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The Dain Curse
All of Hammett's other novels (The Glass Key, Red Harvest, The Thin Man, The Maltese Falcon) are five-star reads; his short stories (collected in The Big Knockover and The Continental Op, among other volumes) are likewise excellent. The Dain Curse, while worth reading after these others, is nowhere near as good. The plotting is byzantine (made to be serialized in three chunks, it reads like three short stories/novellas that are tied together at the end) and the characterizations are thin. Do yourself a favor and read the other novels and the short stories before opening The Dain Curse.
The Dain Curse
The Dain Curse recounts a mystery seen through the eyes of The Continental Op, a stocky, perceptive and industrious middle aged sleuth employed by an insurance firm. He is called in to investigate the disappearance of some diamonds from the residence of the Leggett family. While there he makes the acquaintance of Gabrielle Dain Leggett, the morphine addicted 20 year old daughter of the Leggetts.This wasn't one of Hammett's best efforts with his story shooting off into so many tangents as to make it totally preposterous.
The Dain Curse
A little below standard for Dashell Hammett and for his Continental Op stories, the climactic last third represents some of the author's best writing.This was originally published as three consecutive stories in a pulp magazine, but you must be familiar with the first two in order to get the most out of the third. And you don't know the whole truth about the first two until you finish the third. This again is consistant with the Continental Op's relationship with the truth...the knowledge that you are basically given only lies and must concoct your own lie to find the truth.The primary female character is not very sympathetic for the most part until you get to the third episode when you realize why she seems so drab and uninteresting during the first two episodes.I would suggest reading other Hammett novels first, especially "Red Harvest" as an introduction to the Continental Op. And while this may be the weakest of his novels, it is still superior crime fiction.
The Dain Curse
This novel featuring (and narrated by) Hammett's anonymous Continental Op is able to offer a more complex plot than his short stories. It features the Op's usual dogged approach to the case ("You've got to sit down to all the facts you can get and turn them over and over till they click."), but does not revolve around Hammett's usual set of underworld denizens and trench-coat-clad gunslingers. Overall: another entertaining "hardboiled detective" yarn, but I personally prefer the more corruption-filled underworld feel of "Red Harvest" (the Op's other novel-length case).
The Dain Curse
Dashiell Hammett not only helped create the detective novel genre, but his writing style impacted the entire writing profession. Lee Child, Robert Parker, Michael Kennedy et al, can all trace their lineage to him.
The Dain Curse
The Dain Curse is my second excursion with the Continental Op. I read Red Harvest about a year ago and really enjoyed it. In Red Harvest, the Op is battling gangsters in a mess of a town. Part of me expected the same sort of thing from the Dain Curse. While there were similar gangster-like elements, the overall plot structure was fairly different.The Dain Curse plot is, at its heart, what you might expect from a robbery/murder mystery story. It involves a lot of intrigue, misdirection, suspense, etc. At the same time, it's not your standard mystery novel a la Sherlock Holmes. It's definitely gritty and "hardboiled" in the same style as the earlier Hammett I'd read.One thing I noticed quickly was just how twisty the path was along the story arc. Things start out simple enough with our Op investigating a small scale jewel robbery as a representative for the insurance company who will have to pay the claim on the missing diamonds. The Op's detective nature shines as he questions the surface value of the facts and doesn't accept the "easy answer" that the suspects and the insurance company would like him to take. Instead, he keeps digging and before long, the jewel theft gets forgotten as murder becomes the primary crime...and then another murder...and another.The language, imagery and pacing of Hammett's novel was fabulous. It was very easy to get caught up in the action and the adventure of the story. The depth and intrigue of the mystery was very impressive. In the end, I could follow the unraveling of the mystery but there were constant wild cards thrown from seemingly out of nowhere that threw into a spin any theories I had already come up with.The biggest downside of the book were the times when everything was spelled out. While it was very interesting reading the entire plot unraveled so the whole mystery was exposed, the segment where this happened was a somewhat drudgerous read. Still, I was compelled to read it to make sure I didn't miss anything. The main drudgery of the explanation was due to its length and intricacy. The final mystery had layer upon layer of detail and a whole stage of characters. As a result, the wrap up took a long time to get out and part of me wanted to skip past it, while the other part wanted to make sure I understood everything.While not as action packed as the gangster hunting events of Red Harvest, the mystery and intrigue level of The Dain Curse were taken up a notch. Once again, I found myself really enjoying the minimal, course, gritty, blunt style of Hammett and I look forward to reading more.****4.5 out of 5 stars