'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
