Spade & Archer (Center Point Platinum Mystery (Large Print)) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Joe Gores (Author)

Book Description

Series: Center Point Platinum Mystery (Large Print) | Publication Date: April 2009

When Sam Spade gets drawn into the Maltese Falcon case, we know what to expect: straight talk, hard questions, no favours, and no way for anyone to get underneath the protective shell he wears like a second skin. We know that his late partner, Miles Archer, was a son of a bitch; that Spade is sleeping with Archer's wife. What we don't know is how Spade became who he is. Now SPADE & ARCHER completes the picture. 1921: Spade sets up his own agency in San Francisco and clients quickly start coming through the door. The next seven years will see him dealing with booze runners, water-front thugs, stowaways, banking swindlers, gold smugglers, bumbling cops, and the illegitimate daughter of Sun Yat-sen; with murder, other men's mistresses, and long-missing money. He'll bring in Archer as a partner, though it was Archer who stole his girl while he was fighting in World War I. He'll tangle with a villain who never loses his desire to make Spade pay big for ruining what should've been the perfect crime. And he'll fall in love - though it won't turn out for the best. It never does with dames...

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Gores catches to perfection the period flavour, the noirish atmosphere and, above all, Hammett's terse style...It left me aching for more.' -- Simon Shaw MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Beginning in 1921, it maps out the back story to Sam Spade and Mike Archer's relationship via a pleasingly intricate and atmospherically hard-boiled plot before ending at the exact point The Maltese Falcon begins.' LONDON METRO 'Stunning' BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH 'And the great testament to Gore's skill is that, within minutes of opening it, you're very likely to have forgotten you're not actually reading a Dashiell Hammett novel. The great gumshow is back. In spades.' THE HERALD 'Joe Gores has acheived a near perfect duplication of the self-styled detective Sam Spade' TELEGRAPH & ARGUS 'Not only authentically Hammett-ish but also a great stand alone read...a classy ventriloquist act of a book.' CATHOLIC HERALD --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Joe Gores, formerly a private eye, is the author of 16 other novels, including HAMMETT, which won Japan's FALCON AWARD. He has received three EDGAR Awards - one of only two authors to win in three separate categories: Best First Novel, Best Short Story, and Best Episode in a TV Series. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 365 pages
• Publisher: Center Point Large Print; Lrg edition (April 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602854289
• ISBN-13: 978-1602854284
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,596,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT READ AND APT TRIBUTE TO THE MASTER, December 25, 2010

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spade & Archer (Center Point Platinum Mystery (Large Print)) (Hardcover)

Who can forget the iconic Sam Spade, that terse, tough guy who prowled the streets of San Francisco in the 1930s? No doubt that with Spade Dashiell Hammett created a classic figure, a part of detective story. The Maltese Falcon in book form and on film have indelibly imprinted Spade upon our minds. Yes, we know a lot about this private eye - he's fearless, unlucky in love, fascinating, and smart.

But Spade sprung upon our literary scene full-blown; he's used to checking out backgrounds - what about his? The top flight author of 17 novels, including Hammett, and recipient of three Edgar Awards Joe Gores has given us a gift - "Spade & Archer: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon." enabling us to meet Spade in 1921. We see him setting up his own agency, and hiring the 17-year-old Effie Perine as his secretary for the princely sum of $10 a week. Once he's assured that she'll learn how to roll a cigarette, he adds, "If you make it through the first month maybe you'll get a pay raise. If you earn it."

Of course, she more than makes it through the first month despite dealing with thugs, swindlers, incompetent cops, and almost every manner of human detritus while at the same time trying to look after her boss. Gores piles plot upon plot in his fascinating story, from smugglers to a runaway youth. He writes so succinctly, so crisply that you can almost hear Spade's rough voice as when he describes the dock, "In the bay Alcatraz was baying like an old hound, Land's End lighthouse was yapping back from beyond the Gate." Or, hear it his impression of an unknown secretary in the Flood Building who was "banging on a typewriter as if it were a faithless lover."

This story is a romp, great fun to read and apt tribute to the master, Dashiell Hammett.

- Gail Cooke