andone ice shelter even included a sauna.

Each of the interactives have blue dots on objects in the photos that, when clicked, show the object in detail. The "Gallery" link has photos featuring, among other things, "equipment", "wildlife", "landscapes" and "points of interest".The "wildlife" gallery has many photos of different penguin species, but the most stunning photos are number 33 (a jellyfish under the Ross Sea ice) and number 52, which provides an aerial view of four killer whales.

The link to the website is in the first Comment, as is the information quoted here on the exhibit.

Robert C. Ross 2010

Extraordinary experience with an explorer of the Antarctic
We had taken a trip to Antarctica on which lecturers referred often to Robert Scott.When we returned and I got this book, it became a reading experience like no other.Since everyone knows he and his men die at the end, that was not a surprise.The surprise was learning through the pages what would be the deciding factors that would ultimately cause their return to fail.Since I read thirty minutes a day, the unfolding drama read like a postcard from Scott to a sister or aunt telling events as they happened.Because it is a diary and includes the thoughts of a person, I came to know him like a friend. The book taught me how difficult it is to endure the challenges of Antarctica on a long term basis. It was an extraordinary experience with a book which I will always remember.May many others read this book and marvel at the character, motivation, determination and greatness of an amazing man. ... Read more

Product Description
While awaiting rescue after being buried in an avalanche, Colonel Jim Irwin remembers his experiences as a astronaut on journeys to the moon and on flights in supersonic jets. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great reading, intricate and exciting
Wilbur Smith does it again and again in this spectacular tale of adventure and intrigue. It is followed by Men of Men which continues this truley captivating read. ... Read more

Product Description
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

The three classic novels published here in one volume are rich with the crisp prose, subtle characters, and intricate plots that made Dashiell Hammett one of the most admired writers of the twentieth century.

A one-time detective and a master of deft understatement, Hammett virtually invented the hard-boiled crime novel. In The Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade, a private eye with his own solitary code of ethics, tangles with a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime. The Thin Man introduces Hammett's wittiest creations, Nick and Nora Charles, who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. And in Red Harvest, Hammett's anonymous tough-guy detective, the Continental Op, takes on the entire town of Poisonville in a deadly war against corruption.

"Dashiell Hammett is a master of the detective novel, yes, but also one hell of a writer."—Boston Globe

”Hammett was spare, hard-boiled, but he did over and over what only the best writers can ever do. He wrote scenes that seemed never to have been written before.”—Raymond Chandler

”Hammett’s prose was clean and entirely unique. His characters were as sharply and economically defined as any in American fiction.”—The New York Times

”As a novelist of realistic intrigue, Hammett was unsurpassed in his own or any time.”—Ross Macdonald

”Dashiell Hammett’s dialogues can be compared only with the best in Hemingway.”—André Gide

”Hammett is one of the best contemporary American writers.”—Gertrude Stein ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A true "Noir" classic
A true "Noir" classic with mid century San Francisco as a background.

Good characters, great atmosphere and a good plot.

a great collection
The Maltese Falcon is a masterpiece.I love Red Harvest as well.The Thin Man isn't quite as good, but it's a lot of fun.All in all, reading this collection is a great way to spend a rainy weekend as I discovered.

Classic Hammett
Dashiell Hammett is best known as the man who wrote "Maltese Falcon," the classic noir mystery behind the classic noir film. That book is included here, along with the confusing "Red Harvest" and magnificent, polished "Thin Man," two other crime novels by Hammett.

The mysterious "Maltese Falcon" is at the center of international intrigue -- and murder. Cynical Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer are hired by a beautiful, seemingly helpless woman to find a man who she says has run off with her sister. Not only is the woman lying, but someone kills Archer. A slimy fop, a cultured gangster, and a breathy femme fatale are all in the same web of crime and murder, centered on a bejewelled bird called the Maltese Falcon.

"Red Harvest" is the full-length novel introduction of the cool-as-ice Continental Op. He travels to Personville (or "Poisonville," depending on your accent) to meet a client. Except the client has just been murdered. Rather than go home to San Francisco, the Continental Op meets the dead man's wealthy father, and begins a one-man battle against the vicious gangsters who control Personville. But the death and mayhem draw him in, threatening his life as he struggles to stay afloat.

"The Thin Man" was Hammett's last and lightest novel. Nick and Nora Charles are a wealthy couple who have a weird kind of compatibility, but ex-private-eye Nick is through with crime solving. Or so he thinks. One day when Nick is out drinking, he encounters young Dorothy Wynant, daughter of peculiar inventor Clyde Wynant. Her dad has vanished, and soon his secretary/mistress is found dead. Nick finds himself sucked unwillingly into a sordid, messy crime that will leave more murdered bodies behind it.

