Now Hear This – Sam Spade Speaks

January 27th, 2026 by Max Allan Collins

The audio book of my novel Return of the Maltese Falcon is available now.


Digital Audiobook: Nook Kobo Google Play Apple Books

Here’s a preview of the narration by Dan John Miller:

Let’s talk about Dan John Miller for a moment. I have two narrators of choice (and I’m usually asked by the audio publisher who those narrators are). One is Stefan Rudnicki, who took over for Stacy Keach on the last batch of Mike Hammer novels, and has become the voice of Quarry.

The other is Dan John Miller, who has done quite a bit of my stuff but is most importantly the voice of Nate Heller. You can hear him as Heller most recently on The Big Bundle and Too Many Bullets.

Another narrator who is a favorite of Barb and mine, who has done the last several Antiques novels, is Gabrielle de Cuir. We’ve not been fans of previous readers, one of whom read Vivian Borne with a Southern accent (!). (Yeah, Iowa is definitely the deep South.) She has also read, with full sound effects and scores, the Fancy Anders novellas. (We’ve had a recent nibble on my completed Fancy Anders novel – I’ll let you know if/when that happens.)

Return of the Maltese Falcon seems to be doing very well, with the exception of apparently Barnes & Noble, who don’t seem to be stocking it very aggressively.

Why? (You may ask.) Barnes & Noble bases its orders by an author on what the previous author’s book’s numbers were. They seem to routinely carry my stuff, but in the mystery section with a copy or two. That we have scored three rave reviews by the three industry reviewing services (Publisher’s Weekly giving us a starred review), are doing well at Amazon, and that this is a sequel to what is widely considered the best private eye novel ever written, appears to carry no weight.

Don’t know what I can do about it, although if you are a regular shopper at a Barnes & Noble (as I am), and you don’t see the book, please inquire and make a small fuss. Small. If you want to order it from the store (a process that seems rather pointless in these online days), do so.

Also, if you are hardcore enough, snap a photo of Return of the Maltese Falcon in the wild – particularly if it’s a Barnes & Noble. I will run it here. A photo here represents what J. Kingston Pierce of the essential Rap Sheet sent along.


Madison Books, Seattle. Photo: J. Kingston Pierce.

Meanwhile, terrific notices keep coming in.

Here’s one I’ll share with you by Craig Zablo, who knows his stuff (that dreams are made of).

RETURN OF THE MALTESE FALCON

First sentence…
“Samuel Spade, leaning back in his swivel-chair, studied the modest pine tree that might have sprouted tinsel-trimmed from where his late partner’s desk had till lately stood.”

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

THEN…
Detective Sam Spade was pulled into the search for the legendary Maltese Falcon, a jewel-encrusted gold statuette intended as a gift for the 16th century King of Spain. Spade’s partner was murdered. Spade was the prime suspect.

Brigid O’Shaughnessy who hired Spade, was willing to use money, her female charms and anything else to get Spade’s protection from criminals after the Falcon. The others were Casper Gutman, an obese gentleman malefactor and his thugs, Cairo and Wilmer Cook. Gutman depended on his brains and lies. When that didn’t work, Cairo and Cook would use their guns.

In addition to Spade’s partner, two others were killed in pursuit of the bird. Turns out Brigid was the murderess. She’s now behind bars. So is Cairo. But the story doesn’t end there…

NOW…

About a week has passed since Sam Spade’s life was upended. Rhea Gutman, the teenage daughter of Casper Gutman, wants to hire Spade to find the Maltese Falcon. Rhea informs Spade, her father was murdered, but she wants to complete his life’s mission. Rhea believes the Falcon is somewhere close. Spade accepts her retainer.

In short order, Spade is approached independently by several people who also want the Falcon.

Dixie Monahan, an infamous and dangerous Chicago gambler. He has no legal claim to the bird, but sees an opportunity to make money.

Corinne Wonderly, the younger sister of the imprisoned Brigid O’Shaughnessy wants to get and sell the Falcon. She plans to use the money raised to help her sister get a good lawyer.

Stewart Blackwood is a British Museum curator. He claims that he legally purchased the Maltese Falcon and it was stolen. Blackwood has a bill of sale.

Never one to turn down money, Spade accepts retainers from each.

Spade then works to untangle the lies, double crosses, twisted motivations and shifting alliances brought on by greed and self-preservation. Several people have already died in pursuit of the jewel-encrusted bird.

