The Maltese Falcon

Hmmm...I give this book 5 stars for very good writing and a book that was revolutionary for it's time, also for the brilliance of the plot. This was a captivating read and an extremely clever novel. It keeps you riveted without a lot of violence and car chases and ridiculous diversions that often accompany action/mystery novels or movies. It's just the intensity of your curiosity about "who done it" and the fast pace that keeps you in the book, even when your not reading it. I enjoyed the book and think it probably made an excellent movie but because it was written in the 1940's there are strong undertones of masagony throughout the novel and homosexual prejudice, both of which really bothered me and would make me very cautious to let a future daughter read it in her adolescence and not likely to ever recommend it to a gay friend.