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The Saint #37
Vendetta For The Saint
189pages. poche. Broché.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
26 people are currently reading
208 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 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 31, 2020
A lire absolument !! Une histoire terrible et bouleversante qui ne vous laissera pas indifférent.
October 10, 2015
Quite enjoyable, even if I did get two female characters mixed up (which is saying something when there were only three females in the whole book.) The Bugatti was very nice ^_^
September 1, 2023
Une péritonite traitée avec de l'huile d'olive...plus de 20 ans d'épilepsies non medicamentées sans séquelles neurologiques... Hormis certains détails qui me font froncer les sourcils quant à leurs réelles conditions d'emprisonnement, c'est un récit qu'il faut absolument lire!!! Je n'ose même pas imaginer le calvaire vécu par cette mère et 6 enfants à qui on a ôté liberté et dignité pendant de très longues années.
November 13, 2019
Quel miracle a du intervenir pour revivre ces enfants ! Une vraie autobiographie d'un vrai courage, d'un audace incomparable et d'une volonté de vivre ! Cette aventure m'a donné la force, a confiance, le plaisir à travers ses chapitres tout en sautant le chagrin, la tristesse, la peur et l'angoisse..
March 31, 2016
Very good spy adventure book. These books came before the TV series. Good reads, recommended
December 12, 2019
Un relato bastante desgarrador de lo que puede llegar a ser la venganza sin sentido del ser humano.
September 1, 2018
I started reading the Saint books was I was eight or nine, and had reread all of them several times before I found out that this one was actually ghosted by Harry Harrison (the author of Deathworld and other SF classics), and merely revised by Charteris.
How much each contributed to the total product now seems to be a matter of some dispute. What I can say is that even with hindsight, the whole thing seems to me to be absolutely seamless. And furthermore, I would never have known it was not entirely by Charteris had I not been told*; there are all sorts of authentic little touches.
So I have no hesitation in recommending this even though it may not be totally “pure”. It’s unusual also (for this late period) in being a single novel, the last one being The Saint Sees It Through nearly twenty years previously.
In a restaurant in Naples, Simon happens to witness one Al Destamio being accosted by an old friend who knew him years before, and who unwittingly addresses him by a different name — not realising that Signor Destamio now wishes very much to keep this previous identity concealed.
This turns out to be very inconvenient for all concerned (to put it no higher), and leads the Saint into a major confrontation with the Mafia.
Very enjoyable.
*Well, there are a couple of rather clumsy split infinitives, and the occasional American turn of phrase that Charteris seems never to have adopted. On the other hand, there are references to events in The Saint In Europe, and even to the very early days when the Saint drove a Hirondel.
How much each contributed to the total product now seems to be a matter of some dispute. What I can say is that even with hindsight, the whole thing seems to me to be absolutely seamless. And furthermore, I would never have known it was not entirely by Charteris had I not been told*; there are all sorts of authentic little touches.
So I have no hesitation in recommending this even though it may not be totally “pure”. It’s unusual also (for this late period) in being a single novel, the last one being The Saint Sees It Through nearly twenty years previously.
In a restaurant in Naples, Simon happens to witness one Al Destamio being accosted by an old friend who knew him years before, and who unwittingly addresses him by a different name — not realising that Signor Destamio now wishes very much to keep this previous identity concealed.
This turns out to be very inconvenient for all concerned (to put it no higher), and leads the Saint into a major confrontation with the Mafia.
Very enjoyable.
*Well, there are a couple of rather clumsy split infinitives, and the occasional American turn of phrase that Charteris seems never to have adopted. On the other hand, there are references to events in The Saint In Europe, and even to the very early days when the Saint drove a Hirondel.
May 29, 2022
My wife likes mysteries - a lot - and she had decided to try one by Leslie Charteris creator in 1928 of the Saint. The one she chose was "Vendetta for the Saint." She didn't care for it, but thought I might, so I tried it. I didn't know what to expect, but it reminded me very much of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. The Saint (Simon Templar) is a Robin Hood type character who is not unwilling to kill the bad guys - he doesn't just try to shoot the gun from their hand. He is tough, likes women, is sophisticated in manner, likes fast old cars. The Vendetta novel pits the Saint against the Mafia. Published in 1964, Harry Harrison was a co-author. There are many Saint novels and short stories. I found the book engaging and a light entertainment. I am not sure if I will go out of my way to try to read any others.
