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The Saint #41
The Saint Abroad
TV tie-in paperback
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
16 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Charteris
594 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 19, 2017
I recently bought half a dozen Saint paperbacks, not because I did not have these yet which I do in Hardcover. But they were the versions released with the Return of the Saint television series with Ian Ogilvy as Simon Templar. His face on each of the covers and I did not have these editions so I found them somewhat irresistible to ignore and the price tag added an very convincing argument. These paperbacks make for easy ready and are bloody brilliant taking them on the train and during break on my work.
Anyhow this book contains two short stories based upon the episodes from the Roger Moore television series and somehow the stories do reflect this mostly studio based production. You can easily see how they were filmed in the token sets as afforded by the studios. And as usual Leading Saintly chronologist Leslie Charteris who actually did very little writing which was mostly done by Fleming Lee and polished for the use of readers of his Saintly adventures by the creator himself.
The Art Collectors - In which a Saint goes art shopping and ends up saving the lady and her driver from some enthusiastic art collectors who practice the sport of kidnapping. He also encounters some policemen who like art as well and all seem to want the art being offered free of any monetary exchange. The Saint saves the day, the art and the lady in danger.
The Persistent Patriots - In which the Saint saves an African president and is asked to save him again from the obnoxious dark art of blackmail. For a change we meet an African ruler who has the interest of his country and people in his heart. And as always there are people that disagree and this time they meet the Saint who they consider overrated. Which Claude Eastace Teal, the Saints' favorite English flatfoot, would disagree with strongly. And thus the Saint saves a president twice and gives a redhead a second chance.
Two very enjoyable tales about Simon Templar aka the Saint in the later phase of his life of modern buccaneering. Always an enjoyable visit to a world I fist visited when I was a wee lad and still not stale but fun.
Anyhow this book contains two short stories based upon the episodes from the Roger Moore television series and somehow the stories do reflect this mostly studio based production. You can easily see how they were filmed in the token sets as afforded by the studios. And as usual Leading Saintly chronologist Leslie Charteris who actually did very little writing which was mostly done by Fleming Lee and polished for the use of readers of his Saintly adventures by the creator himself.
The Art Collectors - In which a Saint goes art shopping and ends up saving the lady and her driver from some enthusiastic art collectors who practice the sport of kidnapping. He also encounters some policemen who like art as well and all seem to want the art being offered free of any monetary exchange. The Saint saves the day, the art and the lady in danger.
The Persistent Patriots - In which the Saint saves an African president and is asked to save him again from the obnoxious dark art of blackmail. For a change we meet an African ruler who has the interest of his country and people in his heart. And as always there are people that disagree and this time they meet the Saint who they consider overrated. Which Claude Eastace Teal, the Saints' favorite English flatfoot, would disagree with strongly. And thus the Saint saves a president twice and gives a redhead a second chance.
Two very enjoyable tales about Simon Templar aka the Saint in the later phase of his life of modern buccaneering. Always an enjoyable visit to a world I fist visited when I was a wee lad and still not stale but fun.
March 11, 2019
I'm not sure Leslie Charteris can take credit for this set of two stories, seeing as someone else adapted them from someone else's teleplays and Charteris just took a final pass at it. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good Saint book I haven't read, but it definitely feels as if Simon Templar lacks some of his devil-may-care attitude here in favour of just getting the job done. And these writers clearly aren't as in love with Simon as Charteris was--there's not a single description of his good looks and icy blue eyes! WTH! Yeah, I admit I'm a bit disappointed. The earlier stories (written by Charteris himself) are definitely more fun.
February 26, 2025
Great fun to read these two teleplays converted to novellas. Then to stream the episodes afterwards and see how they differed from the stories. Not often we can do that. Just for all this the book is fun to read.
September 11, 2018
Originally published on my blog here in March 1998.
This is one of the later Saint books, based on the TV series (Roger Moore period) rather than coming before it. It contains two novellas, The Art Collectors and The Persistent Patriots; both were among the better TV episodes. However, like the other late books, Leslie Charteris neither wrote the screenplays nor adapted them for the book. He was never a man who believed in doing anything when someone else was willing to do it for him.
The Art Collectors is about a young woman who is trying to sell some old masters looted by her father during the war. Pretty much everyone she meets is trying to get hold of the pictures without paying, until Simon Templar lends a hand. It is quite absurd - a collection of five old masters more or less randomly acquired contains no previously documented works, and this seems to me rather unlikely. The number of different groups involved also makes the whole thing rather farcical.
The Persistent Patriots concerns assassination and blackmail attempts on the leader of an African country during a visit to London and how Simon Templar foils them and lays bare the plot behind them. While not overtly racist, the fact that this leader is white and that he is described as the sort of strong leader that Africa needs is now a bit close to that. However, it should be remembered that at the time it was a common perception in the former colonial powers that independence for many countries was an invitation for them to descend into anarchy. It remains one of the less creditable stories to appear under Charteris' name, particularly given his earlier attacks on the far right.
Neither story is particularly original in plot, but they are easy and fun to read. My advice to anyone who wants to read the Saint is to aim for the early books, which are very much better. Try The Saint in New York for a very good example.
This is one of the later Saint books, based on the TV series (Roger Moore period) rather than coming before it. It contains two novellas, The Art Collectors and The Persistent Patriots; both were among the better TV episodes. However, like the other late books, Leslie Charteris neither wrote the screenplays nor adapted them for the book. He was never a man who believed in doing anything when someone else was willing to do it for him.
The Art Collectors is about a young woman who is trying to sell some old masters looted by her father during the war. Pretty much everyone she meets is trying to get hold of the pictures without paying, until Simon Templar lends a hand. It is quite absurd - a collection of five old masters more or less randomly acquired contains no previously documented works, and this seems to me rather unlikely. The number of different groups involved also makes the whole thing rather farcical.
The Persistent Patriots concerns assassination and blackmail attempts on the leader of an African country during a visit to London and how Simon Templar foils them and lays bare the plot behind them. While not overtly racist, the fact that this leader is white and that he is described as the sort of strong leader that Africa needs is now a bit close to that. However, it should be remembered that at the time it was a common perception in the former colonial powers that independence for many countries was an invitation for them to descend into anarchy. It remains one of the less creditable stories to appear under Charteris' name, particularly given his earlier attacks on the far right.
Neither story is particularly original in plot, but they are easy and fun to read. My advice to anyone who wants to read the Saint is to aim for the early books, which are very much better. Try The Saint in New York for a very good example.
December 29, 2007
read 10.26.85
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews