At some point, Anthony Horowitz stopped writing tongue-in-cheek novels with more puns than a James Bond movie, dark humor, and an almost Dickensian absurdity to them. He started writing novels filled with action, suspense, realism, and little to no humor whatsoever. Since then, he has risen to the very peaks of the action genre. He is one of the best in the business. Had he not changed, however, the Falcon’s Malteser would have been the pinnacle of his work, and that wouldn’t have been something to be ashamed of in the least. As you may have already guessed, Horowitz parodies noir novels in this novel. The protagonist of the novel, Nick Diamond, is the brains behind his idiot brother’s private detection firm. A mysterious South American man offers them a fortune to look after a seemingly ordinary box of chocolates and is subsequently murdered, Soon, the two brothers are plunged into a world of treachery, deception, and murder as they are caught in the schemes of criminals seeking a fortune in diamonds.Firstly, Horowitz deserves commendation for creating a pleasantly twisty plot that drops various surprises upon the reader when they least expect it. Although some of the twists seemed to just exist for the sake of twisting, I am able to excuse this on the grounds that he was parodying the noir genre. The villains, while clichéd, are sufficiently menacing to seem like genuine threats rather than buffoonish characterization.Then, of course, there is Nick himself, a very sympathetic character who sticks with his dimwitted brother out of choice. He could join his parents in Australia (although the fact that they don’t seem to care enough to come back for him doesn’t bode well), but chooses not to. He cares about his brother, and is doing his best to survive in a time when everyone seems to want him dead. He provides a much needed anchor in the morass of noir that engulfs this story, which can be a tad overwhelming at times.Like I said, this is definitely one of Horowitz’s earlier tales, and it most definitely shows. Characters rarely transcend the clichés from which they arose. Puns are everywhere, even when they make no sense. I’m a lot more forgiving of that than usual, because this is the type of lighthearted tale that really can’t work if people take it deathly seriously. But Horowitz is simply not innately skilled at this type of thing. He doesn’t have much of a sense of humor, and when he stops trying later on, his work certainly improved. Despite its occasional flaws, the Falcon’s Malteser is a thoroughly gripping read from that master of thrillers, Anthony Horowitz, although a tad more whimsical than I would like. Additionally, if you can somehow get your hands on the movie adaptation of this book, Just Ask for Diamond, do so; unlike many adaptations, it’s a fantastic movie.
This book was really amazing just like all the other diamond brother books. It's about these to people one is 13-14 years old and the other was in his 20's, it wasn't any clearer than "my older idiot brother in his 20's as a private detective". Anyways it is about them and the younger one is named Nick Diamond i would say he is the main charicter and his older brother Tim Diamond....He is the idiot.....Well anyways the biggest criminal in the world, The Falcon, dies and leaves a huge fortune behind for anyone to find. If they can find it. It just so happens that the diamond brothers get the one guy in the entire world to stop by their house and hand them the one thing they might change their lives.... With their other adventures it isnt much of a change for them besides they could end up five million dollars richer! But their is plenty of other criminals looking for the falcons treasure to. The biggest one is the biggest criminal in brittan... The Fat Man.... They make a few friends make new enemies and meet a few old ones on the way.Thats what the book is about now what i think about this book?Well it is an amazing book it is always making you think "Whats gonna happen next"! And when you think you have it all figured out the person you picked to be the bad guy turnes out dead. for some people it can be confusing but it is a great book. its got everything from midgets to walking canes that shoot bullets and almost everything inbetween. if i had written this book i would have been proud. its a mix of funny, excitement, and mystery all packed into one great story. once again i think this is a really great book and you should read it evan if you arent a reading person ive read 0 books over the summer and didnt meet the requirements from my reading class last year but ive read books 1 and 3-6 in just a few weeks im just starting on book 2 and i havent seen book 7 yet so as soon as i find it im getting it to. this isnt the only good book in the series that is a good one they are all very good so try and read them all ill evan name the books for you1. The Falcon's Malteser (of course)2. Public Enemy Number Two3. South By Southeast4. The Blurred Man5. The French Confection6. I Know What You Did Last Wednesday7. The Greek Who Stole Christmasread these and write a review about them so i will know if im not the only one who thinks these are amamzing.
What do You think about The Falcon's Malteser (2004)?
The Diamond Brothers, Nick and Tim were lying in their beds on a normal day when someone (Johnny Naples) gives them a package. Nick and Tim waned to find out what was inside the package but Johny Naples told them to not open the package because who knows what it might be. But the next day when they find Johnny dead they knew that they had to open the package and find for themselves what it is. When they open the package they find a normal pack of Chocolate Maltesers but that certainly didn't explain anything. So they go investigating even more to find out so then they meet Johnny's girlfriend and try to find out a bunch of things about what that bag of Maltesers is. Once they found out that its worth over 3 million pounds they knew crooks would be all over them. The Central Ides are Trust, Friendship and Out thinking your opponent.
—Eyad
I want to rate this 3.5 stars, and had a very hard time deciding between 3 & 4, finally went with 3.I have again been researching some books for my 13 y/o to read, and since he has been doing some deep stuff (Flowers for Algernon) and auto biographies and classic literature...I want to help him find some good light/fun reading as well. Found about 5 teen fiction authors he might like (he is not big on fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian/paranormal), he enjoys teen mystery crime fiction and it seems harder to find those than it did 30 years ago...This was pretty cool, although probably not as high quality as Peter Abraham's Ech Falls or even Grisham's theodore Boone series, but still pretty good and I will be adding this one to his list of potential books. This is written in the cliched traditional detective stories with a mix of goof humor and light suspense. Probably written for 12 y/o's but he is close enough that this should not be an issue.recommended for teen/tween crime fiction lovers.
—Mark Soone
When I saw that the author had written the new Sherlock Holmes story 'Moriarty', I looked up his bibliography. Most of his writings appeared to be for 'Young adults' but when I saw the title of this one, I wasnt sure. Having read it, I am still unsure.I am not a connoisseur of books for children (sorry, Young Adults)but much of what I do remember was that the stories were often written on two levels. The second of these levels was for the parent who may have to read the book to their offspring. Such may have been the case here as I would doubt that some of the younger readers would understand some of the subtler puns and jokes.The story provides a nice little puzzle, the characters are easy to picture and as in the early cowboy films where you always knew the villain because they wore the black hats, in this story there is little doubt who are the bad guys.It is a bit 'Boy's own' stuff and it isnt too deep but, hey, I enjoyed it.
—John Lee
