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The Saint #1
The Saint Meets the Tiger
Dashing adventurer Simon Templar, known as "The Saint," plunges into danger when he arrives in the sleepy village of Baycombe. Mysterious attacks and shocking secrets swirl around the enigmatic Pill Box where he makes his home. With his trusted companion Orace by his side and the beguiling Patricia Holm drawn into the fray, the Saint matches wits against the shadowy Tiger and his ruthless band.
From London to the Devon coast, Templar follows a trail of stolen gold and hidden identities, risking his life at every turn. In a world of deception, can the Saint's peerless bravado and razor-sharp cunning unmask the Tiger and thwart a criminal conspiracy?
Leslie Charteris' classic thriller crackles with wit and high-octane action as it introduces the much-loved character of Simon Templar in his first unforgettable adventure.
From London to the Devon coast, Templar follows a trail of stolen gold and hidden identities, risking his life at every turn. In a world of deception, can the Saint's peerless bravado and razor-sharp cunning unmask the Tiger and thwart a criminal conspiracy?
Leslie Charteris' classic thriller crackles with wit and high-octane action as it introduces the much-loved character of Simon Templar in his first unforgettable adventure.
305 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1928
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1171 people want to read
About the author
Leslie Charteris
585 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 - 30 of 62 reviews
February 9, 2025
If you can, I would recommend getting a copy of this book that contains an introduction that Leslie Charteris wrote in 1980.
Charteris wrote this book as a standalone in 1928 when he was only twenty. I quote;
Three books written by the age of twenty. Mind blown.
Charteris jumps straight into the plot about a smuggling gang, lead by the notorious & unknown Tiger. The Saint sets out to unmask Tiger, basically because he can. The Saint possesses every skill and talent under the sun - you know, the old women want him, men want to be him. Most of the time, the best that the Saint comes off as is smug. His manservant Orace's dialogue is written in the most excruciating manner.
Just about need a translator. And my ebook edition is just full of typos that aren't the fault of the author. (please note that I picked the cover used because I liked it - if you have this cover it will probably be fine.)
In spite of how Charteris handled Orace's speech, everyone else's dialogue flows well and moves the story around. & the love interest Pat is very appealing - no helpless damsel, she!
I knocked half a ★ off because at around the three quarters mark the tale became very wordy & convoluted. But the book was rescued by an
The stage is set - I have another half dozen or so Saint books & I am looking forward to reading them.
Charteris wrote this book as a standalone in 1928 when he was only twenty. I quote;
Looking at it now, with absolute objectivity, I can see so much wrong with it that I am humbly astonished that it got published at all. In extenuation, it was only the third book I'd written, and the best I would say for it is the first two were even worse.
Three books written by the age of twenty. Mind blown.
Charteris jumps straight into the plot about a smuggling gang, lead by the notorious & unknown Tiger. The Saint sets out to unmask Tiger, basically because he can. The Saint possesses every skill and talent under the sun - you know, the old women want him, men want to be him. Most of the time, the best that the Saint comes off as is smug. His manservant Orace's dialogue is written in the most excruciating manner.
"Like a greenorn!" spluttered Orace. "Like a namachoor! Wa did ja expect? An just wotcha deserved- an i 'ope it learns ya!"
Just about need a translator. And my ebook edition is just full of typos that aren't the fault of the author. (please note that I picked the cover used because I liked it - if you have this cover it will probably be fine.)
In spite of how Charteris handled Orace's speech, everyone else's dialogue flows well and moves the story around. & the love interest Pat is very appealing - no helpless damsel, she!
I knocked half a ★ off because at around the three quarters mark the tale became very wordy & convoluted. But the book was rescued by an
The stage is set - I have another half dozen or so Saint books & I am looking forward to reading them.
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August 2, 2018
It's hard to believe that I am finally reading this story. For over 40 years I've been enjoying The Saint stories by Leslie Charteris & had read all of them.....except this one! It's long out of print & secondhand copies are expensive to buy, but I finally found an ebook version.
Charteris was not keen on the story himself, having written it when he was only in his early 20s, so perhaps that is why it is such an elusive publication. The story is set in a quiet Devon village & even the city of Exeter (where I live) gets a mention. It opens with someone trying to kill Simon Templar & snowballs from there. There's plenty of witty dialogue (a feature of all The Saint stories) though there is perhaps a little too much of it at times.
It's nice to see the first appearance of characters like Patricia Holm, Orace & even Templar's trusty knife Anna before they became regulars in the early novels.
Charteris was still finding his way as an author, but the building blocks of his future Saint novels can all be found here. A little editing would have helped to tighten up the story, but it's wonderful to read Simon Templar's earliest adventure at last.
Charteris was not keen on the story himself, having written it when he was only in his early 20s, so perhaps that is why it is such an elusive publication. The story is set in a quiet Devon village & even the city of Exeter (where I live) gets a mention. It opens with someone trying to kill Simon Templar & snowballs from there. There's plenty of witty dialogue (a feature of all The Saint stories) though there is perhaps a little too much of it at times.
It's nice to see the first appearance of characters like Patricia Holm, Orace & even Templar's trusty knife Anna before they became regulars in the early novels.
Charteris was still finding his way as an author, but the building blocks of his future Saint novels can all be found here. A little editing would have helped to tighten up the story, but it's wonderful to read Simon Templar's earliest adventure at last.
November 11, 2019
Loved this book. Considering this book was written over 90 years ago, it is remarkably fresh and not too dated. Obviously there is no technology mentioned, although there may have been a landline mentioned at some point!
The writing is tight, no wasted words quite witty and action packed. Bit of a boys own adventure, we need more books like this. I am looking forward to re reading more of this series. I last read them about 40 years ago and they still make me want to binge read the whole series. Not sure if this means I still haven't grown up!
The writing is tight, no wasted words quite witty and action packed. Bit of a boys own adventure, we need more books like this. I am looking forward to re reading more of this series. I last read them about 40 years ago and they still make me want to binge read the whole series. Not sure if this means I still haven't grown up!
July 6, 2010
Meet The Tiger (later retitled as The Saint Meets The Tiger, but my copy has the original title) is the first story to feature Simon Templar, alias The Saint. From this first entry, it seems clear that Charteris wasn't planning to give the Saint his own series; the novel is a self-contained story that does not set up for a sequel, strongly implying (without giving anything away) that Simon Templar is going to retire and settle down with the girl of his dreams after this last adventure. Little did the author know that the star of what he had intended as a one-shot adventure story would go on to become one of the most popular fictional characters of the 20th century, spawning more than fifty novels, sixteen motion pictures, three television series, radio dramas, magazines, comic books and more.
Perhaps because the characters are new in their wrappers, or because Charteris was still a fairly fresh author, the writing style feels a bit more restrained than what I have come to expect from the Saint series. While the text is unadulterated Charteris -- vintage slang, clever understatement, plenty of references to P.G. Wodehouse -- the author's trademark wit is not as distilled here as in later works, and the fourth wall remains (mostly) intact. Consequently, this entry reads more like a typical crime-adventure novel of the era. It is still quite good, and worth reading (especially for fans of the series), but expect the plot to follow more of a typical detective-story formula rather than the usual hell-for-leather Saint adventure.
Far from being an origin story, Meet The Tiger picks up eight years into the Saint's career, somewhat in medias res in that the adventure of the day has already begun (in contrast to later Saint stories, which often start with Simon catching the first whiff of something interesting and beginning to investigate). Even though he is well established as a career adventurer, the Saint in this book is younger and cleaner than his future self, even to the point of playing nice with the law (unfortunately Claud Eustace Teal missed this stage in Simon's life; Templar's favorite foil, whom Charteris introduced a year later in Daredevil, would not meet the Saint for a few more years). We see him both vulnerable and flustered at times, which is rare in later stories. Most of the trademarks that identify the Saint are also missing in this early incarnation; there is no cream and red Hirondel, no stick-figure with a rakish halo, and the Saint lacks the front-page notoriety and (admittedly Robin Hood-like) criminal reputation he developed later.