More will as well.

+++++

Recently Max Allan Collins gave away several copies of Return of the Maltese Falcon. I was a lucky winner. Truth be told, I would have bought a copy had I not won one.

Collins is an author that I follow. I’m a huge fan of Max Allan Collins’ Nate Heller series. Every new Heller tale is a must-buy for me. Collins also completed several of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer novels (from partially finished manuscripts and outlines). I’ve read almost all of them. Collins’ Quarry crime novels are also good. I’ve read some of them. Same could be said for Collins’ Ms. Tree comics, his Dick Tracy strips and his movie adaptations and other novels. Max Allan Collins can be counted on to deliver a great tale each time out, but it’s his Nate Heller series that does it best for me.

Return of the Maltese Falcon shouldn’t be thought of as a sequel. It’s a continuation of the story. Taking on Hammet’s classic characters was a bold move. I’m very happy to say that Collins met the challenge.

Collins is to be commended. Not only for daring to step up and continue Hammet’s classic, but also for his ease at transporting readers to 1928 San Franciso. Collins take on Spade and the other characters feels like Hammet from their motivations to dialogue. Collins’ humor (just the right amount) and witty dialogue shine. The plot twists are unexpected, but not outlandish. They work to provide a surprisingly and satisfying climax.

Return of the Maltese Falcon not only reaches the bar set by Collins’ Nate Heller novels but that of Hammet in the original tale. I don’t say this lightly.

I’d love to see Collins provide us with another Sam Spade outing. Maybe even one that crosses over with Nate Heller.

Return of the Maltese Falcon gets my highest recommendation.

Rating: FIVE STARS

Here is another one:

Marvin Minkler – Modern First Editions·
Return of The Maltese Falcon.
Max Allan Collins.
Hard Case Crime/Titan Books.
First Edition – January 2026

“Don’t be too sure I’m as crooked as I’m supposed to be. That kind of reputation might be good business – bringing in the high-priced jobs and making it easier to deal with the enemy.” – Sam Spade in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.

What ever became of the Maltese Falcon…

Closed the covers on this deeply satisfying journey back to San Francisco 1928, and to the Spade & Archer detective agency office of Sam Spade, soon after the events of Dashiell Hammett’s classic novel, The Maltese Falcon ended.

Max Allan Collins has penned a well written, researched, and respectful sequel to the search for the “dingus” as Spade calls the golden bird.

Familiar faces return; alluring femme fatales beckon, grifters, killers, and cops. The pages fly by, the chase is on, and as the plot thickens, bodies fall, the reader is pulled in, enjoying the ride, and loving it all. This is a damn fine book.

The author’s respect for Hammett and the genre is apparent on every page. As Max Allan Collins writes in the epilogue the novel is “a kind of love letter to Dashiell Hammett and the private eye form.”

Highly recommend.

* * *

I don’t talk politics here except very, very rarely. I do this because I want to respect the opinions of others and, frankly, I have no desire to alienate friends, which is how I view anybody who reads my work and comes back for more.

There is always, as Pee Wee Herman wisely said, a big but.

Last week I posted a link to an article critical of the Trump Administration. I didn’t do it here: I mean for this to be a politics free zone. But some of what’s been going on, particularly in my neighboring state of Minnesota, where some of Barb’s relatives live, makes it tough to stay silent and live with myself. The people up there are almost as nice as those in their neighboring Canada.

I got about fifty “likes” or “loves” from it, and a dozen comments, mostly favorable. A couple weren’t and one of them troubled me – not because of a political disagreement. Two things stop me from posting or responding to political stuff because (a) a few years ago I lost one of my best friends that way, and (b) nobody – NOBODY – ever won an argument on the Internet. Zero minds have been changed.

Still, I’d had enough and said so by sharing an essay by the Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last, a writer I much admire.

Now as to the troubling comment. I am not going to reprint the writer’s name because I have no wish to embarrass or shame him, nor do I want to pick a fight. I only share this because the writer is fellow fiction writer, a thriller and private eye novelist who appears to be quite successful. I’d never heard of him but that means nothing. The only fiction writers I pay attention to are dead ones.

This is his post: “You should have continued to stay away from politics. Now you’re just another asshole. Goodbye.”

