I thoroughly enjoyed this book, very classy. The book is a story of courage, decency, and integrity. It's nice to finally find an author who can write an adult story without having "adult" material. I intend to read more of Wheelers' writings. I trust his other novels are as brilliantly written.

This was the first book I read by a male author. I usually read Historial Romance by women authors. This book was very well written with good discriptions of characters, made you feel like you knew them. It was a book that i could not put down. I can not wait to read the rest of the Sam Flint series. Although I would not consider this an actual Romance novel it was filled with all the things of the West and how courage over came problems and how one mans love for a women had him doing what was in her best intrest instead of his own.

Brown knows the west and fits great detail of cowboying into a surprisingly deep story. The characters are rich and the narative clear and well done.

Brown knows cowboys, its obvious. This is a good quick reading, surprisingly deep and thoughtful western with plenty of action.

This is a great thiller, and Llewelyn is an expert at making the reader feel cold and wet. He has written five books where often the same characters appear, but the first person varies, on a similar european-nautical-mystery theme. These are DEADEYE, BLOODKNOT, DEAD RECKONING, DEATH ROLL and BLOOD ORANGE. Much of Llewellyn's other stuff is good, too, but these five are really great. Of these five, this one and DEADEYE are my favorites. Check out Bjorn Larsson's stuff if you like Llewellyn, too.

This book is very exciting, Keeps you on your toes.I couldn't put the book down.I can't believe that anyone would go threw such danger for a cause. You really will find this book very good reading.

If anyone were to gather names for the top five western writers of all time, Richard S. Wheeler would undoubtedly be among them. His tale spinning genius and esteemed talent with language unfolds again in FLINT'S HONOR, Wheeler's third book detailing the adventures of warring journalist, Sam Flint. Flint arrives in Silver City Colorado-a town wedged between the walls of a rocky gulch-to defend the honor of a prostitute, whose death had been treated smugly in the Silver City Democrat. Searching the boomtown for a place to set up his press, Flint finds no vacancies, and against his better judgment has to settle for a room in a house of ill repute. Rather than recognizing Flint's new Silver City Sentinel as a worthy competitor, Digby Westminster, the editor of the Democrat plays Flint's positioning for all it's worth, and dubs the new paper The Bawdyhouse Bugle. Flint soon learns that the licentious editor has another foe, Achilles Balthazar, a powerful and despicable mine owner known for his ill treatment of workers and ability to read peoples minds-especially idealists like Flint. Flint finds himself amidst the politics and greedy maneuvers of both men, having only the power of words as his defense. Ready to sum up his losses at any moment, Flint is joined by a gypsy printer, Jude Napoleon, who not only adds spice to Flint's conflict, but provides him with the extra energy and wit needed to help bring down the two men, who like the mammoth walls that parallel the city, hold the whole town captive.

This is my first read book by Richard Wheeler. I was very moved. The accounts of the West for this gold rush town seemed vivid in my mind as I read. Very emotional ending. Sadly Fabulous! This book speaks to a person's heart!

An abiding partnership that arises from losses endured by a sister and brother shadows the edge of each page in this amazing little book of words and images where death is not only rendered with a bright, unflinching eye but questioned, pondered, and wrestled with by siblings who through their love for a child, for art, and for each other refused to be silenced by the great wall of suffering they each faced alone. An essential book for anyone involved with the sorrows of cancer, but more importantly, anyone willing to look at what real courage demands.

"The Maltese Falcon" is better known to most of the public these days from the movie -- which is as close to a perfect adaptation as any movie has ever gotten. The novel is just as wonderful, if not more. There is a certain muscular quality to Hammett's prose that is mirrored by Huston's graphics, but Hammett has to be read to see what marvelous sentences he constructed. There are a few significant differences from the movie: Sam Spade in the book is described as a "blond Satan," and the heroic quality that Humphrey Bogart projected is darker in the novel. There is a long story, told while Brigid and Sam wait, about a man named Flitcraft who disappears; the story is central to understanding Sam's view of humanity. And there is Gutman's daughter, who is cut completely from the film. There are other minor differences, but taken all in all, the movie served the book well. Fans of the movie will love the novel, and fans of the mystery and detective genre who haven't read Dashiell Hammett are missing the genesis of the hard-boiled detective. An outstanding read!

