2008-06-30 - 7:15 a.m.
Book Review #347: The Glass Key
The Glass Key is my first Dashiell Hammett novel. Although the story revolves around a murder of a Senator's son and gang wars between political figures and street gangs, the crux of the story rests on the shoulders of protagonist Ned Beaumont. I haven't seen a hard-boiled thug with this much superhuman intelligence and psychic political savvy since Tom Reagan in Miller's Crossing. Keeping track of Ned and his personal agendas can be difficult since the reader isn't privy to what is going on inside his head. The bad guys may have been trailing Ned by several steps but so was I. Doesn't twist and turn as much as a Raymond Chandler novel, but this is definitely a thinking man's noir.
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