Let’s start with the last bit: I don’t recall meeting or engaging in any way with this fiction writer. Maybe I have – I’ve been to a lot of Bouchercons and Edgar Awards dinners, so, yes, I may have. If so it was friendly. I can say this because I have never had anything but friendly meetings with fellow wordsmiths at either Bouchercon or the Edgars.

Let’s go to the first sentence: he’s probably right. I should have stayed out of politics for the reasons I’ve stated above. I particularly don’t want to do it here, because that’s not what you’ve dropped by for. You (thank you for this!) are interested in what books and movies and so on I have coming out, and maybe enjoy the occasional essay I write here about pop culture.

It’s the middle sentence that troubled me.

Hey, not the first time I’ve been called an asshole. My father routinely called me a smart-ass and I seem to have survived that.

It’s the rudeness, I guess, the lack of civility that kind of stunned me. I shouldn’t have been – because people for years have gone to Facebook and its ilk to misbehave, to say things to people they wouldn’t dream of saying to their faces.

I try to imagine an instance where I would call someone an asshole in public, much less one who was a fellow toiler in the mystery game. I am not famous but I am known within the field. There are other ways to be displeased with me and my opinions then saying goodbye to someone you never said hello to, as well as call that person an asshole in an apparent attempt to, what? Embarrass them?

A lot of things are going on right now that are worth complaining about. But must we cross the line into truly hateful speech? Mickey Spillane and I did not agree on politics, but it never got in the way of the greatest friendship I ever had with a fellow writer…and I’ve had some good ones. I mean, he fucking entrusted Mike Hammer to me. We did talk politics, rarely, but it never got nasty. We were friends. Fellow Americans. Fellow humans.

Before we all start holding hands and singing “Kumbaya,” let me just say one political thing and then I’ll stop: I know Nazi shit when I see it.

* * *

I completed my draft of Antiques Web (from Barb’s excellent draft) a day ago, and tomorrow will start the final read-through and tweak. That usually takes two days.

So we are very close.

I have also confirmed that there will be a DVD of Death by Fruitcake (the Antiques movie) out in February, simultaneously with its POD release. Much more later.

Also more on the Star City Festival and the upcoming wide release of the audio drama, True Crime: The Assassination of Anton Cermak.

* * *

Our friend Dave — caught in the wild reading Quarry!

Here’s a nice write-up about the Quarry novels and the forthcoming 50th anniversary novel in the series, Quarry’s Reunion.

Both Baby, It’s Murder (the final Mike Hammer) and Antiques Round-up (the most recent Antiques novel) are on Glen Davis’ favorite books of 2025.

One of Marshall Rogers’ 13 lasting contributions to Batman is my brief collaboration with him, launching the Batman comic strip.

Thanks for listening to my non-political political rant.

M.A.C.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Message from M.A.C. | 4 Comments »

Quarry on the Way, Return of the Maltese Falcon Here!

January 20th, 2026 by Max Allan Collins

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings…and Max Allan Collins writes a book.

Ah, if it were only that easy, but the vagaries of publishing – writing books over time with several publishers printing the results in the same calendar year and even right on top of each other – mean that my efforts to make a living seem offensive to some.

This has been less of a problem lately, as much of my work has appeared either at Hard Case Crime or their parent company Titan; and the Antiques series is happily settled at Severn House (Antiques Web is the book I’m working on now, from my wife Barb’s first pass – we’re “Barbara Allan” together).

The announcement of Quarry’s Reunion, the 50th anniversary Quarry novel, has brought up the old question, “Is there anything we can do to stop this guy?”

At my age, I’ll be stopped soon enough. The point now is to get as many stories worth telling told while I’m still on the planet, and generate some income for what are inaccurately described as the Golden Years.

Quarry is fifty years old (actually older – dating to 1972 at the latest) because the first novel, Quarry (originally titled The Broker) came out in 1976. I did four books in the series and then was not invited back by Berkley Books. A hearty band of readers discovered the books and this led to a fifth novel, published in the ‘80s (Quarry’s Vote, originally titled Primary Target) and a handful of Quarry short stories. One of the latter got turned into a short film I wrote, “A Matter of Principal.” This led to the first Quarry film, The Last Lullaby, which I co-wrote. Quarry is called Price in that film because I didn’t want to allow any sequel rights. Here’s an article/assessment by Douglas Buck about all of that from 2020.

