Vintage 240 page mass market paperback titled THE CONTINENTAL OP by Dashiell Hammett with an introduction by Lillian Hellman/ A Dell Book # 1468, First Dell Printing, December 1967 / "His home base is the Continental Detective Agency in San Francisco - his field of operations, the globe. His prey-for-pay is a weird assortment of murders and masterminds, high-class crooks and low-down punks, in capers filled with flying bullets, fabulous broads, tantalizing mystery and point-black action." The Continental Op is a fictional character created by Dashiell Hammett. A private investigator employed as an operative of the Continental Detective Agency's San Francisco office, he never gives his name and so is known only by his job description. The Op can be regarded as a prototype for the hardboiled detective exemplified in such characters as Hammett's Sam Spade, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer, and others. The book is complete and in VERY GOOD - FINE condition with some light creases along the front and back cover hinges.