I didn’t have high hopes for “Spade and Archer,” even though it is published under the Black Lizard imprint, which rarely disappoints. A prequel to Dashiell Hammett’s classic “The Maltese Falcon”? Really? Who exactly is Joe Gores? And who gave him permission to use Hammett’s characters?

Actually, Hammett’s surviving daughter gave permission. Gores approached her in 1999 about doing a prequel, and she said no. Then in 2004, she approached him about a sequel. He said no, but restated his interest in writing a prequel. She finally said yes in 2006, and the book was published in 2009.

When “The Maltese Falcon” opens, Sam Spade had been a detective for many years. Gores says, “I wanted to find out for myself who Sam Spade was when he started out–how did he become this iconic figure? Every private eye who I’ve known, including myself, thinks Sam Spade is the ideal detective.”

Spade set the pattern for hundreds of private eyes to come (most notably, Philip Marlowe and Lew Archer). He prefers to work alone. He has a love-hate relationship with cops (usually on their bad list). He’s a tough guy.He’s a ladies’ man. He notices things other people miss. He flaunts a sarcastic wit. And he doesn’t mind working outside the law. Gores brings all of this to vivid life.

The book spans a seven-year period, 1921-1928. The book begins as Sam Spade, after serving in World War I, is concluding his final case with the Continental Detective Agency. Spade sets up his own detective agency in San Francisco, and brings aboard Effie Perine as his, as they would say today, administrative assistant.

The book has three parts–the first cases in 1921 (a gold heist and a runaway boy), a second batch in 1925, and a final set in 1928 after Archer joins the firm (these involving thievery on the waterfront and lost money raised for Chinese leader Sun Yat-sen). The opening case involved gold stolen from a ship which had just arrived in San Francisco harbor from Australia via Hawaii. From this case emerges a villain named St. Claire McPhee who gets away, but who is never forgotten by Spade. He keeps arising as we go through the book. That gives a continuity thread.

The cases are all quite interesting, and not so complicated (as are some of Hammett’s plots) that you lose track of what’s happening.

About two-thirds of the way through the book, Miles Archer, an old friend, joins the firm. Spade and Archer’s gorgeous wife, Iva, have periodic flings. Though, since Gores is writing in the style of Hammett, the trysts are only implied and always off-camera.

Another reviewer, Dan Faust, wrote, “Gores manages to do something that Hammett couldn’t: he got me to connect with Sam Spade.”

I completely agree. The Spade drawn by Gores is a much more interesting and fully developed character than Hammett gave us. After finishing this book, I read the short story, “A Man Called Spade,” one of three short stories about Spade written after “The Maltese Falcon” (because fans clamored for more Spade, and Hammett needed the money). That piece didn’t tell me much about Spade. Instead, I found myself inserting the mental picture of the man I crafted from reading “Spade and Archer.”

Bottom line: I really, really liked “Spade and Archer.” The plots–a series of plots, all dispatched in good time–were interesting and easy to follow. I found myself feeling like I was in 1920s San Francisco (Gores obviously did bountiful research).

The book ends with Effie Perine announcing the arrival of a potential new client, Wonderly, who gets “The Maltese Falcon” started. The last few paragraphs of “Spade and Archer” are identical to the opening paragraphs of “The Maltese Falcon.” That was a nice touch, and does nothing to spoil for you “Spade and Archer.”

“Night of Thunder” (2008) takes place in Bristol, Tennessee, just before the big Bristol NASCAR race. Pam and I visited the Bristol track a few years ago on vacation. It’s truly an amazing track, and I could only imagine the excitement around the race. This book brings out that excitement.

Stephen Hunter has written three books starring Earl Lee Swaggard, a WW2 Medal of Honor winner and southern sheriff. He’s a fine creation, as hard as they come, maybe as tough as Jack Reacher. But Hunter’s best creation is Bob Lee Swaggard, Earl’s son. Bob is a master sniper, with the third-highest number of confirmed kills (86) in Vietnam.

Thus far, Hunter has written 6 books starring Bob Lee, with a 7th due in December 2011. I’ve read them all, starting with 1993’s “Point of Impact” (the basis of the movie “Shooter,” starring Mark Wahlburg). Probably my favorite was the 4th book, “The 47th Samurai,” which masterfully alternated between Earl on Iowa Jima and Bob in present-day Japan. That book came out in 2007, nine years after his previous Bob Lee book (“Time to Hunt,” from 1998). But Hunter has now cranked out a new Bob Lee book every year.

“Night of Thunder” (2008) finds Bob Lee’s daughter, a reporter in Bristol, run off the road in an attempt to kill her; she spends most of the book in a coma. That brings Bob Lee to Bristol, and he sets about determining who tried to kill his daughter. The cast of characters includes a woman deputy who is a crack shot, a Nascar racer, a clerk at Lester’s convenience store, FBI agent Nick Memphis (who traces back to the first Bob Lee book), and the Grumleys, a clan of criminals and killers led by a charlatan preacher. The Grumleys are planning something epic at the race,

Bob Lee is now in his early 60s, with a pronounced limp thanks to both a sniper’s bullet and a sword wound the year before (from “47th Samurai”). But he’s still tough as nails, and don’t mess with his daughter. Obviously, I can say without spoiling anything, Bob Lee figures things out, saves the day, and exacts vengeance. That’s what happens in all Stephen Hunter books.

“I, Sniper” (2009) begins with Carl Hitchcock, the number two sniper from Vietnam, being framed for the sniper killings of four anti-Vietnam activists (in real life, Carlos Hathcock recorded 93 kills in Vietnam, the 4th highest total). Hitchcock is then found dead, an apparent suicide, in a motel room. Bob Lee Swaggard is brought in to confirm that it was, indeed, Hitchcock who carried out the executions. Predictably, he determines that Hitchcock wasn’t the shooter, and that he didn’t commit suicide. And predictably, nobody believes him.

The first person killed was Joan Flanders, who is a clone of Jane Fonda. Every detail about Joan–physique, actor father, Oscar, anti-Vietnam activism (complete with photo sitting at a Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun), workout videos, marriage to a media tycoon–everything is exactly Jane Fonda. In light of the attack on Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and the “targeting” by Sarah Palin et al (after this book was published), I must say that it felt both uncomfortable and inappropriate. Hunter didn’t need to get so specific. He was, it seemed, condoning the idea of assassinating Jane Fonda. But I digress. Back to the plot.

Swaggard puts the FBI team on the right trail, and even goes undercover. But the investigation is derailed by T. T. Constable (Ted Turner–get it?), Joan’s ex. He wants the investigation shut down, and uses his connections to make it happen.

The plot increasingly surrounds Constable and his motives for shutting down the investigation, but also involves a team of bad-boy Irishmen who are former British SAS snipers, two of the other assassination victims (also anti-Vietnam activists), and Nick Memphis, the FBI agent in charge of the investigation (who also made an appearance in “Night of Thunder”).

Both books were very good, typical Hunter fare. I suppose I liked “Night of Thunder” better, but “I, Sniper” had a more interesting ending. “The 47th Samurai,” and probably “Point of Impact” (my memory is fading) were better yet.

“The City of Thieves” (2008) is set amidst the siege of Leningrad during World War 2. Lev Beniov, age 17, is caught looting–in this case, the body of a dead German pilot who parachutes into his neighborhood. He is thrown into a prison, where he meets Kolya, a colorful, charismatic infantryman accused of desertion.

Both expect to be executed the next morning. But instead, a KGB (or something like that) colonel offer them a deal. His daughter is getting married, and they need a dozen eggs to make the wedding cake. In a city where people starve to death every day, food is at a premium, and eggs are nonexistent. But if they can find a dozen eggs in a week’s time, he’ll let them live.

And so, Lev and Kolya descend into the city to find eggs, or clues about where they could find eggs. Their journey exposes readers to the nightmarish conditions of Leningrad, and to people willing to do anything–anything–for a scrap of food.

The siege of Leningrad began in September 1941, when the Germans totally cut off all access to the city by land. The siege didn’t end until the end of January 1944, almost 2.5 years. During that time, 1.5 million people died, making it the most lethal siege in history. Another 1.4 million were evacuated, and many of them died. Cannibalism was common.

The opening chapter, after a prologue, begins:

“You have never been so hungry; you have never been so cold. When we slept, if we slept, we dreamed of the feasts we had carelessly eaten seven months earlier–all that buttered bread, the potato dumplings, the sausages–eaten with disregard, swallowing without tasting, leaving great crumbs on our plates, scraps of fat. In June of 1941, before the Germans came, we thought we were poor. But June seemed like paradise by winter.”

“The City of Thieves” illuminates this horrific situation. And yet, it’s not a dark book. The light-hearted character of Kolya off-sets some of that, as does the ludicrousness of their quest–eggs for a wedding cake.

They search within the city for a while, and then go outside the city, to villages behind German lines. Here they encounter prostitutes selling their bodies to Germans to remain alive, and they have run-ins with Germans and with Russian partisans. One partisan is Vika, a young girl who happens to be a crack sniper and all-around warrior–and who’s mission in life is to kill a sadistic German commander.

I can’t tell you anything more beyond this point without spoiling the story for you. Suffice it to say, this book is well worth your time.

The book is actually a framed story. It begins in modern day America, with the author sitting down with his immigrant grandfather and asking him to tell about his experiences in Russia during the war. His grandfather is Lev. We don’t return to modern times until the final four-page chapter. But let me tell you–it’s a wonderful ending. Sort of what I expected, and yet, so satisfying on every level.

I truly loved this book, and my interest never lagged. There are a number of little threads which keep you wondering–like, what’s with this book Kolya keeps talking about? But all are resolved in good time, and satisfactorily. The writing is superb, the characters are interesting and well-drawn, and the story moves right along. And in the process, you learn some good history.

Read “The City of Thieves.” You’ll enjoy it.

“The Renegades,” published in 2009, is the second Charlie Hood novel from T. Jefferson Parker. The first was “LA Outlaws,” published in 2008 (and which I briefly reviewed in October 2009). That was the better book, thanks to the superbly drawn character of LA outlaw Allison Murrieta, a sympathetic bank robber with Robin-Hoodish leanings, who becomes a folk hero of sorts, as well as a Hood love interest.

Allison Murrieta plays a part in “The Renegades,” and in fact permeates the book. But I’m not going to say anything more about her. You need to read “LA Outlaws” first.

Hood is an LA deputy sheriff. “The Renegades” begins with Hood’s new partner, Terry Laws, getting machine-gunned on the street, with Hood watching (and spared, for some reason). Hood is enlisted to find the killer. Along the way, he encounters Laws’ previous partner, Draper.

Meanwhile, a second strand begins. Draper begins telling someone his story–about how he and Laws murdered two drug money-runners, set up another guy for the hit, and then arranged with the deadly cartel leader to take over the money-running route. And pocket about $7000 each, every week.

The reader hears all of this from Draper. Meanwhile, we watch Hood trying to figure things out, while we already know, pretty much, what happened. Parker keeps injecting chapters with Draper spilling more of his story, and then we return to Hood for a few chapters.

It’s quite an interesting structure. We get information from Draper at just the right time, no more than we need. Parker dribbles it out just right. Obviously, everything points to a showdown between Hood and Draper. But even then, surprises await.

Parker actually did something similar with “LA Outlaws.” Allison Murrietta’s parts are written in first-person (like the Draper chapters), while everything else is in third person.

I didn’t learn a great deal about Charlie Hood in this book. He’s still kind of ordinary to me, nothing distinguishing him particularly from protagonists of similar books. I prefer more distinct characters like Stone Barrington, Virgil Flowers, Alex Cross, or any Robert Parker hero. But T. Jefferson Parker’s superb plotting will keep me coming back, though not rushing back.

I’ve been reading the Lee Child “Jack Reacher” series in order. I just finished books 9 and 10 in the series. Jack Reacher is a truly original action hero, as lethal as they come. None of these books are art, but they are sure fun to read.

“One Shot” opens with five people being gunned down by a sniper in a small Indiana town. A former sniper named James Barr, who lives in that town, is arrested. All of the evidence points to him–a solid case if ever there was one.

When Reacher hears about Barr’s arrest on the news, he immediately leaves for that town. Turns out Barr had done this before, in Kuwait, and Reacher had promised Barr that he would kill him if he ever tried anything like that again.

But, as they say in good mysteries, “nothing is as it seems.” Some brutal Russian gangsters are involved, a group of nicely drawn characters, all of them hardcore killers.

Reacher assumes that Barr is guilty, but when he is attacked for no good reason, he begins wondering what’s going on. He then sets about figuring it out.

In “The Hard Way,” Edward Lane, the head of a mercenary company, hires Reacher to find his wife, who has been kidnapped and is being held for a ransom involving millions of dollars. This is Lane’s second wife. His first one was killed several years before in another kidnapping….and everything points to him being the prime suspect.

So reacher tries to unravel what happened. There are plenty of suspects, including two former mercenary employees whom Lane abandoned in Africa years before, and were presumed killed.

It’s another Lee Child winner, with an action-packed climax with some twists.

Five more books and I’ll be caught up. Think I’ll take one on vacation next week.