It also led to the novel The Last Quarry allowing me to pick the series back up on a more or less regular basis. The last few have each felt like the last book in the series, and Quarry’s Reunion is no exception. But he’s a hard character for me to shake off.

Incidentally, he’s not a sociopath, as he’s often referred to. If he were a sociopath, he’d be less scary or (or maybe I should say) not as disturbing.

Here’s the magnificent new Paul Mann cover.

Quarry's Reunion cover reveal

Right now I need to remind you that The Return of the Maltese Falcon is the main thing of the moment (month) (year) until November when Quarry’s Reunion comes out). We’ve had incredible reviews for Falcon, and most of the posted comments at Amazon have been favorable to say the least, though a few naysayers are among the gold.

The handful of complaints have included: it’s not a typical Collins book (agreed); Sam Spade gets beat up too much (actually, hit on the head twice, which is about P.I. par); it’s better that the falcon never be found (so a second book should end like the first?); and it’s generally “cheesy” (a complaint I’d take seriously if even just one example had been provided).

On the other hand, if you read Return of the Maltese Falcon, and like it, you’ll be doing it and me a great service by reviewing at Amazon and elsewhere. Reviews can be short – a couple of lines – or as in depth as you like.

Also, if you have a blog, a review there will be helpful. The Barnes & Noble site is useful, too.

It’s gratifying to get all these fine reviews. Here’s another by Scott Montgomery at the Hard Word.

But there are frustrations. Two trips to the nearby Quad Cities – to a Bam! and a Barnes & Noble – revealed no sign of the book on sale at all. Not on the New Releases, not in the mystery section, not even in local authors, the ghetto I wind up in, in this part of the world for having had the bad judgment to be born here and stayed.

If you spot Return of the Maltese Falcon out in the wild, take a photo with your phone and e-mail it to me at macphilms@hotmail.com.

I had such a great response to the book giveaway of Falcon that I was frustrated not to be able to send a signed copy to everyone who entered. What would you think about me getting a bookplate I could sign and send to anyone who requested one?

* * *

Here’s Crime Fiction Lover’s article on the forthcoming Quarry’s Reunion.

I appeared on You Tube on the popular Comic Book School show with hosts Buddy Scalera and Tom Fasolo, and with comic book and storyboard artist Jay Martin. It’s a fun show and you get to see Jay ink a page he drew based on a scene in The Return of the Maltese Falcon. This guy is good!

M.A.C.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Message from M.A.C. | 3 Comments »

Falcon Nice Reviews (Get It?)

January 13th, 2026 by Max Allan Collins

I am happy to report that the reviews for Return of the Maltese Falcon thus far have been overwhelmingly positive. While proud of the book, and delighted to have had the chance to write it, I have braced myself (at my smart wife’s instructions) for what might be reviews in the “who do you think you are?” category.

That reaction is understandable.

My only justification is that the novel was written out of love and respect for Dashiell Hammett and his great novel. I was writing it essentially for the adolescent I’d been who desperately wanted to read another Sam Spade novel.

When I began reading mystery fiction, and became obsessed with Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer, I knew that Mickey hadn’t written a Hammer novel in almost ten years. Imagine my delight and astonishment when in 1961 (nine years after Kiss Me, Deadly) Mickey gave his readers The Girl Hunters.

I knew, with The Maltese Falcon coming into the public domain, that Sam Spade would inevitably be subjected to the kind of nonsense that Winnie the Pooh, Popeye the Sailor and Steamboat Willie have, by way of “inspiring” bottom-feeding horror features. Higher up the food chain, but not necessarily involving writers who understood and respected the material they were drawing upon, new Sam Spade stories would almost certainly emerge. Paging James Patterson.

I wanted to be first and (at least try to) do it right.

Here is a review at Book Reporter that I particularly liked seeing, as the reviewer seemed to understand and appreciate what I was up to.

You may be interested in checking out this interview from Alex Dueben at CrimeReads, which is different from most of the many other interviews I’ve given over the years. Frankly, I usually request questions in writing and will respond accordingly – e-mail interviews. I can control what gets out there.

This interview, however, was actually transcribed and presented as spoken. It is long, and I thought pretty good, if exposing my loquaciousness (like that needed exposure). I was given the opportunity to go over it, and corrected a couple of things, but mostly got out of Alex’s way. I wasn’t happy with how long-winded I was, but relieved I spoke in actual sentences…a novelty these days.

