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Recommendations based on The Continental Opby Dashiell Hammett
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The Glass Key
by Dashiell Hammett
A noir crime thriller of political corruption and a tangled web of loyalty and betrayal.
The story revolves around Ned Beaumont, a gambler and best friend of the criminal political boss Paul Madvig. Ned finds the body of a senator's son on the street, and Madvig asks him to thwart the ... (Wikipedia)
The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiell Hammett
Detective Sam Spade must solve a mysterious case involving a precious artifact and a deadly trio of criminals.
‘Sam’ Spade is a private detective in San Francisco , in partnership with Miles Archer. The beautiful "Miss Wonderley" hires them to follow Floyd Thursby, who has run off with her sister. Archer ... (Wikipedia)
Red Harvest
by Dashiell Hammett
A private detective infiltrates a corrupt town to clean up the crime and corruption.
The Continental Op is called to Personville (known as "Poisonville" to the locals) by the newspaper publisher Donald Willsson, who is murdered before the Op has a chance to meet with him. The Op ... (Wikipedia)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
by James M. Cain
A crime drama of forbidden passion, deception and murder.
The story is narrated in the first person by Frank Chambers, a young drifter who stops at a rural California diner for a meal and ends up working there. The diner is operated by a beautiful young ... (Wikipedia)
Farewell, My Lovely
by Raymond Chandler
A hard-boiled detective's adventures as he investigates a complex case of murder and corruption.
Private detective Philip Marlowe is investigating a dead-end missing person case when he sees a felon, Moose Malloy, barging into a nightclub called Florian's, looking for his ex-girlfriend Velma ... (Wikipedia)
The Big Sleep
by Raymond Chandler
Private eye investigates a complex case involving a wealthy family and blackmail.
Private investigator Philip Marlowe is called to the home of the wealthy and elderly General Sternwood, in the month of October. He wants Marlowe to deal with an attempt by a bookseller named Arthur ... (Wikipedia)
Double Indemnity
by James M. Cain
Insurance salesman and femme fatale plot to murder her husband for the insurance money. Things go awry.
Walter Huff, an insurance agent, falls for the married Phyllis Nirdlinger, who consults him about accident insurance for her unsuspecting husband. In spite of his instinctual decency, and intrigued ... (Wikipedia)
Get Shorty
by Elmore Leonard
A criminal comedy about a low-level hoodlum's ambitions to become a Hollywood producer.
The story centers on Ernesto "Chili" Palmer, a small-time loan shark based in Miami . After a run-in with mobster Ray "Bones" Barboni, Chili goes to Las Vegas in pursuit of Leo Devoe, a dry cleaner ... (Wikipedia)
Trouble Is My Business
by Raymond Chandler
Private detective Philip Marlowe takes on a series of cases that lead him into the dark underworld of Los Angeles.
In the four long stories in this collection, Marlowe is hired to protect a rich old guy from a gold digger, runs afoul of crooked politicos, gets a line on some stolen jewels with a reward attached, ... (Goodreads)
Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings
by Jorge Luis Borges
A collection of metaphysical tales and philosophical musings exploring the nature of reality.
Although his work has been restricted to the short story, the essay, and poetry, Jorge Luis Borges of Argentina is recognized all over the world as one of the most original and significant figures in ... (Goodreads)
Pronto
by Elmore Leonard
A crime drama following a Miami mobster as he gets caught up in a dangerous web of schemes and lies.
Harry Arno, an over-the-hill Miami bookmaker , quietly lives the good life with his girlfriend, Joyce Patton. He has skimmed for years from his corpulent mob boss, Jimmy "Cap" Capotorto, and managed ... (Wikipedia)
Dubliners
by James Joyce
Collection of stories about everyday life in Dublin, exploring the Irish psyche.
This work of art reflects life in Ireland at the turn of the last century, and by rejecting euphemism, reveals to the Irish their unromantic realities. Each of the 15 stories offers glimpses into the ... (Goodreads)
A Study in Scarlet
by Arthur Conan Doyle
A masterful detective unravels a mysterious crime and its hidden motives.
In 1881, Doctor John Watson has returned to London after serving in the Second Anglo-Afghan War . He visits the Criterion Restaurant and runs into an old friend named Stamford, who had been a dresser ... (Wikipedia)
Welcome to the Monkey House
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A collection of short stories exploring the absurdities of human life.
Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut’s shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly , ... (Goodreads)
Naked Lunch
by William S. Burroughs
Surrealist exploration of addiction, delusions, and reality.
Naked Lunch is a non-linear narrative without a clear plot. The following is a summary of some of the events in the book that could be considered the most relevant. The book begins with the ... (Wikipedia)
Sanctuary
by William Faulkner
A Southern Gothic story of a man's attempt to escape the consequences of his past.
The novel is set in Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County , Mississippi and takes place in May/June 1929. In May 1929, Horace Benbow, a lawyer frustrated with his life and family, suddenly leaves ... (Wikipedia)
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
by John le Carré
A British agent's mission to infiltrate East Germany during the Cold War, full of suspense and intrigue.
In this classic, John le Carre's third novel and the first to earn him international acclaim, he created a world unlike any previously experienced in suspense fiction. With unsurpassed knowledge ... (Goodreads)
The Great God Pan
by Arthur Machen
A horror story of a sinister experiment that unleashes a terrifying supernatural creature.
The Great God Pan" is a novella written by Arthur Machen. A version of the story was published in the magazine Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication (together ... (Goodreads)
The Hunter
by Richard Stark
A criminal mastermind navigates a dangerous web of crime and violence to carry out the perfect heist.
Double-crossed, shot, and left for dead — by his wife. The thriller that introduces Parker. “A brilliant invention”. Played by Lee Marvin in the John Boorman movie. “The funnies call it the ... (Goodreads)
The Brothers Karamazov
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A philosophical exploration of morality, faith, and family dynamics among a group of brothers.
The Brothers Karamazov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the “wicked and sentimental” Fyodor Pavlovich ... (Goodreads)
Planetary, Volume 1: All Over the World and Other Stories
by Warren Ellis
An anthology of science-fiction stories exploring the limits of humanity in a rapidly changing world.
Elijah Snow, a hundred year old man. Jakita Wagner, an extremely powerful and bored woman. The Drummer, a man with the ability to communicate with machines. Infatuated with tracking down evidence of ... (Goodreads)
Winter's Tale
by Mark Helprin
A magical and romantic story set in a mythical version of New York City, spanning over a century.
Now a major motion picture New York Times bestseller "Utterly extraordinary . . . A piercing sense of the beautiful arising from narrative and emotional fantasy is everywhere alive in the novel . . . ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Doyle
A detective's collection of cases, full of intrigue and suspense.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand magazine, in which they were first published, and won immense popularity for Sherlock Holmes and ... (Goodreads)
The Adventures of Augie March
by Saul Bellow
Young man's search for identity amidst the chaotic and unpredictable life of the Depression-era Midwest.
The story describes Augie March's growth from childhood to a fairly stable maturity. Augie, with his brother Simon and the mentally abnormal George have no father and are brought up by their mother ... (Wikipedia)
The Night Manager
by John le Carré
An undercover agent infiltrates a criminal organization to take them down from the inside.
Jonathan Pine, a former British soldier, is the night manager. Pine has a complex character with a military background and schooling at the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover. We first ... (Wikipedia)
Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry
Epic tale of two former Texas Rangers on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana.
It is the late 1870s. , Captain Woodrow F. Call and Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae, two famous retired Texas Rangers , run the Hat Creek Cattle Company and Livery Emporium in the small Texas border ... (Wikipedia)
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: After Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
by Richard Lancelyn Green
A collection of classic detective stories featuring the iconic sleuth Sherlock Holmes.
This anthology of stories featuring the character of Sherlock Holmes follows on from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories which ended with Holmes at Reichenbach Falls. ... (Goodreads)
The Dispossessed
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A sci-fi exploration of utopian and dystopian societies, and the struggle for a better world.
Librarian note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN, 9780061054884,. Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the ... (Goodreads)
Marvels
by Kurt Busiek
A photojournalist documents the emergence of superheroes in New York City, revealing the impact they have on society and the world.
In 1939, Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch is created by scientist Phineas T. Horton, and the project is considered a success until the android catches on fire when air is projected into its ... (Wikipedia)
The Black Dahlia
by James Ellroy
A 1940s Los Angeles detective story, exploring the depths of a gruesome unsolved murder.
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia—and so begins the greatest manhunt in California ... (Goodreads)
