Spade & Archer: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett's 'the Maltese Falcon'

P.I. Sam Spade is known for straight talk, no favors, and the protective shell he wears like a second skin. What we don't know is Spade's back story. 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 . . .