Gene Poschman's Blog: My Journey as a Writer - Posts Tagged "hammett"

The Continental Op by Dashiell Hammett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I purchased this book because I had read a couple of books by Dashiell Hammett and I wanted to see how he handled the short story. In truth, my first introduction to Hammett was watching the Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart on television. I was lost much of the time, but what wonderful characters. My next meeting was watching "The Thin Man" with William Powell and Myrna Loy. I wasn't as lost, and the characters were marvelous. I never tried to figure out Whodunit, I just enjoyed the stories. Later I read the "Maltese Falcon" and "The Thin Man" and since I knew most of the story and the wonderful characters I just enjoyed Hammett.

Ironically, "the Continental Op" was the first time I read Hammett stories without already knowing the outcome. It is a fast read, and it too is full of marvelous characters. What is even better you can read a complete story in a short period of time although there is some carryover.

I don't remember exactly which story, but the idea for the Jonas Watcher series, I am writing, had its inception in this book.

Gene Poschman



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