The Saint on Guard

The Saint #25

by Leslie Charteris

More war-time adventures for the Saint: When a shipment of iridium is stolen, the Saint plots to recover the goods, only to be framed for the murder of one of his prime leads. Then in Texas, the Saint’s attempts to track down a man who’s been sabotaging weapons factories is frustrated when his main suspect turns up burnt to a crisp…

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Adventure, Thriller, Pulp, Action

214 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

Born 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."

Reviews

[F.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, I'll review each tale as I come to it:

The Black Market
Written and set in The Second World War, this New York based tale finds the character of Simon Templar on the cusp. He is no longer the devil may care dandy of the early London adventures, but nor is he yet the weary cynic of the later international stories. Indeed, it’s noticeable how much of his insolent wit is still present, his charming cleverness still so much on display. But so is a certain ennui. There are points in this story where Simon seems almost totally fed up by crime and criminals, almost as if – rather than turning others’ nefarious schemes to his own profit – he just wishes that the whole sordid underworld would just go away and leave him alone.
Simon finds himself a patriotic hero here, on the right side of the law as he takes on some despicable war profiteers. Unfortunately, the story that results is just a tad dull. It grinds through the mechanics of the plot in a listless manner which lacks both spark and excitement. What the story needs is something bizarre or fantastic thrown in, a dramatic twist to blow the cob-webs off the musty set-up and the almost disinterested execution.


The Sizzling Saboteur
“I used to be a fairly agile guy until I started drinking myself to death.”
There’s a line of dialogue which sums up exactly where The Saint is in these two tales.
Once again The Saint finds himself on the right side of the law, fighting Axis powers on American soil. But actually the espionage bits are just pretty decoration, as this is actually your hard-boiled detective story, which just goes to prove how elastic the character of The Saint is.
Here he’s solving a case in a small American city (I don’t think I’ve ever read detective fiction set in Galveston before, although given how much I actually found out about the city I may as well have listened to the Glen Campbell song). There’s the tough but far cop, the glamourous but dubious dame, the speakeasy that everyone frequents, and – of course – all kinds of shady goings-on just below the surface. But even though this is your boiler-plate noir fiction, the character of The Saint still manages to fit right in. Although I can’t help thinking that someone at some point would have mentioned his English accent.
It opens with one of the finest images found anywhere in The Saint canon. Simon, driving on a lonely road, finds a log blocking his route. He stops and wonders if he can move it himself, but the log begins to twitch and Simon realises with horror that it’s not a log, but a man who has been burnt alive and is now about to draw his final breath.
In many ways a fine story then, so a real shame that an appearance of Charteris’s casual, but particularly unpleasant, racism leaves a big, ugly blemish on it.

[Sarah-Grace (Azrael865) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the few Saint books, which I don't own a physical copy....yet. I read this in digital format. In the last couple books of this series, Simon is no longer strictly freelance, he is working with an FBI contact, almost a handler. He is just as good at tracking down War criminals, traitors and Saboteurs as he is with embezzled, kidnappers and murderers. I wasn't sure I would enjoy his change of occupation, but I shouldn't have doubted.
My favorite story in this book is the second one, The Sizzling Saboteur. I was surprised when I realized how literal that title was. Simon finds a burning piece of a deadwood log lying on a quiet road. Except it isn't a log, it's a char burnt man, who is still alive long enough to rasp out a few words and a couple names for Simon to begin with. A very exciting Saint Adventure.

[Harron68 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got "The Sizzling Saboteur" as part of a book SHORT SPY NOVELS, edited by Greenberg and Pronzini, but am using this more specific title to review this story only. Published in 1944,while the war was still on, it includes the elements of a beautiful Russian woman and a Nazi sabotage ring in the U.S. It's short and reads fast. Much as the TV series, the usual mystery and quick ending. Not bad, but is more of a "Saint" magazine story than a full novel. Three stars and a yawn.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two wartime stories, not as brilliant writing as some of the other Saint books.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the second time, Leslie Charteris enrolls the Saint as an auxilliary of the FBI in the United States. Two novellas result, "The Black Market" and "The Sizzling Saboteur." As for "The Black Market," it is sort of ordinary: a story about stolen iridium with greedy industrialists once again in Charteris's crosshairs. It fits pretty much in the usual vein of Saint plots, and is clearly influenced by the relative lack of success of Charteris's previous Saint novel, The Saint Steps In. In that book, Charteris had all but abandoned his usual florid language for what was for him exceptionally hard-boiled fiction. Thinking that at fault, I guess, the author went back to his florid style. But that didn't save him from another problem. In Steps In, Charteris felt the need to make a rant about American industrialists becoming fascistic. For On Guard, he decided a slightly smaller rant about what makes a criminal would be useful. It wasn't. Charteris's readers want the banter of the Saint and likely expected the usual light air Simon fills his adventures with. But with World War II, Charteris felt he needed to preach. The Saint as a preachy government agent is just not what his readership was expecting, I'm thinking.