Why should anyone read THE MALTESE FALCON?

The classic Bogart flick is a near-perfect redition of Dashiell Hammett's tough-guy dialogue. Director John Huston cast the film so well, that it's impossible to imagine the characters any other way. And in all its twists and turns, the movie captures every nuance of Hammett's plot, and even adds to the mix.

So, again: Why should anyone read THE MALTESE FALCON? The same reason why the movie is so watchable time after time; If you haven't read it, you don't know how good it is, and if you have read it, it's so good, you can't wait to read it again.

In THE MALTESE FALCON, Hammett nails every element of the detective genre so precisely, so superbly, that it's a wonder anyone ever tried to write another detective novel after him. There are simply none better, a detective novel that goes beyond its pulp roots, and enters the realm of 'capital L' Literature.

The plot, for those three people who are unaware, is as follows; Detective Sam Spade has unwittingly become a pawn in a bizarre game of chess. After his partner Miles is killed, he finds himself immersed in a convoluted plot involving a double-dealing moll, a sly fat man, a creepy small man, and a treasured statue of a bird that, if it exists, is worth unimaginable riches. But Spade is unwilling to be used in such a fashion, and starts to set himself up as a player in the scheme, all the while trying madly to figure out exactly what he should do.

I have always believed, in the best of the genre, that the actual plot comes second to the characters, and FALCON is no exception. Hammett's Spade is a remarkable resourceful character, living by a code that even he may not truly believe in. The characters of Gutman, Cairo, Brigid, and Wilmar are by turns despicable, evil, comical, and touching. Spade may be the driving force, but Hammett knows that Heaven is in the details; not one minor character is spared his sharp eye for character and ear for dialogue.

But Hammett does not skimp on the plot, either. He is well aware of what Alfred Hitchcock named the 'MacGuffin"; the one object that motivates the characters. It doesn't matter whether or not the reader believes in it, it is only important that the characters believe. Hammett knows this, and uses the bird to unmask the evils that men do, the depths to which people will sink for greed, Spade included. They morally descend into murder, betrayal, and a surprising amount of sex (that the movie simply could not show, considering the age it was made in).

But why is THE MALTESE FALCON so good? There are many other sterling examples out there, from Raymond Chander's FAREWELL MY LOVELY (a favorite of mine), to Walter Mosley's WHITE BUTTERFLY. But FALCON has that one elusive quality that will keep a reader coming back for more. I wish I knew what that was. I personally believe it is Hammett's understanding of the human condition, of the many contradictions that make up an individual. To use Spade as an example, Hammett has created a character who is cruel, and hard-headed, and greedy, and self-serving. Only a man who knows what a person is capable of could ever attempt to make someone like that the hero.

P.S. Incidentally, unlike the otherwise perfect casting in the movie, Spade does not resemble Humphrey Bogart in the slightest. He is a tall, hulking figure, with thinning blond hair and sharp, angular features, often described as a 'blond Satan'. But it is remarkable that, despite this, Bogart's portrayal is so note-perfect that you can't help but picture him anyway.

