The Dain Curse

By: Dashiell Hammett

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

The Continental Op is a short, squat, and utterly unsentimental tank of a private detective. Miss Gabrielle Dain Leggett is young, wealthy, and a devotee of morphine and religious cults. She has an unfortunate effect on the people around her: they have a habit of dying violently. Is Gabrielle the victim of a family curse? Or is the truth about her weirder and infinitely more dangerous? The Dain Curse is one of the Continental Op's most bizarre cases, and a tautly crafted masterpiece of suspense.

©1928, 1929 Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGo

Great snakes!

I love Hammett, every word is dingy poetry. A great yarn and the use of color is amazing. I recommend it!

Cobbled Noir

Hammett's noir fiction language is the most interesting aspect of this audiobook, and Ferrone has a wonderful voice for noir. The unnamed detective goes from one crime to another starting with a diamond theft. The plot elements seem cobbled together and the detective's attempts to understand the connections are tediously laid out.

Expected more from Dashiell Hammett.

Great narrator. I found the story somewhat contrived and a bit disappointing. Blatant racism.

A Confusion Within a Muddle

There are certainly some fine, Hammett-worthy moments in this book. But ultimately, it feels like three stories, gummed together with library paste, the combination explained at the end with a long-winded, and utterly nonsensical "reveal." Hammett tosses in everything but space alien abductions and a cameo of Satan himself. I came away thinking I had just wasted too much of seven hours and 43 minutes on some utter hogwash. Was he drinking bathtub gin when he wrote this?

The Continental Op Does An X-File

The Dain Curse is probably the weakest of Hammett's novels, and definitely the strangest. The overall arc is told via three detective stories: the first is about the Op investigating a diamond burglary, the second has him investigating cult weirdness, and the third has him investigating small-town weirdness, with a short detour that reveals a more compassionate side. The stories, being so different, give the whole thing a off-kilter feel. The characters don't always convince, and there are quite a few of them to keep track of by the end.

That said, I still enjoyed the book. It may not be The Maltese Falcon, or even Red Harvest, but it's still three hardboiled yarns written by one of the greats. It benefits from Hammett's splendid prose, constant plot twists, a surreal atmosphere, and Richard Ferrone's gravelly narration. I don't regret spending a credit on it, and I think that's the main thing.

gotta love classic detective stories.

From the Maltese Falcon to the Dane Curse I love the convolutions of the classic detective story. It also reaffirms my belief that nothing really changes and that people aren't any better or worse as time goes by...m

A Literary IMPOSSIBLE bottle.

I think Dashiell Hammett made this novel into a type of literary impossible bottle. I admire his work, and generally followed the puzzled steps, but at the end just think he went a strata too deep. Don't get me wrong, I DO love Hammett and liked this book a lot. It just isn't in the same class as: Red Harvest, The Thin Man or The Maltese Falcon.

Hammett read by Ferrone!

As with Ferrone’s reading of Red Harvest, it’s tough to imagine a better combination than these two. If you like Ferrone’s reading of John Sanford’s Lucas Davenport, you’ll love his readings of Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op. I only wish I could find Ferrone’s readings of every Hammett story.

I’m sure I’ll come back to these in the future.

More Random

This story was not up to my expectations of Hammett. Narration was great. Just seemed disjointed, and characters were killed or disappeared without seemingly good reason. Don't judge Hammett solely based on Rain Curse.

The Dain Curse

Mr. Hammett kept me listening until the last word! I was completely enthralled. Very, very good!