This novel also introduces Simon's long-term love interest Patricia Holm, who takes a leading role in the action -- a refreshing change from the typical "stay-in-the-car" heroines of the genre. Pat has always been a strong female character, as compared to most other 1920s glamour girls, but in later stories she is often relegated to sidekick status. It's nice to see her on the front lines with a gun in her hand. Also in the limelight here is Orace, the Saint's faithful valet-cum-bouncer, who in later books is rarely seen outside of the kitchen in Upper Berkeley Mews (if mentioned at all).
Overall, Meet The Tiger is a light and enjoyable read for Saint fans, but it's so different from the rest of the Saint series that I wouldn't recommend it as a reader's first exposure to the character. New Saint converts should read the 1930s- and '40s-vintage books first, and then come back to Meet The Tiger with the mentality of someone looking back at a loved one's childhood photo album: "Aww, Simon was so cute and clueless back when he was 27...."
Perhaps because the characters are new in their wrappers, or because Charteris was still a fairly fresh author, the writing style feels a bit more restrained than what I have come to expect from the Saint series. While the text is unadulterated Charteris -- vintage slang, clever understatement, plenty of references to P.G. Wodehouse -- the author's trademark wit is not as distilled here as in later works, and the fourth wall remains (mostly) intact. Consequently, this entry reads more like a typical crime-adventure novel of the era. It is still quite good, and worth reading (especially for fans of the series), but expect the plot to follow more of a typical detective-story formula rather than the usual hell-for-leather Saint adventure.
Far from being an origin story, Meet The Tiger picks up eight years into the Saint's career, somewhat in medias res in that the adventure of the day has already begun (in contrast to later Saint stories, which often start with Simon catching the first whiff of something interesting and beginning to investigate). Even though he is well established as a career adventurer, the Saint in this book is younger and cleaner than his future self, even to the point of playing nice with the law (unfortunately Claud Eustace Teal missed this stage in Simon's life; Templar's favorite foil, whom Charteris introduced a year later in Daredevil, would not meet the Saint for a few more years). We see him both vulnerable and flustered at times, which is rare in later stories. Most of the trademarks that identify the Saint are also missing in this early incarnation; there is no cream and red Hirondel, no stick-figure with a rakish halo, and the Saint lacks the front-page notoriety and (admittedly Robin Hood-like) criminal reputation he developed later.
This novel also introduces Simon's long-term love interest Patricia Holm, who takes a leading role in the action -- a refreshing change from the typical "stay-in-the-car" heroines of the genre. Pat has always been a strong female character, as compared to most other 1920s glamour girls, but in later stories she is often relegated to sidekick status. It's nice to see her on the front lines with a gun in her hand. Also in the limelight here is Orace, the Saint's faithful valet-cum-bouncer, who in later books is rarely seen outside of the kitchen in Upper Berkeley Mews (if mentioned at all).
Overall, Meet The Tiger is a light and enjoyable read for Saint fans, but it's so different from the rest of the Saint series that I wouldn't recommend it as a reader's first exposure to the character. New Saint converts should read the 1930s- and '40s-vintage books first, and then come back to Meet The Tiger with the mentality of someone looking back at a loved one's childhood photo album: "Aww, Simon was so cute and clueless back when he was 27...."
January 25, 2015
I do like cheese.
Cheese is one of my favourite foods, and at times cheese in book form is just what I want. In the foreword to the reissue of this first Saint novel, Charteris himself admits that it is startlingly bad, in the so-bad-it's-good sense. First published in 1928, there is a definite 1920s feel to it; imagine if Lord Peter Wimsey wrote pulp fiction to while away the hours between cases. Simon Templar chatters away to himself in Wimsey's best silly-ass way, and of course Our Hero is indestructible, infallible, and incredible. I shouldn't be surprised if he could leap tall buildings in a single bound.
The last thing you can do is to try to take a book of this type seriously--though it amused me no end when Charteris spoke rather scathingly of the 007 novels as "parodies". If that's what they are, is the Saint Saga serious? Hardly that. Predictable, certainly. I'd got the red herrings, such as they are, taped within a few moments of sniffing them. But there's a certain enjoyment to be had in suspending disbelief so high that it waves in every passing breeze, and just letting the nonsense wash over you. The story is told in grammatically correct English, which helps--barring the transliterated "Cockney" spoutings of 'Orace, which could become annoying if he were not fortunately a rather quiet sort of bloke.
Charteris (an interesting character in his own right) wrote Saint novels and stories until about 1968, by which time it had become a "franchise" with TV series, films etc and was taken over by other authors. It would be interesting to see if Templar aged well.
December 25, 2015
Originally published on my blog here in May 2003.
Before changing publishers to Hodder and Stoughton, a move which coincided with his writing career suddenly taking off, Leslie Charteris wrote about half a dozen thrillers for Ward, Lock & Co. Meet the Tiger is one of these, and is a Saint book, written three or four years before the novel which Hodder designated as the first in that long series, Enter the Saint. It's gone on to be comparatively forgotten ever since, with fewer reprints making it harder to track down. (I've been collecting Leslie Charteris for about twenty years, and this was the first copy I'd ever seen.)
Meet the Tiger derives much of its character from the juxtaposition of two widely separate worlds: the Chicago gangster culture and a sleepy, tiny Devon fishing village (these were the days before mass car ownership brought tourism to such picturesque settings). The Saint has come to Baynscombe on the trail of a massive hoard of stolen bullion, but has to work out which of the village characters are members of the Tiger's gang (known as the Cubs) and, most importantly, who is the Tiger himself. The situation is complicated by his first meeting with Patricia Holm, destined to be a part of many of the novels which eventually followed.
The most interesting question any Saint fan has about Meet the Tiger is how the series characters in their earliest manifestation match up with their later versions. (As well as Simon Templar and Patricia Holm, Meet the Tiger also introduces the Saint's manservant, Orace.) In fact, there is not all that much difference; the facetiae are not quite as polished and lighthearted, and it would be odd to describe the later Saint as "inexperienced with women". Orace is given a big part, in contrast to the way that he later fades into the background as other sidekicks come along. Patricia is much the same, the beautiful young woman who is nearly as competent an adventurer as Simon; it is nice to read the story of their original meeting at last.
It is in the plotting that Charteris shows his inexperience, a flaw which Meet the Tiger shares with the other pre-Hodder books that I have read. Like many thirties thriller writers, Charteris consistently shows a liking for the fantastic - incredible disguises, villains leading double lives as respectable citizens, and so on. Later on, he can make it seem believable (The Saint in New York being an outstanding example), but here the creakiness of the plot is quite clear. Enter The SaintThe Saint In New York
Before changing publishers to Hodder and Stoughton, a move which coincided with his writing career suddenly taking off, Leslie Charteris wrote about half a dozen thrillers for Ward, Lock & Co. Meet the Tiger is one of these, and is a Saint book, written three or four years before the novel which Hodder designated as the first in that long series, Enter the Saint. It's gone on to be comparatively forgotten ever since, with fewer reprints making it harder to track down. (I've been collecting Leslie Charteris for about twenty years, and this was the first copy I'd ever seen.)
Meet the Tiger derives much of its character from the juxtaposition of two widely separate worlds: the Chicago gangster culture and a sleepy, tiny Devon fishing village (these were the days before mass car ownership brought tourism to such picturesque settings). The Saint has come to Baynscombe on the trail of a massive hoard of stolen bullion, but has to work out which of the village characters are members of the Tiger's gang (known as the Cubs) and, most importantly, who is the Tiger himself. The situation is complicated by his first meeting with Patricia Holm, destined to be a part of many of the novels which eventually followed.