The best mystery novel ever! Dashiell Hammett's story "The Maltese Falcon" creates such suspense and interest for the reader, you may have to take a few days off work to finish it. You are taken on twists and turns throughout the story. Trying to figure out who's side the seductive Brigid O'Shaughnessy is on can be like guessing what came first the chicken or the egg. The main character Sam Spade is the classic private eye. A man who doesn't back down from any man, and doesn't back away from any women. The Maltese Falcon is described as such a treasure that you have no problem believing that it is indeed "A treasure worth killing for". As the story unfolds new characters reveal themselves, all interested in treasure. Alliances are formed and then broken. You never know who will betray who next. This book was rated as one of top 100 books of this century. Once I read it I was convinced it belong there. The greatest mystery novel is the Maltese Falcon. I Like to Eat Paper

I had to read Kaplan's LA Lost & Found for my english 102 class at Cal State Univ. of L.A. At first it seems like yet another boring architectual photograph book, but after you browse through a few of its pages you get a different feeling from the book. The feeling that you've actually been given the chance to see the City of Los Angeles the way it was before all the hoopla and constant rebuilding. Kaplan covers the aesthetic change of Los Angeles over a span of many decades. By using high quality photographs he presents us with the past of Los Angeles, such as the trolley cars, old hollywood, and inventive new style of architectual design. Even though we only read three chapters of the book for my class, this book is still and interesting piece of work to have in your home or office so people get flip through it and view the many brilliant photographs.

Not being a native to a City of Angels, it was and is hard at times to know what those around me are talking about. At times, I feel uncomfortable asking those native Angelians to explain to me what or where they are talking about. There are certain places in Los Angeles, where most Angelians grew up attending or just know the locations of. Places such as: the historical Olvera Street, infamous City Hall, breathtaking Bonaventure Hotel, or magical Watts Towers. Growing up in suburbia San Diego and not knowing much about the grand city life, let alone the history of Los Angeles, it was interesting to read and learn all about LA. From the beginning when the Spanish settlers arrived at the quaint Indian village of Yangna to the hopping and star crazed city it has become today. Kaplan visits every historical landmark in LA and gives you a brief yet detailed description of why Angelians love this city. A city with endless treasures and unforgettable events, Kaplan allowed me to see LA as a whole; through the eyes of an Angelian, as I would have never seen it. It will be a year this month that I have been living in Los Angeles and I thought I knew LA but after reading this book, I realized that I have so much more to see, so many more places to explore, and so many more things to learn about in the City of Angels.

Sam Hall Kaplan's L.A. Lost and Found: An Architectural History of Los Angeles is a book obviously written about Los Angeles. The book basically brings us through Los Angeles in the past and on to the future. I feel the reason why the book is titled L.A. Lost and Found is because we have lost a lot of L.A. throughout the years but we have also gain a lot. Things that we have lost and gain is basically the landmarks of Los Angeles. As the years gone by we have been much more productive with landmarks and we are forgetting about the older ones. If you are one that wants to know more about the history of Los Angeles this would be a nice book to look through because it has a lot of beautiful colored pictures of the landmarks of Los Angeles.

Kaplan's lost and found is a great representation of the history of Los Angeles. It shows both pictorally and textally how Los Angeles developed using the medium of architecture. This lends itself really well towards a general history and putting together a timeline of events. The book is separated into chapters of general era in our history. I found that the picture helped me get a mental image of what the city looked like in the different time periods. Overall, the book was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone who is researching, or just wanting to see our history in a pictured fashion.

In LA Lost and Found, Sam Kaplan not only provides a cover to cover pictorial history of Los Angeles, but also tells the story of how Los Angeles came to become a unique city. Kaplan starts his narrative in the early 1800's when Los Angeles' population was beginning to grow and continues into the late 1990's when there were not enough buildings to hold its population. Kaplan describes how Los Angeles developed architecturally over the years. Starting as a coastal desert, Los Angeles began as a mission and slowly expanded with adobe houses, and did not even resemble a town until the first church was built. Today, Los Angeles can be considered nothing short of a large, sprawling city. Buildings may be made of brick or wood or glass, and have arches or stilts or windmills. They may be built at the ocean side, on a mountainside or along a lake, or next to stores, museums, or parks, and still be located in the city of Los Angeles. Los Angeles began as small adobe houses and grew into a "gazpacho" of architectural styles. Kaplan shows how Los Angeles' vast array of architectural styles provides visible evidence of the history and development of the city.