Hammett, Dashiell, 1894-1961; Hellman, Lillian, 1905-1984 (Editor) / The big knockover
Author Hammett, Dashiell, 1894-1961
Hellman, Lillian, 1905-1984 (Editor)
Title The big knockover
Subtitle selected stories and short novels
Publish Date 1989
Publisher Vintage Books
ISBN 0679722599
Series Vintage crime
Type Fiction (Paper)
LC Call # PS3515.A4347B5 1989
Genre Detective and mystery fiction
Short stories
Subject Detective and mystery stories, American
Continental Op (Fictitious character)--Fiction
Synopsis Short, thick-bodied, mulishly stubborn, and indifferent to physical pain, Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op was the prototype for generations of tough-guy detectives. He is also the hero of most of the nine stories in this volume. The Op's one enthusiasm is doing his job, and in The Big Knockover the jobs entail taking on a gang of modern-day freebooters, a vice-ridden hell's acre in the Arizona desert, and the bank job to end all bank jobs, along with such assorted grifters as Babe McCloor, Bluepoint Vance, Alphabet Shorty McCoy, and the Dis-and-Dat Kid.
A one-time detective and a master of deft understatement, Dashiell Hammett virtually invented the hard-boiled crime novel.

Sections

1. The gutting of Couffignal
2. Fly paper
3. The scorched face
4. This King business
5. The Gatewood caper
6. Dead yellow woman
7. Corkscrew
8. Tulip
9. The big knockover
10. $106,000 blood money