The most interesting question any Saint fan has about Meet the Tiger is how the series characters in their earliest manifestation match up with their later versions. (As well as Simon Templar and Patricia Holm, Meet the Tiger also introduces the Saint's manservant, Orace.) In fact, there is not all that much difference; the facetiae are not quite as polished and lighthearted, and it would be odd to describe the later Saint as "inexperienced with women". Orace is given a big part, in contrast to the way that he later fades into the background as other sidekicks come along. Patricia is much the same, the beautiful young woman who is nearly as competent an adventurer as Simon; it is nice to read the story of their original meeting at last.
It is in the plotting that Charteris shows his inexperience, a flaw which Meet the Tiger shares with the other pre-Hodder books that I have read. Like many thirties thriller writers, Charteris consistently shows a liking for the fantastic - incredible disguises, villains leading double lives as respectable citizens, and so on. Later on, he can make it seem believable (The Saint in New York being an outstanding example), but here the creakiness of the plot is quite clear. Enter The SaintThe Saint In New York
April 4, 2018
This is a superb, atmospheric thriller set in an isolated English fishing village in the late 1920's. And I loved it!
It's not a "whodunit", the 'who' is known - The Tiger. The question is "whoisit", who is the Tiger? There are plenty of suspects, a retired Judge, a doctor with odd hobbies, a couple of wealthy business men and Patricia Holm's rather mysterious Aunt?
It's Charteris' third novel and his writing has improved so much since X Esquire, there are some genuinely gripping scenes in this book, the discription of the Saint's tumble into an old well is utterly breathtaking. Charteris himself didn't like the book, pointing out that its only good quality was that it was better than the previous two. He rarely allowed it to be reprinted and has been out of print since 1980. But I loved it.
We are introduced to a 27 year old Simon Templer, who already has made his mark in the world, Orace his dependable and faithful butler/batman and the love of Simon's life Patricia Holm. It's Patricia Holm who really shines in this novel in a way that she doesn't necessarily do in the later books. She is strong willed, resourceful, plucky and utterly charming in the face of many dangers, toils and snares!
The Saint is my favourite character in all fiction and here we see the birth of his daring, witty greatness!
It's not a "whodunit", the 'who' is known - The Tiger. The question is "whoisit", who is the Tiger? There are plenty of suspects, a retired Judge, a doctor with odd hobbies, a couple of wealthy business men and Patricia Holm's rather mysterious Aunt?
It's Charteris' third novel and his writing has improved so much since X Esquire, there are some genuinely gripping scenes in this book, the discription of the Saint's tumble into an old well is utterly breathtaking. Charteris himself didn't like the book, pointing out that its only good quality was that it was better than the previous two. He rarely allowed it to be reprinted and has been out of print since 1980. But I loved it.
We are introduced to a 27 year old Simon Templer, who already has made his mark in the world, Orace his dependable and faithful butler/batman and the love of Simon's life Patricia Holm. It's Patricia Holm who really shines in this novel in a way that she doesn't necessarily do in the later books. She is strong willed, resourceful, plucky and utterly charming in the face of many dangers, toils and snares!
The Saint is my favourite character in all fiction and here we see the birth of his daring, witty greatness!
March 7, 2010
Charteris sometimes pretended he did not write this, his first book about Simon Templer, also called The Saint. He regarded it as prentice work unworthy of his later books, and so it is. It offers some interest as just that, however, the embryo of the character and world he would later develop. MEET THE TIGER was written as a one-off, no sequel intended, so Templer sails away with the girl planning matrimony. She becomes a regular character for the next several years, and the book in other ways also sets up what Charteris will develop, or sometimes ignore and remake. There is some very lumpy writing here, and Charteris was justly embarrassed by it. There are also some wonderful and vivid passages of the pulpy, almost BLACK MASK like writing that would distinguish books such as the much superior THE SAINT IN NEW YORK. If you are looking for a good mystery or adventure story, keep looking. If you are interested in how Charteris created The Saint, the book is rewarding for that and the best passages in it.
April 30, 2015
Review of the Saint series:
IF you are a fan of old-fashioned British mysteries AND comedies, The Saint is for you. The wise-cracking super-thief with semi-R0bin Hood ethics will keep you chuckling. I couldn't put my finger on why I liked it so much it until I heard a reviewer say that the author Leslie Charteris most resembled was P.G. Wodehouse! Exactly!
The first handful of books rate a solid 5 stars. After that, they go down to 4 until about #20; then down to 3. (Some of them are likely to have been written at least in part by someone else.) By the time World War II broke out, the anti-Nazi theme gets a little stale.
The audiobooks narrated by John Teller are delightful. One caveat: he does have some problems with pronunciation and accents once The Saint moves to the U.S. I laughed out loud when I heard about "coe-yotes" on the "mee-sa" -- long o, long e.
IF you are a fan of old-fashioned British mysteries AND comedies, The Saint is for you. The wise-cracking super-thief with semi-R0bin Hood ethics will keep you chuckling. I couldn't put my finger on why I liked it so much it until I heard a reviewer say that the author Leslie Charteris most resembled was P.G. Wodehouse! Exactly!
The first handful of books rate a solid 5 stars. After that, they go down to 4 until about #20; then down to 3. (Some of them are likely to have been written at least in part by someone else.) By the time World War II broke out, the anti-Nazi theme gets a little stale.
The audiobooks narrated by John Teller are delightful. One caveat: he does have some problems with pronunciation and accents once The Saint moves to the U.S. I laughed out loud when I heard about "coe-yotes" on the "mee-sa" -- long o, long e.
August 17, 2022
The TL;DR - For fans of the 1960's Saint TV show, the Saint Meets the Tiger may be a rough transition back into the original works, due to inconsistencies in portrayal between the show and the book. But if you're willing to set-aside your preconceptions of how the Saint sounds and acts, at least initially, you'll find a charming little seaside adventure with a modern day Robin Hood sticking it to some pleasantly-unpleasant characters in a set piece very much rooted in the 1920's.
Detailed CAWPILE review below:
🔸 Characters🔸
In The Saint Meets the Tiger there are two main protagonists; Simon Templar (the eponymous Saint) and Patricia Holm. If coming from the Saint tv show, the differences in Templar's character may be slightly jarring, as this is a much rougher character, not fully formed. Charteris comments on this himself in later writings, that this really was Templar in his infancy. And while he isn't representative of what the character will become, he still sets the basic framework of a modern day Robin Hood, albeit one that talks nearly constant nonsense almost like the Doctor would in Dr. Who, covering for flashes of dangerous competency.
Surprisingly for his first appearance in print, Templar himself gives up quite a bit of stage time to Miss Holm, who acts as the viewer's surrogate being thrust into his world of gentleman's adventure. Where Templar is the old hand at his brand of knavery, Holm is the naturally talented newcomer, who still makes some rookie mistakes that nearly gets her killed. This adds to her believability, even if her eagerness to get stuck in with Templar is surprising (and delightfully progressive) for the time period.
The main antagonist, the Tiger, doesn't officially make their appearance until the last few pages, acting more as a chess master moving pieces around to counter the Saint's moves from behind a curtain. Unfortunately, their time in the spotlight is brief, and their exit unworthy of the pomp and circumstance leading up to it.
The true villains of the piece are the Tiger's lieutenants, who I won't name as it does take a little while before we are made sure that they are, in fact, the villains, and despite it being a nearly 100 year old story, I don't want to spoil. There are two, with one playing the 'leader' in the Tiger's absence, and having the most overt menace. Both are thieves playing at being gentlemen, vs gentlemen playing at thieves. They're both, frankly, fun, because while they are outmatched in the 'game' Templar is playing, they're more than capable of scoring points against him in his arrogance.
For supporting characters, we have a couple that stand out in Dr. Carn and Orace, as well as a few bit players who are little more than set dressing.
All and all though, the cast is excellent.