On the other hand, "The Sizzling Saboteur" is quite good. This story has Simon tracking down a Nazi saboteur all the way to Galveston. I approached it somewhat warily, however, because the Saint's other adventure into Cowboy country, "Arizona," had been full of quite a bit of yeehaw. Surprisingly, there isn't a trace of it in "Sizzling." Quite the opposite, the lanky Texas cops resemble their Big City brethren on the East Coast, and otherwise the Saint is facing off against Nazi Bund members and a Russian expatriate who make for anything but a stereotypical situation. Charteris is back to a great deal of banter in this story as well, but it works perfectly. He balances things out and, for the first time in quite a while, also has something of a surprising reveal for the ringleader of the Nazis at the end.

Still, this volume, according to the publication history in the book, was also not the success usually expected of Saint volumes. Simon Templar, G-Man, just doesn't have the sense of being at odds with authority that "The Saint" does. And where is Patricia Holm, Simon's live-in girlfriend, and Hoppy, his right hand semi-reformed New York City mafia enforcer? They've been missing for quite a while in the series, now. Simon is just getting too downright respectable.

[Rick Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title consists of two novellas.

The Black Market

The Saint is in New York City and learns from Inspector John Henry Fernack about a black market in precious Iridium, urgently needed for the war effort. He meets two industrial manufacturers who have been forced to buy it on the black market: Milton Ourley and Gabriel Linnet. Ourley's wife, Titania Ourley, takes a liking to the Saint. Urbane Allen Uttershaw is the head of the mining company which produces the Iridium. The Saint drops in to Linnet's home to find him dead, and a beautiful decoy, Barbara Sinclair, trying to set him up to take the blame.

The Sizzling Saboteur

The Saint is driving across Texas and encounters a burned body in the road. Simon stops to assist, and the victim's (Henry Stephens Matson) last words appear to name his killer(s). He consults with the police, who are adamant it was a suicide. Simon doesn't believe it, and tracks down his girlfriend, Olga Ivanovitch. Through her, he gets a lead on the three named by Matson: Johan Blatt and Fritzie Weinbach. The third killer, Siegfried Maris, is more elusive. Simon finds that Matson was working in war production plants, and was a saboteur. He had failed to complete a sabotage mission for the Axis, and was murdered in revenge. The killers catch up to Simon and Olga, who wind up captives.

Review:

These two novellas are set in World War II-era USA. Both deal with bad guys messing with the war effort for personal gain or military advantage.

The Black Market has several clever story lines, especially the use of decoy Barbara Sinclair to distract The Saint. The Sizzling Saboteur was not as engaging, and the whole setup of the killing seemed false - I would think agents out for a revenge killing would do something a bit more 'professional'. Simon's informer, Po't Arthur, is an enjoyable character.

Women are not too well represented in these stories, just one in each, both cast as elegant bad girls; although Olga turns out to be on our side (the names are a tipoff - Olga is clearly Russian - therefore an ally. Johan, Weinbach, and Siegfried clearly German - thus the enemy).

The stories do give a feel for the high wartime feelings present on the home front USA, when war production was the #1 priority.

[Art Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is a hymn to mediocrity. Charteris is to the world of mysteries series what a a bag of no name chips past its best before date is to the world of junk food- maybe not a go to first or even tenth choice but not without its merits. There is something here nonetheless. Simon Templar aka the Saint is a monumental creation by any standard, its not his fault the creator doesn't live up to the creation. Templar has managed to outlive his creator the way any great fictional hero should.
Charteris is never afraid to let his writing get in the way of a great story- florid prose, hyperbole, down right interference (some ref should have called that). But like that bag of chips, you're not going to let that fact that its crappy stop you from finishing the bag.
Mediocre as this book is, its not without its merits. Firstly, its keenly aware that its taking up valuable paper during wartime shortages. It tries without quite succeeding to be worthy. Secondly, its dinner scenes are a glimpse at what passed for chichi dining during those war years, and believe me, its not pretty. But maybe the most fascinating thing, the plot revolves around blackmarketeering and does a great job at explaining how war profiteering cost real soldiers their lives. The villains are not monsters on the surface but pure evil for their banality, for their surface smugness and the fact they live exclusively for their own self interest.
Sadly we live in a time that is spookily similar, where cynical self interested politicians have let soldiers in Ukraine die in the the pursuit of personal power and self agrandizement. Honour was something Charteris and his character took seriously. Its too bad that the idea of honour nowadays seems as antiquated Charteris's writing. I for one would gladly exchange slick rhetoric, and the elevation of lying to a religion for the simple long gone world of the Saint where honour was respected and appreciated whatever your political or social status.

