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The Saint #45
The Saint and The Hapsburg Necklace
TV tie-in paperback
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
20 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Charteris
580 books161 followersBorn Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, Leslie Charteris was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 4, 2020
Rating between 3 & 3.5
I thought this was a solid entertaining Saint story.
Obviously LC thought the writer had made a fair fist of it otherwise it wouldn’t have seen the light of day.
There is something about the style of writing which does tell the reader that it wasn’t actually written in the 1930’s or 1940’s but nothing too obtrusive.
Overall a good read and recommended.
I thought this was a solid entertaining Saint story.
Obviously LC thought the writer had made a fair fist of it otherwise it wouldn’t have seen the light of day.
There is something about the style of writing which does tell the reader that it wasn’t actually written in the 1930’s or 1940’s but nothing too obtrusive.
Overall a good read and recommended.
August 11, 2024
consider this novel a Saint adjacent story
This book may have been touched up by Charteris, but the underlying story was not written by him, and it shows. It lacks the real wit and charm of the Charteris oeuvre. It still has the bravado, of course, and the incessant banter (albeit a somewhat forced type), and the violence that adheres to the buccaneer called the Saint, but it still lacks something noticeable. It’s as if someone else wrote the Star Wars sequels, but under the byline of George Lucas. You’d still go to see it, and you might even be entertained, but you’d also know something was off.
This book may have been touched up by Charteris, but the underlying story was not written by him, and it shows. It lacks the real wit and charm of the Charteris oeuvre. It still has the bravado, of course, and the incessant banter (albeit a somewhat forced type), and the violence that adheres to the buccaneer called the Saint, but it still lacks something noticeable. It’s as if someone else wrote the Star Wars sequels, but under the byline of George Lucas. You’d still go to see it, and you might even be entertained, but you’d also know something was off.
February 1, 2019
Originally published on my blog here in January 2002.
The ending of the first Saint TV series, the one starring Roger Moore, and the subsequent beginning of the second, starring Ian Ogilvy, brought some more changes to the much longer running series of books. This really began when Charteris realised, with the tie-ins to the first series, that he could put his name to Saint stories written by others; this particular novel is in fact written by Christopher Short.
In a departure from the norm for the series, The Hapsburg Necklace is a return to an earlier period in the life of the hero (and so it is not, despite appearances, a tie-in with The Return of the Saint). Set in Austria after the Anschluss but before the outbreak of war, it is more or less contemporary with Prelude for War. It is a silly story, about an attempt by an Austrian aristocrat, the last of the hereditary keepers of the Hapsburg necklace (a fabulous piece from the crown jewels of the former empire) to retrieve the gems from their hiding place in the ancestral castle, now being used as the SS headquarters for Austria.
This going back into the past will inevitably (for fans of the series) lead to a comparison with the earlier work with which it is supposedly contemporary. This novel is found wanting; it reads like a minor seventies thriller set in the past - which is what it is. Even the character of Simon Templar is greatly simplified, making him much more a two dimensional action hero.
The ending of the first Saint TV series, the one starring Roger Moore, and the subsequent beginning of the second, starring Ian Ogilvy, brought some more changes to the much longer running series of books. This really began when Charteris realised, with the tie-ins to the first series, that he could put his name to Saint stories written by others; this particular novel is in fact written by Christopher Short.
In a departure from the norm for the series, The Hapsburg Necklace is a return to an earlier period in the life of the hero (and so it is not, despite appearances, a tie-in with The Return of the Saint). Set in Austria after the Anschluss but before the outbreak of war, it is more or less contemporary with Prelude for War. It is a silly story, about an attempt by an Austrian aristocrat, the last of the hereditary keepers of the Hapsburg necklace (a fabulous piece from the crown jewels of the former empire) to retrieve the gems from their hiding place in the ancestral castle, now being used as the SS headquarters for Austria.
This going back into the past will inevitably (for fans of the series) lead to a comparison with the earlier work with which it is supposedly contemporary. This novel is found wanting; it reads like a minor seventies thriller set in the past - which is what it is. Even the character of Simon Templar is greatly simplified, making him much more a two dimensional action hero.
July 21, 2012
After many novelisations of the Saint tv-series we get a new adventure written by Christopher Short but edited by Leslie Charteris.
At the eve of WOII Simon Templar is visiting Vienna and meets a funny man and a beautifull woman. They are both quite sure that the Saint can help them and it involves stealing/rescueing a priceless necklace that lies hidden in a castle in Nazi-occupied Hungary. A lot of adventure and doublecrosses all brought to taste by Templar's wit and sense of adventure.
I really enjoyed this brand new adventure that was The Saint returning to my favorite era, pre-WOII. Very well written and writer must have enjoyed himself, you can feel and read it in the pages.
For anyone who hasn't read a Saint novel before a good entry in the series and as a stand alone novel it does is good adventure/heist tale.
At the eve of WOII Simon Templar is visiting Vienna and meets a funny man and a beautifull woman. They are both quite sure that the Saint can help them and it involves stealing/rescueing a priceless necklace that lies hidden in a castle in Nazi-occupied Hungary. A lot of adventure and doublecrosses all brought to taste by Templar's wit and sense of adventure.
I really enjoyed this brand new adventure that was The Saint returning to my favorite era, pre-WOII. Very well written and writer must have enjoyed himself, you can feel and read it in the pages.
For anyone who hasn't read a Saint novel before a good entry in the series and as a stand alone novel it does is good adventure/heist tale.
August 1, 2008
Decent story, not written by Charteris.
June 23, 2011
Fast moving, light-hearted Saint yarn. Not written by Charteris but by "Christopher Short," although he gets no creds on the book jacket.
July 31, 2013
Love the old books. Loved the Saint tv show and movie. So this was a treat.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews