Before the Beginning

So there I was, just leafing through the Alfred A. Knopf Spring 2009 publishing catalogue, when what should I spy but a page devoted to Spade & Archer, the impatiently awaited Maltese Falcon prequel by San Francisco author Joe Gores. While Amazon says that this novel is due out on February 10, the Knopf catalogue gives its publication date as April 2009. Here’s the short write-up:

A gritty, pitch-perfect noir novel: the authorized prequel to Dashiell Hammett’s classic, The Maltese Falcon.

We know what P.I. Sam Spade is about from the first pages of Hammett’s iconic book: straight talk, no favors, a protective shell he wears like a second skin. We know that his late partner, Miles Archer, was a son of a bitch; that Spade is sleeping with Archer’s wife, Iva; that his tomboyish secretary, Effie, is the only innocent in his life. What we don’t know is how Spade became who he is. Now, Spade & Archer completes the picture.

In 1921, Spade sets up his own agency in San Francisco. The next seven years see him dealing with booze runners, banking swindlers, gold smugglers, bumbling cops, and the illegitimate daughter of Sun Yat-sen; with murder, other men’s mistresses, and long-missing money. He’ll take on Archer as a partner, though Archer stole his girl while he was fighting in World War I. He’ll tangle with a villain who’s planned what he thinks is the perfect crime. And he’ll fall in love--though it won’t turn out for the best. It never does with dames ...

The work of a master mystery writer, Spade & Archer is destined to become a classic in its own right.

Coming from the author of Hammett (1975) and the DKA series, I’m hoping this will be one slam-bang, gams and guns and guts thriller. Do I really have to wait until next spring to find out?