[Paul Magnussen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This 1945 opus finds the Saint battling black-marketeers and Nazi saboteurs.

The catastrophic slide in quality that started with The Saint Goes West continues. In dismal contrast to early classics like The Last Hero, The Saint On Guard is both preachy and leaden; the plots of the two stories here are formulaic and drearily predictable; and the villains are straight from Central Casting. The old friends are all absent; but this may be a good thing, considering the procrustean torturing of Iron John Fernack (from The Saint In New York) into the pathetic Teal-substitute of The Black Market. And whoever invented Olga Ivanovitch the Beautiful Russian Spy clearly had a much shakier grasp of Russian than Charteris had of French, German and Spanish.

A very few passages show the old Charteris touch, in particular the near-breaches of the Fourth Wall that started right at the beginning with Meet the Tiger. For instance Simon, explaining the iridium black market to Fernack, remarks:

“You make us remind me of the opening characters in a bad play, carefully telling each other what it’s all about so that the audience can get the idea too.”

But by and large, for hard-core Saint aficionados only.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall rating 3.5

‘Black Market’ rating 3.5
‘Sizzling Saboteur’ rating 3

Not one of favourite titles in the series.
Set in America during WW2 when the Saint seems to operate as a spy hunter or some such idea helping fight the nazi and axis powers.
Thankfully the character of the Saint still shines through otherwise these would be a pair of very meh war time noir tinged thrillers.
The first one is the most Saint-like probably with the action taking place in New York. The plot moves along at a brisk pace and although it doesn’t feel as smooth (for want of a better description - will ponder on this for a while) as Saint novellas normally are it still entertained all the way. The ending, perhaps because the world is now at war, finishes in a very final way for the enemy.
The second novella starts strong with the Saint finding the dying man who had been burnt alive (no spoilers as I think all descriptions of the story state this) in one of the best openings I can remember.
After that though the story does turn into a pulp style junior g-man story which was not that good. Possibly this was better in the planning than the execution.
The Saint is still present so to speak and again reminds me more of his personality from the first stories rather than the more smoothie and suave character he had become.
I wonder if these were written with the American market in mind hence the changes to his character as if the Saint was replaced with a.n.other character the stories themselves wouldn’t alter - just a thought.

Overall still a recommendation as they are better than average but for me not in the top drawer of Saintly stories , so start with the early titles

[Kenneth G · Rating 4 out of 5]

two stories, one Saint

Here we have the Saint colluding with the FBI. an unusual partnership if ever there was one. But the contrivance works to the extent it plays like a deux ex machina to get Simon out of trouble. That is to say, it doesn’t work at all. Still, the mystery is good, the banter is great, and the story is worth reading.
In other words, it’s a Saint book. Does any more need to be said?

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly entertaining pair of short stories set in the US during Hitler’s War.

[Logan Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second of the two stories in this book is in my top three favorite Saint stories. So many twists and turns and a wonderfully romantic, charming ending.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in April 2001.

The last Saint book to be written during the war - it was published a few months after it ended - contains two stories, of an unusual length (most of the books contain one, three or twelve stories). They are typical in content, though, both about Simon Templar's battles on the American "home front", fighting the black market and sabotage.

Both stories use the same investigative technique; Simon Templar announces that he is going to do something about a problem (the black market in iridium, essential for munitions, or a gang of saboteurs) and uses his reputation to make things happen and get the opposition panicked into making mistakes. This is a device that Charteris uses frequently, and while it makes for exciting thrillers, it becomes a bit predictable when several Saint stories are read more or less one after another, as I have been doing recently.