8/10
🔹Atmosphere/Setting🔹
Imagine filling a room with con-artists, who know all the other people in the room are con-artists, and then sitting back to watch them try to con one another out of each other's ill-gotten gains.
This is the overarching 'feel' of the book, where just about everyone is in on the joke, but they're still playing their roles with gusto because that's how the game is played. In a modern sense, it reminds me somewhat of Orlais in the Dragon Age franchise - everyone's a spy trying to undo everyone else, but you'd be considered crude and uncouth to do so openly.
The story very much plays out lightly, and while our heroes do end up in mortal danger from time to time, the blitheness with which they face their death grants levity to nearly every scene, at the cost of reducing the feelings of actual mortal danger.
This is held-out by the setting itself; a picturesque little hamlet by the sea, described as utterly boring and causing Templar to enter into routine within 3 days of arriving. It's just the sort of place the English gentry would nip down to for a weekend, or retire looking for peace and quiet where nothing much of substance happens. And this same feeling of a weekend adventure carries throughout the book.
9/10
🔸 Writing Style🔸
The writing style shows its age - it is very much a product of the roaring twenties, with a great deal of period slang that I had to look up and confirm that I did understand what I was reading. Because of this, it didn't flow as well as a modern offering would to my mind. Additionally, Charteris slips into a fair bit of telling us that X character, "Could see that Y character was deadly serious" or "was absolutely certain that Y character meant what they said" and so on.
Telling, not showing. It doesn't ruin the experience, but it does pull you back from immersing yourself fully in it.
Dialogue is a mixed bag - in keeping with the atmosphere, I'd say 80% of it sounds much the same way the prose does; like an English gentleman is relating a story over tea. Polite by our standards, even when in-story someone is being rude or attempting to be menacing. It helps to set the atmosphere and is largely consistent.
Of the remainder, I'm splitting it between "Saint Babble" and "Orace". When the Saint is trying to confound someone, he tends to slip into repeat colloquialism, or talking about things separate to the point of the scene. I understand it's within his character to misdirect, but at some point you do just wish he'd get serious. And eventually he does... but it takes a while. And Orace... dear lord... Charteris chose to give his speech (and that of the other sailors) a phonetic spelling, making it a chore to slog through when he opened his mouth.
Despite these small quibbles, I powered through the book in no time, so they are definitely quibbles and should not be taken as a reason to avoid the book.
6/10
🔹 Plot 🔹
It's very much a 'Robin Hood' story for a weekend's adventure. Simon Templar has come to steal from some very bad men, in part for the money, mostly for the thrill, and also possibly for the girl who catches his eye almost immediately.
While the core plot itself follows most whodunit conventions (as, even on a re-read, I'd say I was into the last 50 pages before I realized who the Tiger really was), the advertised hunt for the Tiger is really secondary to the attempted theft of the Tiger's ill gotten gains.
Where things are different is in how the Saint goes about his campaign, boldly stating his intentions to the enemy and daring them to stop him. And you can tell that all throughout, no one really knows what to do with him. So it lends fresh perspective on the classical story.
I mentioned it before, but the only real issue I have with the tale is that it doesn't do the Tiger service in the end. A villain on par with Simon Templar should've had a better climax.
8/10
🔸 Intrigue🔸
As noted before, even though I've read this before (20 yrs ago) I had completely forgotten the identity of the Tiger. So it was a pleasure to spend the story guessing who it might be all over again, and there were just enough clues leaked to give me an idea who they might be just before the reveal, but not before that.
I did find, however, that despite taking 305 pages to tell the story, much of that was sparring with dialogue between the different parties, and less was spent on actually solving the problem of the treasure to be stolen/absconded with. So while there were obstacles in our heroes' paths, the investigation itself was very short and direct.
The intro was fantastically paced, as was the end, but I did find the middle bit (coinciding largely with the temporary disappearance of Templar from the narrative) sagged a bit.
7/10
🔹 Logic / Relationships🔹
Just shoot him already!
Several times in the book the enemy has Templar to their mercy, but for some bizarre reason decide not to remove him. Usually, it's because of Patricia (who most of the enemy want to marry, for some strange reason - never mind that she wants nothing to do with them), but it's very odd how hesitant they are to pull the trigger. Which, inevitably leads to their difficulties with Templar.
Additionally, there are a few unrealistic deus ex machina moments that result in strangely good fortune for the protagonists, by which their plot would've failed utterly but for that fortune. Towards the end there are some characters who show up abruptly to tie up the story, despite having been more-or-less stranded previously. And the story glosses over how they got themselves a boat and were able to catch up for the finale.
I find, looking back, that for things to have worked out for Templar and gang we have to handwave a lot of minor inconsistencies and agree to accept that this is just how it all happened.
5/10
🔸 Enjoyment🔸
Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed revisiting the first of the Saint's adventures. It didn't really 'feel' as polished as an episode of the show, but it didn't have to, because this was an early tale in the Saint's history. For the two days it lasted, it was a fun romp.
Physically, it was an easy read; this copy is a standard pocket-book. Print was large enough I didn't struggle with the words on the page. My specific copy was bought used, and the previous owner had absolutely wracked the spine; thankfully no pages were falling out, though the corners of the cover have started to wear away into rounded edges. Still physically quite enjoyable to hold in one hand while sipping a drink in the other.
9/10
Detailed CAWPILE review below:
🔸 Characters🔸
In The Saint Meets the Tiger there are two main protagonists; Simon Templar (the eponymous Saint) and Patricia Holm. If coming from the Saint tv show, the differences in Templar's character may be slightly jarring, as this is a much rougher character, not fully formed. Charteris comments on this himself in later writings, that this really was Templar in his infancy. And while he isn't representative of what the character will become, he still sets the basic framework of a modern day Robin Hood, albeit one that talks nearly constant nonsense almost like the Doctor would in Dr. Who, covering for flashes of dangerous competency.
Surprisingly for his first appearance in print, Templar himself gives up quite a bit of stage time to Miss Holm, who acts as the viewer's surrogate being thrust into his world of gentleman's adventure. Where Templar is the old hand at his brand of knavery, Holm is the naturally talented newcomer, who still makes some rookie mistakes that nearly gets her killed. This adds to her believability, even if her eagerness to get stuck in with Templar is surprising (and delightfully progressive) for the time period.
The main antagonist, the Tiger, doesn't officially make their appearance until the last few pages, acting more as a chess master moving pieces around to counter the Saint's moves from behind a curtain. Unfortunately, their time in the spotlight is brief, and their exit unworthy of the pomp and circumstance leading up to it.
The true villains of the piece are the Tiger's lieutenants, who I won't name as it does take a little while before we are made sure that they are, in fact, the villains, and despite it being a nearly 100 year old story, I don't want to spoil. There are two, with one playing the 'leader' in the Tiger's absence, and having the most overt menace. Both are thieves playing at being gentlemen, vs gentlemen playing at thieves. They're both, frankly, fun, because while they are outmatched in the 'game' Templar is playing, they're more than capable of scoring points against him in his arrogance.
For supporting characters, we have a couple that stand out in Dr. Carn and Orace, as well as a few bit players who are little more than set dressing.
All and all though, the cast is excellent.
8/10
🔹Atmosphere/Setting🔹
Imagine filling a room with con-artists, who know all the other people in the room are con-artists, and then sitting back to watch them try to con one another out of each other's ill-gotten gains.
This is the overarching 'feel' of the book, where just about everyone is in on the joke, but they're still playing their roles with gusto because that's how the game is played. In a modern sense, it reminds me somewhat of Orlais in the Dragon Age franchise - everyone's a spy trying to undo everyone else, but you'd be considered crude and uncouth to do so openly.
The story very much plays out lightly, and while our heroes do end up in mortal danger from time to time, the blitheness with which they face their death grants levity to nearly every scene, at the cost of reducing the feelings of actual mortal danger.
