The Saint Intervenes
by Charteris, Leslie
pub. by American Reprint Company, Mattinituk, NY, 1976 (orig. pub in 1934 -       isbn; 0-89190-384-4     14 chapters each a story, 274 p.
Charteris has a main character Simon Templar who is also known as The Saint who is a crook in his own right. The character spends time and effort in setting up and foiling other evil doers, mostly in some sort of confidence man racquet. All of the 14 chapters are stories in their own right. This is actually a collection of short stories. They are a good fun read. Light fiction ~ except ~ the language used presumes a good vocabulary on the part of the reader. Perhaps this is because this particular collection was written in the early 1930s. In that the vocabulary is not dumbed down, it is extra delightful. All are set in England in time contemporary to the publication... 1930. I am still wondering what the meaning of the German word zerquetschenreiflichkeit means. Used in chapter XII (12) it seems that the concept is only understood in German.
Charteris wrote many books in the ~The Saint~ series follow the same formula. The Saint identifies some crook who is causing too much trouble for the law abiding public, then takes action, often as a confidence man himself causing the other criminal to bankrupt himself, while our hero makes off with the loot for himself, supporting his lavish lifestyle.
There was a ~The Saint~ Television program series which aired 1962-1969. It was light and fun to watch. I read many of the books in the time when the TV series was aired. Now, 40 years later, the books are still a good fun read.
~2013-12-18~

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