This collection shows the unevenness of Hammett's writing at times. "Maltese Falcon" and "Thin Man" are complicated and polished, while "Red Harvest" is a dense mass of shootings, conspiracies and mysterious crimes. What they all have in common is tense, sparse writing, and hardened, cynical anti-heroes who are surrounded by other ambiguous characters.

The three-pack of "The Maltese Falcon," "The Thin Man," and "Red Harvest" is a good way to introduce yourself to Hammett's gritty, engrossing crime novels. Highly recommended.

A classic for every home library
My two favorites in this collection are The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon.I love these hard-boiled detective novels doubly for their sheer entertainment and their place in history.If you want a fascinating read to go allong with this collection, get The Perfect Murder: A Study In Detection by David Lehman.It will clue you into these novels and life.These classic American Novels by Hammett are about to explode in historical research as these novels create an important link in America from WWII to our morality. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (11)

This Book Has it ALL!!
Tyanna doesn't want to trust or love Eli and this book is just as much a journey to accepting love as it is to findcure for her unstable shifter brother. This story has it everything from action, adventure, vulnerability, love, and some Super McSteamy SEX scenes!! You will be hooked from the first page, by page 11 you will be drooling and unable to put it down!!!

Disappointing
I love Maya Banks work, so I was surprised by this book. The lead female Tyana is weak and ineffectual in my opinion.Even though it is a story Eli could have done much better!I bought Into the Mist and Into the Lair together, or I would not have read the second one, that's how disappointed I was.That would have been a mistake however.I loved the second one! Into the Lair was more of what I expect from Maya Banks and Katie beats Tyana hands down in my opinion.Wish Eli, whose character I liked very much, could have been part of Ian, Braden and Katie's relationship!I've read and own many books by Maya Banks and this is the first disappointment I've had.

Original shifter tale
This was the first novel I've read by this author and plan to check out her other books. It was an original shapeshifter story--so many involve ones that were shifters from either birth or a bite--this one involves shifters who got that way due to a chemical and are struggling to deal with the changes to their bodies. I liked the main characters as well as supporting cast. The book was well written and I thought it moved along pretty well. The book had a lot of action, adventure and suspense. There were a few smex scenes which were steamy. Overall, an entertaining read.

Into the Mist (Falcon Mercenary Group)
This is an outstanding book and series.A definite must read and addition to your library.This whole series is fantastic.

Save the trees
Love the author. Love the characters. Hated the book. This is the first time that I have disliked a Maya Banks book. Save your time and money. Reading this book was painful. It just drags along. I love stories with shape shifters; but, this was the worst one I have read. The story could have been told in a hundred pages rather than 230 pages; and not lost any of the integrity. If you want a shape shifter story I recommend the Mona Lisa series by Sunny, Midnight series by Cynthia Eden, or the pride series by Shelly Laurenston. ... Read more

Product Description
John Tanner's fascinating autobiography tells the story of a man torn between white society and the Native Americans with whom he identified. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Love this book
I read this book twice. It is history and the plight of pioneers. Here is a man who was taken from his heritage against his will and traded to a Indian band. He was mistreated. He never had the opportunity to grow up with parents that would send him to school, never had the love of his birth mother or the strong hand of his father. He never knew his siblings. But he had an inner strength that would see him grow up to be a fine hunter, unafraid in a wild land, no cry baby here. I never knew him but wished I had. I see his profile and his strength in his great-grand daughter my grandmother.

Hindsight into foresight
I have read the Tanner book also.

Itwas an eye opener as to the kindness and depravity of peoples.

I wish history had been this interesting in school. I think I learned more from this book and Andrew Durnford , another Daudert book,than I did in any history or sociology class.

Both books gave me history lessons that I didn't get in school.

The transparency that they provide into life of a different time is exemplary!

These reading let me see that my views of human nature are not too obscure!

Also a murder mystery!
John Tanner's narrative, as related to Dr. Edwin James, deserves the five star rating it has received, and is well worth the price. A new edition of the book has just been published by Hansa-Hewlett Publishing Company. It contains the original introduction by Dr. James, an introduction by Charles Daudert, a short biography of Edwin James, M.D., and the other important persons in Tanner's life, many maps and photographs, and a completely new section on Tanner's life after publication of the book. See if you can solve the mystery of who killed James Schoolcraft: was it Tanner, Lt. Tilden, or someone else? Charles Daudert, Editor, Hansa-Hewlett Publishing company. Click on: The Narrative of John Tanner, the Falcon

a sad memoir of my ancestor, John Tanner
I bought this book because John Tanner is my ancestor. Stories had been told in my family here in Kentucky about our relative being captured by Indians, but I enjoyed absorbing this sad written tale of his life. It is not a happy tale, but a great historical read for any history buffs (he's there when Lewis and Clark go through on their Voyage of Discovery ).