There is a quite gratifying post on Linked-in from a longtime fan (he used to write into the Ms. Tree letters column, SWAK, frequently) – Wylie Wong. I love that name. It has music.

Anyway, I’m going to share his nice write-up with you.

I need to fanboy for a bit. Max Allan Collins – best known as the author of Road to Perdition – is the reason I grew up wanting to be a writer. And he just sent me an autographed copy of his latest novel, Return of the Maltese Falcon.

As a teen, I devoured his Ms. Tree comic books and mystery novels. I loved his work so much that I wrote him a 12-page fan letter. Somewhere in my gushing praise, I mentioned I couldn’t find two of his out-of-print novels. A month later, Collins responded with the coolest Christmas gift: those two books – autographed.

Later, I met him at San Diego Comic-Con and went full geek with a backpack full of his books to sign. He graciously spent 20 minutes chatting and signing, then told me he was publishing a condensed version of my letter in Ms. Tree. That fan letter became the first thing I ever had published.

When I went to college, I double-majored in creative writing and journalism, curious about a career in either fiction or non-fiction. Collins influenced my writing in unexpected ways – I even fell in love with the em dash because of him – and I’ve used it ever since. (So screw you, AI. I used it first.) But I enjoyed journalism too much, so I dropped creative writing and focused on telling true stories instead. No regrets.

Fast forward to 2024: Collins announced he was writing a sequel to Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. I loved the original book. I loved the movie. A sequel from my favorite author? I’m all in.

When the book came out this week, Collins offered free copies to the first 20 people who promised to write an Amazon review. I wrote to him saying I’d already pre-ordered a copy but would love to be included. I told him I was still a big fan and shared that after college, I lived on Leavenworth Street in San Francisco, two blocks from where Hammett lived and supposedly finished the Falcon. On cold, foggy nights, like SF Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, I’d imagine Sam Spade tromping up and down the hills.

Collins responded saying it was a “terrific email” and he’d send me the book and to “feel free to read the hell out of your other copy.”

I don’t know if he even remembers me. But receiving this book brings me right back to my teenage years, reading voraciously and learning good storytelling.

Oh, and for the record: I have the real Maltese Falcon in my home office. Photo as proof.

Thank you for this, Wylie. Good reviews, and particularly rave reviews, feel great – but a piece like yours goes way beyond anything of those.

M.A.C.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Return of the Maltese Falcon Pub Date

January 6th, 2026 by Max Allan Collins

Despite the title this week, I am not suggesting we all go down to the local pub and discuss Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.

No.

It is the publication date of my sequel to The Maltese Falcon that we are celebrating on January 6, 2026 (not the sixth anniversary of the Insurrection at the Capitol, either).

The celebration actually began last week, when I announced a book giveaway for copies of the hardcover Hard Case Crime first edition of Return of the Maltese Falcon. I offered 20 copies but expanded that to 25 from my personal stash. All 25 copies were gone on the first day. My thanks to all of you who entered and won, and especially to those I had to turn away.

Tomorrow as I write this (and today as you read it), you will be able to send a review to Amazon and other of the usual on-line suspects (Amazon doesn’t allow pre-pub reviews). I have been asked what it feels like to have this dream project actually come to fruition, and I have replied thusly: I am waiting to see it displayed among the New Releases at the Davenport, Iowa, Barnes & Noble – then I will believe it. And savor it.

Yes, I have long been dreaming about doing my own Sam Spade novel, and I can pinpoint when that desire began: 1961. I was thirteen, still in junior high, specifically the 8th grade. I saw the movie on TV that same year – I believe I did so on a Sunday morning, having convinced my parents that I was sick and couldn’t go to Sunday school or church.

I’ve done several interviews, including one on YouTube, wondering if the idea of specifically doing a Maltese Falcon sequel was something I’d had in mind from the start. The truth is: no. I just wanted to do a Sam Spade novel. The idea for the sequel was what I came up when I made my pitch to Titan Books in March of 2024. I think the whole pitch was, “I’d like to do a sequel to The Maltese Falcon.”

Doing so was gratifying and enjoyable, but hard. Hammett’s brilliant novel was a contemporary work; mine was a period piece. I had plenty of experience in the latter, having done all those Nathan Heller, Eliot Ness and “disaster series’ novels (like The Titanic Murders). So I was something of an old hand at historical fiction, which this would be in a way.

