Customer Reviews

Capture the Saint

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I've been a long-time fan of Leslie Charteris "Modern Robin Hood", Simon Templar, AKA, The Saint. Some of the earlier works from the 1930s and 1940s are period pieces now, and a little anachronistic, but the character of the Saint still feels fresh, and after Charteris retired from writing new stories, he licensed the character to other authors to continue and update the saga, with variable degrees of success.

Burl Barer is obviously another fan like myself. His 1993 compendium, THE SAINT - A Complete History In Print, Radio, Film, And Television, is a work of love that takes in pretty much everything Saintly that had been produced, from his origins in 1928 up through the last TV series in 1992. I understand that there may be an updated version coming out that takes in further Saintly things, like the 1997 Val Kilmer movie (for which Barer also wrote the Pocketbooks paperback to go along with the film). Like Sherlock Holmes, The Saint just seems to go on and on.

So, when the time came to write a new addition to the Saintly mythos, Burl Barer proved to be a great choice to carry the character into modern times. The fresh feel that Charteris originally put into the character comes through in this updated version set in the 1990s. Considering that when the first Saint book appeared in 1928, Simon Templar was depicted as a man in his early 20s, by the 1990s he'd be a spry old codger in his 90s. Literary characters age slowly, though, and Barer manages to suspend disbelief, and make his Simon Templar a more mature, more experienced version, perhaps a little grayer, but still handsome, vigorous, and passionate about seeing Justice done. The plotting is fast paced, and as convoluted as anything Leslie Charteris ever produced, and the villians are updated for modern times to a ring of predatory pedophiles, and dealers in methamphetamine on the West Coast of the U.S. There is also a homage to the Charteris stories in characters and references that turn up from The Saint's previous adventures in the United States, which fans of the series will appreciate.

This is a story I had been wanting to read for a while, but it only came out in paperback, and is now out of print, with used copies listing here on Amazon for about $75. This puts it out of the price range of casual readers, and leaves it only for serious collectors. That's why I was happy to find it had been reissued for the Kindle, at a price of $1.99. I heartily recommend it to all existing Saint fans, and for readers new to the character, this would be an excellent opportunity to get an introduction. I hope more Saint books from Burl Barer will be forthcoming, and that they will end with the traditional notation on the last page:

"Watch For The Saint. He Will Be Back."

Burl Barer captures Leslie Charteris' SIMON TEMPLAR perfectly in this fast paced and incredibly clever adventure based in Seattle, Washington. Wise, witty, and dangerous, the Saint goes after a predatory pedophile preying on Seattle street kids...but there is more than one plot unfolding, and the Saint has some competition in the modern piracy game from a drop-dead gorgeous Diamond Tremayne. Any fan of THE SAINT will love this book..it is difficult to find as it was a limited edition in the original printing, but it is well worth the effort.