The two stories are not among the very best Saint stories, though competent, and there are signs that Charteris is becoming bored with this phase of the character. He makes fun of his own creation in a couple of places, which is a new departure. From this book, Charteris' speed of production drops quite dramatically, before reaching the point (with the advent of the TV series) where collections of Saint stories include ones written by other people. I have a suspicion that the mid 1940s was also a time when Charteris became disillusioned with the series of films; he didn't like any of the actors who portrayed Simon Templar, from George Saunders to Ian Ogilvy. The only way this shows in the writing is a certain lack of inspiration.

[Alena · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wartime caper, while a bit darker than the average Saint adventure, nevertheless fails to be one of his more memorable escapades. Perhaps this is due to the scrim of patriotic fervor that weighs down Simon's usual devil-may-care spirit; or perhaps it's simply difficult to reconcile a story that opens with a man being gruesomely burned alive with the lighthearted banter that typifies the Saint's chronicles.

[minor spoiler warning] This tale also has Simon working as agent for a nameless top-secret government intelligence outfit to hunt down a ring of Nazi saboteurs, which is a dramatic shift from the opportunistic adventures or Robin Hood-type rescues that Simon usually engages in.

Still, in spite of the heavy wartime message, a slightly deus-ex-narrator resolution, and an over-the-top femme fatale who could have been played by Garbo, Charteris' writing is in form, with plenty of quirky descriptions and fun one-liners. Long-time fans of The Saint will want to read this installment, if only for the head-shaking image of Simon as a secret agent. But readers who have never enjoyed a Saint tale should probably begin with one of his earlier adventures.

[Zantaeus Glom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed these two archetypal 'ripping' yarns by Leslie Charteris. I recently bought a copy of 'The Saint' box set (the monochrome years) and read a terribly amusing book about the entire history of said bellicose fellow and soon felt that I should see what all the bally fuss was about. Like many of the better so-called 'pulp' writers he seems to have a greater command of the English language than many mainstream authors, and this agile wordplay is put to vivid use in these two stolidly crafted tales of nimble-witted propaganda. (for me, plot plays second fiddle to quality prose and zippy dialogue)

While most certainly a quick read I was nonetheless greatly impressed with the vividness of Charteris's prose, and some of his character descriptions are easily some of the wittiest I have read; his grim-faced villains and conniving femme fatale's are cogent, funny and always striking - after reading these two zesty novella's one can readily appreciate why this svelte Saint fellow became such a literary phenomenon. (cannot wait to watch the first series now!)

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Saint

Taking a back road while on his way to Galveston, Texas, Simon Templar comes across what he first thought was a burning log in the middle of the road. It isn't soon before the Saint is hard at work to discover exactly who the victim was and who could have wanted him dead is such a horrible manner.

My father was a huge fan of the Saint books, but by the time I was old enough to read, they were mostly out of print. All I could do was watch Roger Moore, the best Saint since George Sanders, on television. This story is set during World War II, after Germany tried to invade Russia. We’re given the snarkiness, the smoothness, and the way Charteris had of inviting the audience in on the joke. I do so wish the books were brought back in their entirety rather than just the same five that are constantly reprinted. 4 out of 5.

[Karan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read. A typical caper featuring the Robin Hood of the 20th century doing what he does best. Only this is during the Second World War, and The Saint has the backing of a spooky counter-intelligence sister concern of the FBI.

The plot is slightly convoluted and masala-filmy, but is kept afloat by a great first person narration of his own escapades by The Saint. As usual, the best parts are when he banters with, and raises the collective blood pressure of the the local police department. In this case, the unfortunates are the police detectives of Galveston, Texas, where the story is set.

A good yarn for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Second World War must have presented a problem for Leslie Charteris. You can't have Simon Templar carrying on his carefree criminal existence in an international crisis, and why isn't he in uniform, anyway?

So we find him in the USA, contributing to the war effort in his own special way by breaking up a black market in essential materials and bringing down the murderers of a saboteur turned informant. In all other respects, he is the same witty charmer, fighter and ladies' man as ever, and I love him for it.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1945, 'The Saint On Guard' features two novellas set in the USA during WW2. The first tale is plotted around a shortage of iridium caused by the hijacking of a major shipment, resulting in a thriving black market. The second tale involves industrial sabotage. The lukewarm reviews gave me some cause for concern, rather needlessly as enjoyed this book as much as any other 'Saint' book so far in my reading.

[James Hold · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading the Saint. I couldn't picture Roger Moore as the title character. The ending is guessable but that may be because it's been uses a hundred times since.

[Federico Kereki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Black marketeers and saboteurs, in WW2 tales... not the best!