A Rare and Valuable Cultural Record
In 1789 when he was a nine year-old boy, his mother already dead, John Tanner's family settled upon a Kentucky farm where the Big Miami and Ohio rivers meet.Shortly thereafter, this piece of "Dark and Bloody Ground" was visited by a Shawnee war party.Two Indians seized young Tanner and forcibly marched him north toward modern day Toledo, then up to Detroit.The child was taken further north to live with his captive family, made to work and bear burdens, purposely starved, frequently beaten, and at one point tomahawked for having fallen asleep in exhaustion.Two years of this cruel treatment was relieved when the boy was purchased in Mackinac by an old Ottawa woman, Net-no-kwa.This formidable human being was the leader of her band and with her John Tanner, now called Shaw-shaw-wa ne-ba-se (the Falcon), would roam throughout what would become northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Western Ontario and Manitoba, living primarily among Net-no-kwa's Ojibwa friends and relations.For the next thirty years he would hunt, trap, trade, marry and live entirely as an Indian, forgetting the English language andwhite man ways - though Tanner continued to face resentment and violence long into adulthood because of his white origin.These resentments and other intrigues eventually led Tanner to attempt a return to the States and a reunion with surviving family members, soon finding himself ill-suited to the white man's life and returning to the northern wilderness.He apparently related his life's story to a learned man among the Sault Sainte Marie traders shortly before disappearing again in 1846 amidst charges of murder (afterward disproved).The date and whereabouts of his death are unknown.

There are times when the narrative seems a relentless tale of brutality, privation and wrenching heartbreak, as Tanner and his band struggle for daily sustenance, suffer against wretched cold and hunger, fall to previously unknown illnesses and grievous injuries, and murder each other in drunken brawls and blood feuds.And then suddenly appear passages as stunning for the elegant and graceful simplicity in which they're related as for the events depicted.An extended passage (if I may) illustrates the point: "Pe-shau-ba, upon whom the death of his friend Waw-so had made some impression, was soon taken violently ill.He was conscious that his end was approaching, and very frequently told us he should not live long.One day he said to me, "I remember before I came to live in this world, I was with the Great Spirit above.And I often looked down, and saw men upon the earth.I saw many good and desirable things, and among others, a beautiful woman, and as I looked day after day at the woman he said to me, `Pe-shau-ba, do you love the woman you are so often looking at?'I told him I did.Then he said to me, `Go down and spend a few winters on earth.You cannot stay long, and you must remember to be always kind and good to my children whom you see below.'So I came down, but I have never forgotten what was said to me.I have always stood in the smoke between the two bands when my people fought with their enemies.I have not struck my friends in their lodges.I have disregarded the foolishness of young men who would have offended me, but have always been ready and willing to lead our brave men against the Sioux.I have always gone into battle painted black, as I now am, and I now hear the same voice that talked to me before I came to this world: it tells me I can remain no longer.To you, my brother, I have been a protector, and you will be sorry when I leave you; but be not like a woman, you will soon follow in my path."He then put on the new clothes I had given him to wear below, walked out of the lodge, looked at the sun, the sky, the lake, and the distant hills; then come in, and lay down composedly in his place in the lodge, and in a few minutes ceased to breathe."

Other rewarding passages include Tanner's encounter with the ghosts of two dead brothers at a riverside encampment; an illness so debilitating that a despairing Tanner attempts to end his life; and intrigue and violence during a river-borne effort to bring two of his children out of Indian country.Many of the troubles visited upon Tanner and his band are caused by his adoptive brother Wa-me-gon-a-biew, a cowardly but quarrelsome man, vindictive, unpredictable and capable of great violence.His nearly every appearance in the narrative is villainous.

Published many times, most recently by Penguin Classics, "The Falcon" transcends because it is not merely an "Indian captivity narrative", but a remarkable portrait of 1790s - 1830s Indian life and culture.We are very fortunate that it has survived.
... Read more

Product Description
Scott's Last Expedition Volume I is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Robert Falcon Scott is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Robert Falcon Scott then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Few films have had the impact or retained the popularity of The Maltese Falcon. An unexpected hit upon its release in 1941, it helped establish the careers of John Huston and Humphrey Bogart while also helping both to transform the detective genre of movies and to create film noir. This volume includes an introduction by its editor and a shot-by-shot continuity of the film, as well as essays on its production, on literary and film traditions it drew upon, and on its reputation and influence over the last half century. Included are reviews from the time of the film's original release, the enthusiastic French response in 1946 that helped define film noir, and a close formal anaylsis of the film.In addition, the volume contains a comparison of this version to earlier film versions of the Dashiell Hammett novel, and helpful explorations of cultural, historical, and psychoanalytic issues. Like Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon has attained iconic status; this volume will contribute to the pleasure its many fans find in viewing the film again and again.William Luhr is a professor of English at St. Peter's College in New Jersey. He is the author of Raymond Chandler and Film and co-author of Blake Edwards and other books. ... Read more