November 1, 2023
Good yarn
These stories are just fun and adventure and sheer brilliant writing. The Saint has a code, and he gets in and out of scrapes all the time, but he's smart, willing to dig in and do things, and it's just fun to read.
These stories are just fun and adventure and sheer brilliant writing. The Saint has a code, and he gets in and out of scrapes all the time, but he's smart, willing to dig in and do things, and it's just fun to read.
February 16, 2020
Great Fun
Would you expect anything else from The Saint or Harry Harrison? I enjoyed this adventure a lot and recommend it to fans of either.
Would you expect anything else from The Saint or Harry Harrison? I enjoyed this adventure a lot and recommend it to fans of either.
June 29, 2020
Mon père me l'a tout d'abord conseillé, m'a raconté l'histoire derrière l'emprisonnement, je n'en croyais pas mes oreilles donc je décide de le lire, et.. comment dire.. je n'ai pas regretté (je l'ai lu en 4 jours)!! Un histoire touchante, bouleversante, émouvante qui nous emporte à l'époque du règne de Hassan II, et qui m'a poussée à me demander maintes fois si c'était vrai.On passe de la presque jalousie lors de l'enfance de princesse passée dans un Palais et au luxe de sa jeunesse, à l'horreur face à la dégradation de leurs conditions inhumaines d'emprisonnement, à la profonde pitié pour Abdellatif qui n'a connu que la prison de son enfance à l'âge adulte, à l'admiration face à leur solidarité, leur complicité, leur courage, leur espoir, leur ingéniosité (tunnel, l'installation, leurs ruses...), leur capacité à rire malgré la situation, la fidélité unique de leur gouvernante et cousine qui les ont suivies dans ce supplice affreux ou encore à l'horreur devant le manque d'inaction du souverain qu'elle considérait comme son père adoptif.Car oui, après le coup d'état, elle avait perdu ses deux pères.Une histoire unique digne d'un film où je me suis retrouvée avec eux, dans leurs cellules à écouter l'Histoire de Malika, à les regarder se battre contre les maladies, les insectes et autres atrocités de la prison, à rir.C'est avant tout une histoire qui nous fait émouvoir, pleurer, espérer, regretter, et nous empêche de nous plaindre de notre situation. Je commence à apprécier les plaisirs quotidiens de la vie, dont ils étaient privés pendant 20ans, pour un crime dont ils étaient innocents.Le simple fait que cette histoire soit vraie me bouleverse le coeur, et le fait que ce ne soit qu'un exemple parmi tant d'autres me le brise. 20 ans envolées dans la peur, le chagrin, la faim, la maladie, la faiblesse, l'obscurité mais sans jamais rien lâcher, sans s'arrêter de creuser dans l'espoir d'être LIBRES :" c'est miraculeux, très miraculeux".Un de mes livres préférés jusque là ! Pleins de morales de vie cachées à comprendre à notre façon.
June 11, 2018
Originally published on my blog here in November 2001.
The first full length Saint novel for some years turns out to mark an end point in the series; with the next book, the stories are lifted from the TV series rather than the other way around. As the title indicates, it pits Simon Templar against the Mafia in Sicily; when he witnesses a tourist rebuffed in a Neapolitan restaurant after asking an innocent question and then hears that the man has been murdered the next morning, he is convinced that a secret is hidden in the question and that he wants to do something to avenge the killing.
One of the interesting details of this particular novel is that Charteris seems to have finally decided to age the Saint - a decision reversed for the TV series, naturally. There are several references to the way that things might have been done differently had Simon Templar been in his prime - not that he doesn't manage to pull off superhuman feats of dexterity and endurance all the same. Perhaps too much so - the story, with its extremely powerful villains worsted by one man, is one of Charteris' more ludicrous.
The first full length Saint novel for some years turns out to mark an end point in the series; with the next book, the stories are lifted from the TV series rather than the other way around. As the title indicates, it pits Simon Templar against the Mafia in Sicily; when he witnesses a tourist rebuffed in a Neapolitan restaurant after asking an innocent question and then hears that the man has been murdered the next morning, he is convinced that a secret is hidden in the question and that he wants to do something to avenge the killing.
