Enter the Saint

Meet the Tiger (later retitled "The Saint meets the Tiger") published in 1928, was Leslie Charteris's first book in the Saint Saga (even though Hodder & Stoughton later pretended that "Enter the Saint" was, presumably because they weren't the publishers of the former). Nevertheless, "Enter the Saint" is the book that introduces Simon Templar as he is in most of the books that follow, and as neither the cinema nor television has yet had the nerve to portray him: he beats people up, robs them, blackmails them, even murders them, and gets away with it. And the fact that his victims are particularly vicious thugs (Snake Ganning), dope dealers (Edgar Hayn), white slavers (Henri Chastel), war profiteers (Leo Farwill) and so forth - and that he gives a large chunk of his profits to charity - would not excuse him to a strict moralist. The success of the Saint books for seventy years must mean that strict moralists are perhaps not as common as one ought to hope. There are three longish stories; a reference that may be presumed to be to Sir John Bittle (from "Meet The Tiger") dates the first at nine months after the end of that opus. To enumerate plot details would probably be superfluous. Suffice it to say that Charteris was just starting to hit his stride, and that "Enter" introduces two of his best characters: the Saint's friend Roger Conway, and his perpetual adversary, Inspector Claud Eustace Teal. Patricia Holm now lives with the Saint although (daringly for 1930) they aren't married, and Orace is still the stalwart retainer. A fine warm up to its sequel, what is possibly the best of all the Saint stories: The Last Hero (aka "The Saint Closes the Case"). P.S. For a list of -- and discussion of -- all Charteris's Saint books, see my So You'd Like To... Guide.

Meet the Tiger (later retitled "The Saint meets the Tiger") published in 1928, was Leslie Charteris's first book in the Saint Saga (even though Hodder & Stoughton later pretended that "Enter the Saint" was, presumably because they weren't the publishers of the former). Nevertheless, "Enter the Saint" is the book that introduces Simon Templar as he is in most of the books that follow, and as neither the cinema nor television has yet had the nerve to portray him: he beats people up, robs them, blackmails them, even murders them, and gets away with it. And the fact that his victims are particularly vicious thugs (Snake Ganning), dope dealers (Edgar Hayn), white slavers (Henri Chastel), war profiteers (Leo Farwill) and so forth - and that he gives a large chunk of his profits to charity - would not excuse him to a strict moralist. The success of the Saint books for seventy years must mean that strict moralists are perhaps not as common as one ought to hope. There are three longish stories; a reference that may be presumed to be to Sir John Bittle (from "Meet The Tiger") dates the first at nine months after the end of that opus. To enumerate plot details would probably be superfluous. Suffice it to say that Charteris was just starting to hit his stride, and that "Enter" introduces two of his best characters: the Saint's friend Roger Conway, and his perpetual adversary, Inspector Claud Eustace Teal. Patricia Holm now lives with the Saint although (daringly for 1930) they aren't married, and Orace is still the stalwart retainer. A fine warm up to its sequel, what is possibly the best of all the Saint stories: The Last Hero (aka "The Saint Closes the Case"). For a list of -- and discussion of -- all Charteris's Saint books, see my So You'd Like To... Guide.

Meet the Tiger (later retitled "The Saint meets the Tiger") published in 1928, was Leslie Charteris's first book in the Saint Saga (even though Hodder & Stoughton later pretended that "Enter the Saint" was, presumably because they weren't the publishers of the former). Nevertheless, "Enter the Saint" is the book that introduces Simon Templar as he is in most of the books that follow, and as neither the cinema nor television has yet had the nerve to portray him: he beats people up, robs them, blackmails them, even murders them, and gets away with it. And the fact that his victims are particularly vicious thugs (Snake Ganning), dope dealers (Edgar Hayn), white slavers (Henri Chastel), war profiteers (Leo Farwill) and so forth - and that he gives a large chunk of his profits to charity - would not excuse him to a strict moralist. The success of the Saint books for seventy years must mean that strict moralists are perhaps not as common as one ought to hope. There are three longish stories; a reference that may be presumed to be to Sir John Bittle (from "Meet The Tiger") dates the first at nine months after the end of that opus. To enumerate plot details would probably be superfluous. Suffice it to say that Charteris was just starting to hit his stride, and that "Enter" introduces two of his best characters: the Saint's friend Roger Conway, and his perpetual adversary, Inspector Claud Eustace Teal. Patricia Holm now lives with the Saint although (daringly for 1930) they aren't married, and Orace is still the stalwart retainer. A fine warm up to its sequel, what is possibly the best of all the Saint stories: The Last Hero (aka "The Saint Closes the Case"). P.S. for APRICOT of Tokyo: Roger Conway does indeed appear in later instalments, including The Last Hero, Knight Templar (aka "The Avenging Saint"), The Brighter Buccaneer and Saint Overboard. For a list of -- and discussion of -- all Charteris's Saint books, see my So You'd Like To... Guide.

I read a Pocket Book Edition, and it contains three stories; "The Man Who Was Clever", "The Policeman With Wings", "The Lawless Lady".This book is written after "The Last Hero", but it describes the Saint's adventures before "The Last Hero", how he makes his debut as a "Modern Robin Hood". In the foreword, Charteris states that this is the answer to the many people's question how the Saint gains the reputation that he already has in "The Last Hero".The stories are rather simple and not so unique as later stories such as "The Saint and Mr. Teal". But I like them. Few dull parts and highly enjoyable. I particularly love the Saint of this era; youthful, gay and lively. And I also like his amiable and capable sidekick Roger Conway. It's a pity that he doesn't appear on later stories.

(The second of the Saint books, where Simon Templar really began to hit his stride. Charteris in later years didn't care for the first book, Meet the Tiger! very much.)Consists of 2 novellas, "The Man Who Was Clever" and "The Lawless Lady". If you have The Saint: Five Complete Novels, then you already have this book as part of that one.In "The Man Who Was Clever", the Saint takes on Edgar Hayn, a drug dealer who runs some undercover gambling operations in London. "The Lawless Lady" is more the story of Dicky Tremayne, one of the Saint's friends and another wearer of the halo, and his pursuit of Audrey Perowne.Covers the first appearance of Inspector Teal, and the poor man's initial encounters with the Saint, when the Saint was first beginning to make his signature stick-figure drawings the terror of evildoers. In those days, the Saint operated with a team of four other Saints, and made a point of donating 10% of the take from every operation to charity (which helped rub the salt into Teal's wounds by underlining that the Saint had got away with it yet again...)