This is held-out by the setting itself; a picturesque little hamlet by the sea, described as utterly boring and causing Templar to enter into routine within 3 days of arriving. It's just the sort of place the English gentry would nip down to for a weekend, or retire looking for peace and quiet where nothing much of substance happens. And this same feeling of a weekend adventure carries throughout the book.
9/10
🔸 Writing Style🔸
The writing style shows its age - it is very much a product of the roaring twenties, with a great deal of period slang that I had to look up and confirm that I did understand what I was reading. Because of this, it didn't flow as well as a modern offering would to my mind. Additionally, Charteris slips into a fair bit of telling us that X character, "Could see that Y character was deadly serious" or "was absolutely certain that Y character meant what they said" and so on.
Telling, not showing. It doesn't ruin the experience, but it does pull you back from immersing yourself fully in it.
Dialogue is a mixed bag - in keeping with the atmosphere, I'd say 80% of it sounds much the same way the prose does; like an English gentleman is relating a story over tea. Polite by our standards, even when in-story someone is being rude or attempting to be menacing. It helps to set the atmosphere and is largely consistent.
Of the remainder, I'm splitting it between "Saint Babble" and "Orace". When the Saint is trying to confound someone, he tends to slip into repeat colloquialism, or talking about things separate to the point of the scene. I understand it's within his character to misdirect, but at some point you do just wish he'd get serious. And eventually he does... but it takes a while. And Orace... dear lord... Charteris chose to give his speech (and that of the other sailors) a phonetic spelling, making it a chore to slog through when he opened his mouth.
Despite these small quibbles, I powered through the book in no time, so they are definitely quibbles and should not be taken as a reason to avoid the book.
6/10
🔹 Plot 🔹
It's very much a 'Robin Hood' story for a weekend's adventure. Simon Templar has come to steal from some very bad men, in part for the money, mostly for the thrill, and also possibly for the girl who catches his eye almost immediately.
While the core plot itself follows most whodunit conventions (as, even on a re-read, I'd say I was into the last 50 pages before I realized who the Tiger really was), the advertised hunt for the Tiger is really secondary to the attempted theft of the Tiger's ill gotten gains.
Where things are different is in how the Saint goes about his campaign, boldly stating his intentions to the enemy and daring them to stop him. And you can tell that all throughout, no one really knows what to do with him. So it lends fresh perspective on the classical story.
I mentioned it before, but the only real issue I have with the tale is that it doesn't do the Tiger service in the end. A villain on par with Simon Templar should've had a better climax.
8/10
🔸 Intrigue🔸
As noted before, even though I've read this before (20 yrs ago) I had completely forgotten the identity of the Tiger. So it was a pleasure to spend the story guessing who it might be all over again, and there were just enough clues leaked to give me an idea who they might be just before the reveal, but not before that.
I did find, however, that despite taking 305 pages to tell the story, much of that was sparring with dialogue between the different parties, and less was spent on actually solving the problem of the treasure to be stolen/absconded with. So while there were obstacles in our heroes' paths, the investigation itself was very short and direct.
The intro was fantastically paced, as was the end, but I did find the middle bit (coinciding largely with the temporary disappearance of Templar from the narrative) sagged a bit.
7/10
🔹 Logic / Relationships🔹
Just shoot him already!
Several times in the book the enemy has Templar to their mercy, but for some bizarre reason decide not to remove him. Usually, it's because of Patricia (who most of the enemy want to marry, for some strange reason - never mind that she wants nothing to do with them), but it's very odd how hesitant they are to pull the trigger. Which, inevitably leads to their difficulties with Templar.
Additionally, there are a few unrealistic deus ex machina moments that result in strangely good fortune for the protagonists, by which their plot would've failed utterly but for that fortune. Towards the end there are some characters who show up abruptly to tie up the story, despite having been more-or-less stranded previously. And the story glosses over how they got themselves a boat and were able to catch up for the finale.
I find, looking back, that for things to have worked out for Templar and gang we have to handwave a lot of minor inconsistencies and agree to accept that this is just how it all happened.
5/10
🔸 Enjoyment🔸
Despite its flaws, I still enjoyed revisiting the first of the Saint's adventures. It didn't really 'feel' as polished as an episode of the show, but it didn't have to, because this was an early tale in the Saint's history. For the two days it lasted, it was a fun romp.
Physically, it was an easy read; this copy is a standard pocket-book. Print was large enough I didn't struggle with the words on the page. My specific copy was bought used, and the previous owner had absolutely wracked the spine; thankfully no pages were falling out, though the corners of the cover have started to wear away into rounded edges. Still physically quite enjoyable to hold in one hand while sipping a drink in the other.
9/10
August 4, 2018
ENGLISH: A simple plot, described in a somewhat naive way. I had no problem to deduce the identity of the Tiger. Interesting, I did not know that the protagonist was called The Saint because of his initials: Simon Templar (ST).
ESPAÑOL: Trama bastante sencilla, enfocada de manera algo ingenua. No me costó mucho trabajo deducir la identidad del Tigre. Es curioso, no sabía que al protagonista le llamaban El Santo por sus iniciales (Simon Templar) que en inglés significan Santo (ST).
ESPAÑOL: Trama bastante sencilla, enfocada de manera algo ingenua. No me costó mucho trabajo deducir la identidad del Tigre. Es curioso, no sabía que al protagonista le llamaban El Santo por sus iniciales (Simon Templar) que en inglés significan Santo (ST).
July 9, 2024
It's quite tricky to get hold of this first volume in The Saint series as Charteris disowned it, but I felt he was being harsh on his younger self. The Saint is a little more Bertie Wooster than Roger Moore, the plot is less hardboiled and more Agatha Christie, but we get a bit of backstory on Simon, butler Orace, sidekick Patricia Holm and a policeman who isn't quite Mr Teal, and the plot had me firmly gripped, as the actress said to the Bishop (yes, he does that joke twice!).
December 23, 2021
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).
It’s a useful (though not infallible) rule of thumb that if a book doesn’t hook you by the end of the first page, it��s not going to. Here are the first two paragraphs of Meet The Tiger:
‘Baycombe is a village on the North of Devon coast that is so isolated from civilisation that even at the height of the summer holiday season it is neglected by the rush of lean and plump, tall and short, papas, mammas, and infants. Consequently, there was some sort of excuse for a man who had taken up his dwelling there falling into the monotony of regular habits — even for a man who had only lived there for three days — even (let the worst be known) for a man so unconventional as Simon Templar.
‘It was not so very long after Simon Templar had settled down in Baycombe that the peacefully sedate village became most unsettled, and things began to happen there that shocked and flabbergasted its peacefully sedate inhabitants, as will be related; but at first Simon Templar found Baycombe as dull as it had been for the last six hundred years.’
Not the greatest opening Leslie Charteris ever wrote — he was to become pretty skillful later — but quite respectable for a young man of 21 in only his third book. The character so introduced, of course, was to become the longest-running fictional hero of the 20th century.
Even at this early stage, the Saint (plausibly from his initials — but you knew that) is a more well-developed, more travelled and certainly more eccentric character than his near-contemporary, Bulldog Drummond. There are few of the wilder parts of the world which he has not visited, and few of those in which he has not had adventures. He has won a gold rush in South Africa, and lost his holding in a poker game twenty-four hours later. He has run guns into China, whisky into the United States and perfume into England. He deserted after a year in the Spanish Foreign Legion (Drummond would have been horrified at the idea of joining, let alone deserting).
Likewise Patricia Holm, the Saint’s companion in so many later adventures, is a much more interesting heroine than boring little Phyllis Drummond, who exists only to be threatened and rescued — someone whom the swine have got, or might get, and nothing more.