One of the interesting details of this particular novel is that Charteris seems to have finally decided to age the Saint - a decision reversed for the TV series, naturally. There are several references to the way that things might have been done differently had Simon Templar been in his prime - not that he doesn't manage to pull off superhuman feats of dexterity and endurance all the same. Perhaps too much so - the story, with its extremely powerful villains worsted by one man, is one of Charteris' more ludicrous.
July 12, 2014
Simon Templar is visiting Italy when through his fault he outs a friend on a undercover job. As a result the Saint takes up his battle against the Maffia on their hometurf Sicily.
It is perhaps a less romantic adventure and more a race for time and his life. At the end he still lives but gets a warning.......
But after all he is the Saint and lives a live of adventure.
A great thriller that is a page turner and different in that the Saint has to have all his wits at 100% because his fight is this time at no time in his favor. However you do notice a difference in writing style that is explained if you know the ghostwriter Harry Harrison has written this novel and Leslie Charteris has edited it a wee bit and added some of his touches. On the whole it is different from LC's writing if you like me own the whole series.
This is the beginning of the books not being written by the master himself but by other writers. But still a vaillant effort and a worthy entry in the annals of the Saint.
It is perhaps a less romantic adventure and more a race for time and his life. At the end he still lives but gets a warning.......
But after all he is the Saint and lives a live of adventure.
A great thriller that is a page turner and different in that the Saint has to have all his wits at 100% because his fight is this time at no time in his favor. However you do notice a difference in writing style that is explained if you know the ghostwriter Harry Harrison has written this novel and Leslie Charteris has edited it a wee bit and added some of his touches. On the whole it is different from LC's writing if you like me own the whole series.
This is the beginning of the books not being written by the master himself but by other writers. But still a vaillant effort and a worthy entry in the annals of the Saint.
April 30, 2021
Not my usual choice of book, but I am slowly working my way through the works of Harry Harrison.
It's a fun jaunt, with the Saint going up against the odds in a spat with the mafia. It's all a bit far fetched at times, but it's a pleasant diversion.
This was meant to be written in the style of Leslie Charteris, so I can only presume that Charteris wrote as if he'd swallowed a dictionary.
I may have to watch the film, but I don't think I'll read any more Saint books.
UPDATE: I just watched the film, bought on DVD from Ebay, it was ok but there are several annoying departures from the book which are to the detriment of the film. I guess they wanted to make it shorter, but some of the best bits are lost. Worth a watch to compare though.
It's a fun jaunt, with the Saint going up against the odds in a spat with the mafia. It's all a bit far fetched at times, but it's a pleasant diversion.
This was meant to be written in the style of Leslie Charteris, so I can only presume that Charteris wrote as if he'd swallowed a dictionary.
I may have to watch the film, but I don't think I'll read any more Saint books.
UPDATE: I just watched the film, bought on DVD from Ebay, it was ok but there are several annoying departures from the book which are to the detriment of the film. I guess they wanted to make it shorter, but some of the best bits are lost. Worth a watch to compare though.
February 12, 2023
En passant 10 jours au Maroc, j’ai lu cette histoire écoeurante de Malika Oufkir et de sa famille. C’est inimaginable ce qu’ils ont dû subir. La force et la dignité avec lesquelles elle s’est sortie me rend humble. Je souhaite à Malika et à ses proches courage et tout amour pour le reste de leur vie.
June 1, 2015
An alright book, not great by far, but enjoyable. Especially the extremely long, often laughable sentences and neckbreaking associations. That Simon hardly has any weaknesses whatsoever is something you just have to be patient with. Or smile at.
February 10, 2009
Simon Templar was almost as cool as James Bond.
May 22, 2020
( O Santo E A Vendetta )
August 11, 2013
Page turned - Gripping thriller - written in a humorous style.
June 17, 2015
The Saint does it again! This time he takes on the Sicilian Mafia. He is as usual perfect and witty but likeable. Good fun.
August 19, 2016
Written by Harry Harrison.
May 6, 2019
"Ce sera miraculeux et très miraculeux"
June 14, 2022
J'ai découvert cette histoire et une part de l'Histoire en écoutant une émission de radio il y a plusieurs années...un livre qui m'a marquée et touchée indéniablement.
August 27, 2022
Super great and super dark, the way of Malika’s storytelling inside the palace makes you feel that you are there with here, fantastic book. I recommend
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews