Newly released: Soundtrack to Hammett.

Just released by Silva Screen Records is John Barry's soundtrack to Hammett (dir. Wim Wenders, 1982), a film based on the book by Joe Gores; one screenwriter on the film was Ross Thomas. It stars the recently departed Frederic Forrest as Dashiell Hammett, who draws on his Pinkerton experience to assist a mentor with a new case. To hear some samples from the soundtrack, go here.

Academe: Still more notable espionage novels.

Wright State University's Martin Kich has finished his series on "National (In)Security: Fifty Notable American Espionage Novels" on the Academe blog. Some of the latest entries:

Upton Sinclair, ca. 1906. NYPL

• Holly Roth, The Content Assignment (aka The Shocking Secret, 1954). When a female CIA agent disappears, a British journalist sets out to find her. Sadly, Roth died at age 48 after falling off a boat.

• Upton Sinclair, World's End (1940). The first in a series with spy Lanny Budd by the author of The Jungle.

• Ross Thomas,  The Cold-War Swap (1966). Thomas's Edgar-winning debut.

• Trevanian, The Eiger Sanction (1972; film 1975). The first in a series with assassin Jonathan Hemlock.

• Leon Uris, Topaz (1967, Hitchcock film 1969). A Soviet spymaster defects.

All of the posts can be found here.

Dirda on Ross Thomas, Robert L. Fish.

In this piece for American Scholar, Michael Dirda goes on a jaunt to Frederick (MD)'s Wonder Book & Video, praising the skill of Ross Thomas's The Fools in Town Are on Our Side (1971) and the sense of humor of Robert L. Fish along the way.
(Hat tip to PhiloBiblos)