The Hunter and Other Stories by Dashiell Hammett

Published by Mysterious Press on November 4, 2013

Most of the Dashiell Hammett stories in this volume are previously unpublished; the rest are previously uncollected. They display a range of storytelling that goes beyond the detective noir for which Hammett is best known. The works in this volume are uneven and some are incomplete, but the book is a must for the Hammett completest.

The first section, subtitled "Crime," includes four stories. "The Hunter," about a private detective who finds a forger, is notable for its description of the detective's efforts to restrain his sense of compassion. "Sign of the Potent Pills" is notable for its humor, as a fledgling detective uses his wits to save an old man and his family from a criminal scheme, although not quite in the way he planned. In "The Diamond Wager," a diplomat in Istanbul recounts the story of his bet-winning theft of a diamond necklace. "Action and the Quiz Kid," involving a gambler who suckers a younger gambler, is the least substantial of the four.

Eight stories are collected under the subtitle "Men." Three excellent stories explore the themes of courage and cowardice. "An Inch and a Half of Glory" tells of a man who, after making a not-very-daring rescue of a child from a smoky building, learns the folly of pursuing the glory of heroism. The flip-side of that story is "Nelson Redline," in which a man who selfishly flees a burning office building, leaving his co-workers to fend for themselves, makes an unsuccessful attempt to justify his cowardice. "The Cure" tells the ironic story of a man who is goaded into confronting his fear of drowning.

In "Faith," one of my favorite stories in the volume, working men debate the existence of God. One of them knows God exists because only God could make his life so miserable. "Fragments of Justice" is indeed fragmentary, but the three character sketches of men serving on a jury are colorful and convincing. Another character sketch, "A Throne for the Worm," is less successful. In "Monk and Johnny Fox," a fighter talks about his fears. "Magic," about the magic of love (as invoked by a sorcerer), didn't appeal to me.

Women generally get the better of men in the stories that appear in the section labeled "Men and Women." A reporter exposes the true nature of a friend's fiancé in "The Lovely Strangers" while fighting a battle of the sexes he can't hope to win. A poet's love letter produces an unwelcome response in "The Breach Born." An actress hopes she is "On the Way" to stardom as well as marriage to a cad. The vignettes in "Seven Pages" and the description of an illicit "Week-End" did nothing for me.

A section entitled "Screen Stories" includes treatments that Hammett wrote for screenplays. "The Kiss-Off" is a noir story of love, murder, and betrayal that was eventually filmed as City Streets with Gary Cooper. Originally written as a Sam Spade story but rejected because it departed so sharply from Spade's characterization in The Maltese Falcon, a reworked version of "On the Make" about a crooked private eye was eventually filmed, in a much altered form, as Mister Dynamite. The treatment is written in the style of a short story -- a good story, but lacking the plot twists that made The Maltese Falcon a great novel and film. The more abbreviated "Devil's Playground" is essentially a western set in China.

The final entry in the printed book is the beginning of the last Sam Spade story. "A Knife Will Cut for Anybody" reprises some characters from The Maltese Falcon. Hammett abandoned the story but kept the plot, intending to use it in a non-Spade novella that was never finished. The story begins with Spade's discovery of a dead woman's body -- the woman he was hired to find. While disappointingly brief, the story fragment stands on its own. It is nonetheless a tantalizing opening to a more substantial work.

The eBook version (but not the printed book) concludes with fragments of additional unfinished works. The first is a rough draft of the beginning of "The Secret Emperor," about a private detective who works for a power-hungry, crooked senator. Hammett incorporated some parts of the abandoned novel into The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key. Hammett wrote (or tried to write) "My Brother Felix" later in his career, when he was struggling to create a notable work beyond the bounds of crime fiction. The two fragments that appear here are rather rough.

Hammett devotees will enjoy the commentary that precedes each section and the Afterword by Hammett's granddaughter. For the casual Hammett fan, the book is worthwhile for the opportunity it provides to read Hammett's previously unpublished and uncollected stories.

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