The elements of the plot are pretty much the standard stuff of the day: a debonair hero for the reader to identify with; a million dollars in gold stolen from a Chicago bank by a mysterious mastermind known as The Tiger; a gang of ruthless criminals; and of course a damsel in distress. What separates this from the majority of such efforts is the way Charteris plays with these elements — tongue clearly in cheek, in places — and weaves a story that carries you along from first to last. Some of the characters (Algy, for instance, or Aunt Agatha) are so skillfully drawn that you feel you’d recognise them if they walked into your local pub.
Other characters that recur later include Simon’s faithful manservant Orace, and — briefly, in Knight Templar — Detective Inspector Carn.
From what I can make out, Meet The Tiger is very difficult to get hold of; but if you want to read the Saint books it’s worth making the effort. They’re definitely best if read in the right order.
It’s a useful (though not infallible) rule of thumb that if a book doesn’t hook you by the end of the first page, it��s not going to. Here are the first two paragraphs of Meet The Tiger:
‘Baycombe is a village on the North of Devon coast that is so isolated from civilisation that even at the height of the summer holiday season it is neglected by the rush of lean and plump, tall and short, papas, mammas, and infants. Consequently, there was some sort of excuse for a man who had taken up his dwelling there falling into the monotony of regular habits — even for a man who had only lived there for three days — even (let the worst be known) for a man so unconventional as Simon Templar.
‘It was not so very long after Simon Templar had settled down in Baycombe that the peacefully sedate village became most unsettled, and things began to happen there that shocked and flabbergasted its peacefully sedate inhabitants, as will be related; but at first Simon Templar found Baycombe as dull as it had been for the last six hundred years.’
Not the greatest opening Leslie Charteris ever wrote — he was to become pretty skillful later — but quite respectable for a young man of 21 in only his third book. The character so introduced, of course, was to become the longest-running fictional hero of the 20th century.
Even at this early stage, the Saint (plausibly from his initials — but you knew that) is a more well-developed, more travelled and certainly more eccentric character than his near-contemporary, Bulldog Drummond. There are few of the wilder parts of the world which he has not visited, and few of those in which he has not had adventures. He has won a gold rush in South Africa, and lost his holding in a poker game twenty-four hours later. He has run guns into China, whisky into the United States and perfume into England. He deserted after a year in the Spanish Foreign Legion (Drummond would have been horrified at the idea of joining, let alone deserting).
Likewise Patricia Holm, the Saint’s companion in so many later adventures, is a much more interesting heroine than boring little Phyllis Drummond, who exists only to be threatened and rescued — someone whom the swine have got, or might get, and nothing more.
The elements of the plot are pretty much the standard stuff of the day: a debonair hero for the reader to identify with; a million dollars in gold stolen from a Chicago bank by a mysterious mastermind known as The Tiger; a gang of ruthless criminals; and of course a damsel in distress. What separates this from the majority of such efforts is the way Charteris plays with these elements — tongue clearly in cheek, in places — and weaves a story that carries you along from first to last. Some of the characters (Algy, for instance, or Aunt Agatha) are so skillfully drawn that you feel you’d recognise them if they walked into your local pub.
Other characters that recur later include Simon’s faithful manservant Orace, and — briefly, in Knight Templar — Detective Inspector Carn.
From what I can make out, Meet The Tiger is very difficult to get hold of; but if you want to read the Saint books it’s worth making the effort. They’re definitely best if read in the right order.
October 28, 2016
When I decided I wanted to read some of the original Saint stories by Leslie Charteris, I figured I'd start with the first. Maybe that was a bad idea. The edition that I have contains an introduction written by Charteris, and he somewhat disavows the story, stating that it was only his third novel, and he had not planned for it to be the first in a series. He goes on to say that it had been out of print for a number of years before this release, and was almost happy to have it stay that way.
This is not the Simon Templar I know from the George Saunders films or the Vincent Price radio show (I never really watched the TV series.) That character was more like a dilettante detective in the Falcon/Philo Vance/Nick Charles mold, where the character in this novel seems to me more of a gentleman adventurer such as Bulldog Drummond or Phileas Fogg. Once I got past those differences, I enjoyed the book. There was an interesting cast of characters, which is good because the Saint disappears from the center section of the book, and the plot continues nicely without him.
Some readers might be put off by the 1920s English style that the book is written in, and maybe even more by the heavy cockney dialect spoken by one of the characters, but it kept me interested, and kept me guessing until the end. I'm looking forward to reading more Saint stories.
This is not the Simon Templar I know from the George Saunders films or the Vincent Price radio show (I never really watched the TV series.) That character was more like a dilettante detective in the Falcon/Philo Vance/Nick Charles mold, where the character in this novel seems to me more of a gentleman adventurer such as Bulldog Drummond or Phileas Fogg. Once I got past those differences, I enjoyed the book. There was an interesting cast of characters, which is good because the Saint disappears from the center section of the book, and the plot continues nicely without him.
Some readers might be put off by the 1920s English style that the book is written in, and maybe even more by the heavy cockney dialect spoken by one of the characters, but it kept me interested, and kept me guessing until the end. I'm looking forward to reading more Saint stories.
November 10, 2017
The version I read was called “Meet—The Tiger!” which I like better. The saint is more Raffles than Hercule Poirot with the focus more on derring-do and witticisms than mystery. The central mystery —Who is the ‘Tiger’?—feels underdeveloped as you only barely get to meet the cast of characters. The book gets better as it goes on and The Saint and his female partner Patricia are fun characters. It’s especially refreshing to read a female character 1929 who is written as an equal to her male counterpart.
July 17, 2019
I read this when I was twelve or thirteen, back in the early 1980's. It still reminds me of the pilot movies for TV shows. The pilot movies were often different then the actual series. This is one of those types of books where the author seemed unsure of how successful the character would be after the first entry. I still think it was a great introduction to the character.
October 13, 2012
This is the definitive 'ripping yarn. ' I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the next Saint book.
April 13, 2013
Great. I have a first edition and it was worth every penny!
June 2, 2024
A classic pulp novel, written when the author was only 20.
Simon Templar, The Saint (so called from his initials, ST), is basically a D&D rogue - probably a Swashbuckler Rogue - with a very high Charisma score and a Chaotic Good alignment. He's not exactly a criminal and not exactly not a criminal; he's an adventurer who foils criminals when he can, especially if it helps the innocent, but isn't particular about doing so strictly legally. He's extremely capable at every relevant skill, such as stealth, checking for traps, lock-picking, acrobatics, and using his daggers (he doesn't like guns). That's not to say he always succeeds at everything, though; he has some tough times and some close shaves.
As a child, I watched reruns of the 1960s TV show based on the character, set in the then-present day, with Roger Moore in the lead role. I remember being puzzled that the woman he'd ended up kissing at the end of one episode was nowhere to be seen in the next episode, and there was now a new woman he was chasing. (Even as a pre-teen, monogamy made more sense to me.) This being the case, I wondered how this book was going to deal with his expressed intention to marry the love interest, a Plucky Gel named Pat, who, to the author's credit, is not a passive Damsel in Distress or a distraction from the progress of the plot, but a capable character in her own right with a stake in the outcome, who actually takes over the plot partway through and carries it forward. Would she be killed? Disillusioned? Abandoned by the Saint for her own protection? Simply dropped by the author and not mentioned again?
The author later said of this book that all he could see in it were its flaws, and it does have some; the author's hand is highly visible at times, helping the protagonist avoid disaster and making sure various people are in the right places at the right times, and the ending includes a few elements which are highly unlikely if you think about them much at all. Still, it's a thumping good pulp thriller if you're willing to suspend quite a bit of disbelief and just go with the action, and plenty of popular action movies make less sense (and give their female leads, if any, a lot less agency).
Simon Templar, The Saint (so called from his initials, ST), is basically a D&D rogue - probably a Swashbuckler Rogue - with a very high Charisma score and a Chaotic Good alignment. He's not exactly a criminal and not exactly not a criminal; he's an adventurer who foils criminals when he can, especially if it helps the innocent, but isn't particular about doing so strictly legally. He's extremely capable at every relevant skill, such as stealth, checking for traps, lock-picking, acrobatics, and using his daggers (he doesn't like guns). That's not to say he always succeeds at everything, though; he has some tough times and some close shaves.
As a child, I watched reruns of the 1960s TV show based on the character, set in the then-present day, with Roger Moore in the lead role. I remember being puzzled that the woman he'd ended up kissing at the end of one episode was nowhere to be seen in the next episode, and there was now a new woman he was chasing. (Even as a pre-teen, monogamy made more sense to me.) This being the case, I wondered how this book was going to deal with his expressed intention to marry the love interest, a Plucky Gel named Pat, who, to the author's credit, is not a passive Damsel in Distress or a distraction from the progress of the plot, but a capable character in her own right with a stake in the outcome, who actually takes over the plot partway through and carries it forward. Would she be killed? Disillusioned? Abandoned by the Saint for her own protection? Simply dropped by the author and not mentioned again?
The author later said of this book that all he could see in it were its flaws, and it does have some; the author's hand is highly visible at times, helping the protagonist avoid disaster and making sure various people are in the right places at the right times, and the ending includes a few elements which are highly unlikely if you think about them much at all. Still, it's a thumping good pulp thriller if you're willing to suspend quite a bit of disbelief and just go with the action, and plenty of popular action movies make less sense (and give their female leads, if any, a lot less agency).
March 1, 2019
The introduction to another long series of books, radio and film, this story was disavowed by the author. Only his third novel, the introduction for a 1980 reprint states "I can see so much wrong with it that I am humbly astonished that it got published at all". While rough at times, it was a decent thriller, and contains passages that really shine.
Simon Templar in this novel is more a dilettante than the Robin Hood character he would become. Established in a small seaside English village, he is there to root out the Tiger, a gang leader who stole a large sum of gold in Chicago - then return that gold for a 20% reward. In this story, we don't know who the Tiger is - and neither does Simon. This town has a large cast of characters with an interest in this business.
These characters are also hit and miss, some pure caricature. One is a direct nod to the writing of contemporary Wodehouse (What ho?). The strongest character is Patricia Holm, and she carried much of the latter half of the story. She occurred frequently in later stories, but never in the radio or television stories.
Much like Sherlock Holmes, the Saint's stories appear in a scatter of novels, novellas and short stories. While not the fully fledged gentleman bandit he would be come, there are enough pieces of him here to make the book worth reading (despite what the author said). One must also ignore the wrap up to the story, as Charteris didn't plan on a series when he wrote this novel. I have a trove of these stories on my eReader, and look forward to many more pleasurable evenings spent with The Saint.
Simon Templar in this novel is more a dilettante than the Robin Hood character he would become. Established in a small seaside English village, he is there to root out the Tiger, a gang leader who stole a large sum of gold in Chicago - then return that gold for a 20% reward. In this story, we don't know who the Tiger is - and neither does Simon. This town has a large cast of characters with an interest in this business.
These characters are also hit and miss, some pure caricature. One is a direct nod to the writing of contemporary Wodehouse (What ho?). The strongest character is Patricia Holm, and she carried much of the latter half of the story. She occurred frequently in later stories, but never in the radio or television stories.
Much like Sherlock Holmes, the Saint's stories appear in a scatter of novels, novellas and short stories. While not the fully fledged gentleman bandit he would be come, there are enough pieces of him here to make the book worth reading (despite what the author said). One must also ignore the wrap up to the story, as Charteris didn't plan on a series when he wrote this novel. I have a trove of these stories on my eReader, and look forward to many more pleasurable evenings spent with The Saint.
January 8, 2023
The Saint is a cavalier character created in the early twentieth century who still inspires and entertains. This is the first book about the character and is a damn good read.
December 9, 2016
Avis tiré de mon blog :
Si vous êtes nostalgique des anciennes séries policières et de comédie, cette série peut vous plaire.
On parle bien du Saint, celui qui a inspiré la célèbre série TV des années 60, ainsi que pas mal de films. Il est intelligent, relativement peu sexiste pour son époque, avec un coté robin des bois intéressé, et il vous entrainera dans de nombreuses enquêtes et aventures. Le tout à l'anglaise, politesse et thé compris.
Dans ce tome Le Saint arrive dans un petit village des cotes anglaises, ignoré même des vacanciers. C'est dans ce village que se cacherais Le Tigre, un remarquable escroc qui aurait volé il y a quelque temps le coffre d'une banque à Boston, emportant avec lui 1M$ en or.
Le Saint sait de source sure qu'il est ici, car l'info lui a été donnée par un ancien complice du Tigre sur le point de mourir. Il sait aussi que le Tigre utilise des mines d'or pour écouler le butin.
Bien sur le Saint n'est pas un espion, quand il arrive sur place il le fait savoir à tout le monde, se faisant prendre pour un fou en disant qu'il est la parce qu'un dangereux bandit y réside.
Va s'ensuivre une chasse à l'homme et a l'indice pour le Saint, car il doit d'un coté éviter de sa faire tuer par les hommes du Saint, et découvrir ou celui ci se cache, ainsi que le butin qu'il compte bien sur récupérer ...
Il m'a fallu un temps d'adaptation pour réussir à me plonger dans ce livre. Le ton est vraiment à l'ancienne, un peu comme les Maigret pour ceux qui connaissent la série de livre, c'est à dire très rapide et concis. On ne cherche pas ici à nous décrire en détail les lieux ou les personnages, non quelques lignes suffisent et hop on est plongé dans l'action. C'est pour cela que les 50 premières pages ont été difficile.
Mais finalement le jeu du chat et de la souri entre le Saint et le Tigre m'a bien plus, j'ai été prise dans l'action rapide et je ne me suis pas ennuyée.
Par contre bien sur c'est extrêmement court comme histoire bien qu'elle ne manque pas de retournements de situations.
Au final un petit livre bien sympa, pas la lecture du siècle mais je ne regrette pas d'avoir tester cette ancienne série à succès, je pense que si j'avais lu ce tome dans mon adolescence je n'aurais surement pas résisté à l'envie d'en lire beaucoup d'autres (et il y en a pas mal pour les amateurs), mais maintenant que j'ai une PAL si importante il va surement se passe un long moment avant que je trouve le temps d'en sortir un autre !
16/20
Si vous êtes nostalgique des anciennes séries policières et de comédie, cette série peut vous plaire.
On parle bien du Saint, celui qui a inspiré la célèbre série TV des années 60, ainsi que pas mal de films. Il est intelligent, relativement peu sexiste pour son époque, avec un coté robin des bois intéressé, et il vous entrainera dans de nombreuses enquêtes et aventures. Le tout à l'anglaise, politesse et thé compris.
Dans ce tome Le Saint arrive dans un petit village des cotes anglaises, ignoré même des vacanciers. C'est dans ce village que se cacherais Le Tigre, un remarquable escroc qui aurait volé il y a quelque temps le coffre d'une banque à Boston, emportant avec lui 1M$ en or.
Le Saint sait de source sure qu'il est ici, car l'info lui a été donnée par un ancien complice du Tigre sur le point de mourir. Il sait aussi que le Tigre utilise des mines d'or pour écouler le butin.
Bien sur le Saint n'est pas un espion, quand il arrive sur place il le fait savoir à tout le monde, se faisant prendre pour un fou en disant qu'il est la parce qu'un dangereux bandit y réside.
Va s'ensuivre une chasse à l'homme et a l'indice pour le Saint, car il doit d'un coté éviter de sa faire tuer par les hommes du Saint, et découvrir ou celui ci se cache, ainsi que le butin qu'il compte bien sur récupérer ...
Il m'a fallu un temps d'adaptation pour réussir à me plonger dans ce livre. Le ton est vraiment à l'ancienne, un peu comme les Maigret pour ceux qui connaissent la série de livre, c'est à dire très rapide et concis. On ne cherche pas ici à nous décrire en détail les lieux ou les personnages, non quelques lignes suffisent et hop on est plongé dans l'action. C'est pour cela que les 50 premières pages ont été difficile.