Hammett’s sly, spare style had to occasionally give way to describing places in a historical context – fortunately I had WPA Guides to both San Francisco and California, Don Herron’s excellent The Dashiell Hammett Tour, and several other reference works to call upon. Internet research also came into play. I think – hope – I hit the right balance.

When I completed the novel – having read it through to my satisfaction, doing any necessary tweaks – I was ready to send it to editor/publisher Charles Ardai at Hard Case Crime (Titan is the parent company) – my wife Barb (a writer herself) took me gently aside.

“You’d better prepare yourself,” she said, “for attacks. Not by everybody, but you will be seen by some as exploiting a classic.”

I’d known that going in, but hearing Barb say it was damn near bone-chilling. And last year, as word about my novel got around, I was in fact attacked several times, before the book had even come out or been read by anybody.

I have run into this before. It’s likely, if you’re reading this, that you are aware of my love for Mickey Spillane as a man and a writer, and that – at his request in his final days – he honored me by asking me to complete various works of his that were to be found in his three home offices. He did not put this in motion for his glory or mine, for that matter; but to generate income for his widow, Jane Spillane.

And yet.

There are hardcore Spillane fans who refuse to read the Spillane/Collins byline books or say disparaging things about them. This despite every one of the 16 novels (14 Mike Hammer) having significant Spillane content. The first ten or so were manuscripts well in progress by him, 100 manuscript pages (and notes about endings in some cases). One reader posted a review of Complex 90 (in which I show Velda and Mike in an overtly sexual relationship), accusing me of doing explicit material in a way that Mickey supposedly never would have.

Apparently that huge Spillane fan had never read either The Erection Set or The Last Cop Out. Hint: The Erection Set has erections in it, and I don’t mean buildings.

A key part of my approach to the Spillane co-bylined novels was to determine when he had written the partial manuscripts (and other material), so I could place the book at hand in the context of where Mickey was as a writer and as a man at that moment.

Much of the Spillane unpubbed material was developed during the (ahem) long wait between Kiss Me, Deadly (1952) and The Deep (a non-Hammer followed a year later by Hammer’s return in The Girl Hunters). But Mickey didn’t stop writing during that period – he published a dozen novellas, usually in the men’s adventure magazine Cavalier – works that are a window into his thinking and his evolving literary style.

Here’s the thing about The Maltese Falcon and public domain: somebody was going to do it. Other things that have gone into the public domain have led to such wondrous creative projects as horror films featuring Popeye the Sailor, Winnie the Pooh and Steamboat Willie. I wanted to make a respectful, serious attempt to do Sam Spade correctly. Faithful to Hammett. Others will no doubt follow me, and some may do a better job of it. But I wanted to be first and do it right.

After all, we can’t be far away from James Patterson bylining a novel in which Sam Spade meets Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, perhaps among Father Brown’s congregation or maybe in the waiting room of Sherlock Holmes, possibly to solve the murder of C. Auguste Dupin.

Anyway, you can imagine how relieved I’ve been at getting such great reviews from the three major book reviewing services: Publisher’s Weekly (a starred review), Booklist and even Kirkus, who in the past have often indicated that humanity would have been better served if I’d just stayed at sacking groceries (I was goddamn good at that).

The first review not from one of those reviewing services has popped up, and it’s worth sharing with you.

Return of the Maltese Falcon
Reviewed by James Reasoner

I’m starting the new year off well with an excellent novel from Max Allan Collins. I’ve been a fan of THE MALTESE FALCON since I read the novel in high school, the first thing by Dashiell Hammett I ever read, I believe. Needless to say, I was hooked. Now the original magazine version of the novel, as serialized in the iconic pulp BLACK MASK, is in public domain, and that’s what Collins has used as the starting point for his new novel RETURN OF THE MALTESE FALCON, which, as he points out, is a continuation rather than a true sequel.

And if, by some chance, you’ve never read Hammett’s novel, stop right now and read it before you read this review, and absolutely don’t tackle Collins’ novel until you’ve read the original, because they’re both, of necessity, full of spoilers. I mean it!

The action starts a week after the end of THE MALTESE FALCON, in December 1928. The dead Miles Archer’s desk has been removed from the office of Spade & Archer, and Effie Perrine, Sam Spade’s secretary, has put up a Christmas tree in its place. (Does that make this a Christmas novel? It sure does!)

A potential client pays a visit to Spade’s office. She’s Rhea Gutman, Casper Gutman’s daughter, and she wants to hire Spade to find the real Falcon. The one in Hammett’s novel was a fake, remember? Rhea is the first of four clients who give Spade a retainer to find the dingus. The others are Chicago gambler Dixie Monahan, Corrine Wonderly, the younger sister of femme fatale Brigid O’Shaughnessy, and Steward Blackwood, an official from the British Museum who claims that institution is the true owner of the Falcon.

Spade plays all these characters against each other. He has run-ins with the cops. A dead body turns up. Spade is hit on the head and knocked out, and he’s captured by a gunman who wants to kill him. This is great stuff in the classic hardboiled private eye mode, the kind of thing that Dashiell Hammett invented, along with Carroll John Daly. Stylistically, Collins’ fast-moving, straight-ahead prose isn’t quite as stripped down as Hammett’s, but it’s certainly in the same ballpark.

Being constrained to use only the elements to be found in the original novel’s pulp serialization turns out to be a good thing. Collins is able to bring on-stage characters who were only mentioned before and invent new ones who fit perfectly in that setting. The resolution of the mystery and the way the book wraps everything up are extremely satisfying.

A number of years ago, I read and loved Joe Gores’ prequel novel SPADE & ARCHER. RETURN OF THE MALTESE FALCON is even better. I’m glad Max Allan Collins wrote it, and I’m grateful to Hard Case Crime for publishing it. It’ll be out officially in e-book and hardcover editions tomorrow. For hardboiled fans, I give it my highest recommendation.

This is, obviously, a lovely review. James Reasoner, a top-notch word smith himself, is incorrect about one thing: while I re-read the serialization of The Maltese Falcon (in Otto Penzler’s The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories), the basis for my sequel is the published novel (Knopf, 1930). The serialization did not go into the public domain till last year, as its final installment appeared January 1930.

Trust me – I kept an eye on that.

Nonetheless, Mr. Reasoner liking my novel means a lot to me, as he is about as seasoned a pro in the fiction game as anybody I know of.

If you are familiar with the Bogart-starring film adaptation of The Maltese Falcon, a re-reading of that novel before reading the sequel isn’t necessary. A few readers have already told me they plan to re-read the original after they’ve read my sequel. Or that they will view the 1941 film either again or for the first time, in preparation of reading Return of the Maltese Falcon.

That my book will bring some new readers to Hammett’s masterpiece (The Glass Key is next best) is incredibly gratifying.

* * *

My pal Robert Meyer Burnett – who so masterfully directed the audio drama True Noir: The Assassination of Anton Cermak, adapted by me from my novel True Detective – is a well-known YouTube pundit (among much else) with two long-running shows on that platform: Robservations and Let’s Get Physical Media.

On the first weekend of January, 2026, I appeared on episodes of both of those shows.

I caution you: these are lengthy episodes. The Robervations is an interview of me by Rob about (largely) Return of the Maltese Falcon). It runs around two hours!

The Let’s Get Physical Media has Rob, co-host Dieter Bastion, and me discussing our top ten favorite physical media releases of the year – it’s well over three hours with many excursions into this and that, including my most recent battle with Rob over Never Say Never Again, the film missing from the Sean Connery “James Bond” 4K set.

The interview:

The Favorite Blu-ray and 4K releases of 2025 from Burnett, Bastion and Collins:

Amazingly, one of the outstanding reviewers of physical media on the Net, That Damn Fool Idealistic Crusader, has done a very smart deep-dive into my novelization of the Dick Tracy movie, and goes into my misadventures writing it.

Even more amazingly, Spencer Draper, The Damn Fool Idealistic Crusader himself, has done the same for my two hard-to-find Tracy novels, Dick Tracy Goes to War and Dick Tracy Meets His Match.

He’s articulate and very, very smart, but again, a warning: these ain’t short shows. The novelization episode is about half an hour, and the Tracy novels episode is about forty minutes.

Damn that Damn Fool Idealistic Crusader! He makes me want to try to get the rights back to reprint the two rare Tracy novels he discusses!

* * *

Here’s another one of those articles about movies from comics that aren’t about superheroes.

* * *

Let’s make 2026 a much better year than the last.

M.A.C.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Message from M.A.C. | 8 Comments »

« Older Entries