Mais finalement le jeu du chat et de la souri entre le Saint et le Tigre m'a bien plus, j'ai été prise dans l'action rapide et je ne me suis pas ennuyée.
Par contre bien sur c'est extrêmement court comme histoire bien qu'elle ne manque pas de retournements de situations.
Au final un petit livre bien sympa, pas la lecture du siècle mais je ne regrette pas d'avoir tester cette ancienne série à succès, je pense que si j'avais lu ce tome dans mon adolescence je n'aurais surement pas résisté à l'envie d'en lire beaucoup d'autres (et il y en a pas mal pour les amateurs), mais maintenant que j'ai une PAL si importante il va surement se passe un long moment avant que je trouve le temps d'en sortir un autre !
16/20
December 30, 2019
Fun anachronism—written in 1929. I recall it was made into a TV series I never watched. But the book is great, especially considering Charteris was 20-21 when he wrote it. I enjoyed it so much, I plan to read more. The weird Britishisms of that period are hilarious.
June 14, 2021
I nearly skipped this book because the author Leslie Charteris reputedly disowned it for many years. But I am glad that I didn't. So what if both the author and The Saint were a little green...a rollicking good tale!
November 13, 2021
I'm going to read more of these, but I definitely get why Charteris wasn't a fan of his first outing with the Saint. The character is delightful from the start, but the plot flags in the back half. Interested in reading some of these where he really found his footing.
February 3, 2016
I think this is the only one of the Saint books I would read over and over again. ...if I could only afford a copy, that is. * wry smile *
January 14, 2018
A terrible book but also very entertaining.
Want to read
March 22, 2018This is very rare and expensive. It is worth reading the series from the beginning. This was the 21 year old Charteris' third novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2020
A cracking good read. Surprisingly entertaining and easy to read. I would certainly select another from the shelf.
January 26, 2025
I wanted to give this 4 stars but, on reflection, this had more to do with the journey to it rather than its literary qualities.
When I was small, I didn’t see my family being interested in novels; it was a surprise then to find a bunch of paperbacks in my grandparents’ wardrobe, these being exclusively the adventure-hero stories of Ian Fleming and Leslie Charteris. It was the first I’d heard of Charteris although I’d watched a lot of “The Saint” on telly, starring Roger Moore.
I was reminded of this when a video appeared on Youtube, just after New Year’s Day, with Roger Moore and others talking about the making of the TV series. Charteris had been involved as a kind of hands-off consultant and seemed to spend most of that period penning vehement letters of criticism and complaint to the producers. TV’s Simon Templar wasn’t in the least bit like his Simon Templar, was the grist in a nutshell.
This piqued my curiosity as to what the original ST was like. I needed to go right back to the beginning; Meet The Tiger is Charteris’ first novel featuring his hero.
First there was surprise: the book was originally published in 1928. Going by the TV series, and knowing that George Saunders preceded Moore in a few film versions, I still assumed it was a post-war setting. Secondly, there was disappointment: no Kindle edition and the book edition is out of print and collector’s print editions going for hundreds of pounds.
So Project Gutenberg came up trumps! I downloaded a copy of its ebook file into my rarely used iBook app and here we are.
And yes there is a difference in character portrayed; telly Templar vs. book Templar, but not as much as Charteris complained about. I’d say Moore’s portrayal is altruistic white knight, gentlemanly suave, whereas is the book shows him more of a cocky, self-interested chancer:
“The Saint had travelled. He talked interestingly—if
with a strong egotistical bias—about places as far removed
from civilisation and from each other as Vladivostok,
Armenia, Moscow, Lapland, Chung-king, Pernambuco,
and Sierra Leone. There seemed to be few of the wilder
parts of the world which he had not visited, and few of
those in which he had not had adventures. He had won
a gold rush in South Africa, and lost his holding in a poker
game twenty-four hours later. He had run guns into
China, whisky into the United States, and perfume into
England. He had deserted after a year in the Spanish
Foreign Legion. He had worked his passage across the
Atlantic as a steward, tramped across America, fought
his way across Mexico during a free-for-all revolution,
picked up a couple of thousand pounds in the Argentine,
and sailed home from Buenos Aires in a millionaire’s suite—to
lose nearly all the fruit of his wanderings on Epsom
Downs.”
Excerpt From
Meet the Tiger
Leslie Charteris
This material may be protected by copyright.
*****
I enjoyed the story, it flows along nicely enough and is quite well written for this kind of genre. That it was written before 1928 doesn’t seem to date it much; I could believe it was written in the 50s or 60s. If I had a complaint it was the way the author overdid the dialogue of The Saint’s manservant, Orace. Not that he spoke much but when he did, I found it virtually indecipherable in print.
Anyway, I’m going to give it three and a quarter stars for easy entertainment value. I’m not sure I’ll follow it up with further Saints, but who knows?
When I was small, I didn’t see my family being interested in novels; it was a surprise then to find a bunch of paperbacks in my grandparents’ wardrobe, these being exclusively the adventure-hero stories of Ian Fleming and Leslie Charteris. It was the first I’d heard of Charteris although I’d watched a lot of “The Saint” on telly, starring Roger Moore.
I was reminded of this when a video appeared on Youtube, just after New Year’s Day, with Roger Moore and others talking about the making of the TV series. Charteris had been involved as a kind of hands-off consultant and seemed to spend most of that period penning vehement letters of criticism and complaint to the producers. TV’s Simon Templar wasn’t in the least bit like his Simon Templar, was the grist in a nutshell.
This piqued my curiosity as to what the original ST was like. I needed to go right back to the beginning; Meet The Tiger is Charteris’ first novel featuring his hero.
First there was surprise: the book was originally published in 1928. Going by the TV series, and knowing that George Saunders preceded Moore in a few film versions, I still assumed it was a post-war setting. Secondly, there was disappointment: no Kindle edition and the book edition is out of print and collector’s print editions going for hundreds of pounds.
So Project Gutenberg came up trumps! I downloaded a copy of its ebook file into my rarely used iBook app and here we are.
And yes there is a difference in character portrayed; telly Templar vs. book Templar, but not as much as Charteris complained about. I’d say Moore’s portrayal is altruistic white knight, gentlemanly suave, whereas is the book shows him more of a cocky, self-interested chancer:
“The Saint had travelled. He talked interestingly—if
with a strong egotistical bias—about places as far removed
from civilisation and from each other as Vladivostok,
Armenia, Moscow, Lapland, Chung-king, Pernambuco,
and Sierra Leone. There seemed to be few of the wilder
parts of the world which he had not visited, and few of
those in which he had not had adventures. He had won
a gold rush in South Africa, and lost his holding in a poker
game twenty-four hours later. He had run guns into
China, whisky into the United States, and perfume into
England. He had deserted after a year in the Spanish
Foreign Legion. He had worked his passage across the
Atlantic as a steward, tramped across America, fought
his way across Mexico during a free-for-all revolution,
picked up a couple of thousand pounds in the Argentine,
and sailed home from Buenos Aires in a millionaire’s suite—to
lose nearly all the fruit of his wanderings on Epsom
Downs.”
Excerpt From
Meet the Tiger
Leslie Charteris
This material may be protected by copyright.
*****
I enjoyed the story, it flows along nicely enough and is quite well written for this kind of genre. That it was written before 1928 doesn’t seem to date it much; I could believe it was written in the 50s or 60s. If I had a complaint it was the way the author overdid the dialogue of The Saint’s manservant, Orace. Not that he spoke much but when he did, I found it virtually indecipherable in print.
Anyway, I’m going to give it three and a quarter stars for easy entertainment value. I’m not sure I’ll follow it up with further Saints, but who knows?
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