Customer Reviews

The Saint on the Spanish Main

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3 star:		(1)
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Rather than one connected novel, this volume of the Saint's adventures contains 7 short stories. As Charteris remarks in the first story, at this point in his career, Templar didn't have to seek adventure - it found him.

"The Effete Angler" (Bimini) - Why would a man who won't even use light tackle for game fishing have a bodyguard?

"The Arrow of God" (Nassau) - Why is a dead journalist found with a beach umbrella through his chest?

"The Black Commmissar" (Jamaica) - Templar meets an old acquaintance, one of the Maroons of Jamaica, on his way to the islands. (Forester's _Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies_ has an adventure in Maroon country, if you're interested.)

"The Unkind Philanthropist" (Puerto Rico) - The lovely Tristan Brown introduces herself as a lawyer for the Kiel foundation, on the lookout for worthy causes to receive funds. Quire, a local 'natural philanthropist', would love to get a chunk of money to disburse as he sees fit. So Templar, being familiar with the Colossal Lie strategy, begins checking bona fides and seeking opportunity, after seeing a man cheated out of his farm by one of the parties involved...

"The Old Treasure Story" (The Virgin Islands) - April Mallory, having inherited a small nest egg and the family legend of a sunken ship, has opted to be the first to *do* something about it.

"The Questing Tycoon" (Haiti) - The tycoon in question doesn't care about religion as such, but only about what he can use. Falsely promising to marry the daughter of a respected houngan to learn the ways of voodoo has certain drawbacks, though...

Seven stories from 1955, set in Bimini, Nassau, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands and Haiti. The Jamaican story is the most interesting, containing as it does a sizeable chunk of the history of the Maroons; as to its political correctness, you'll have to judge for yourself. Johnny's initial meeting with the Saint, referred to in the conversation on the plane, was in Call for the Saint.

(The cover artist for the 1960 Hodder edition, apparently under the impression the the Spanish Main is somewhere in Spain, has adorned the cover with a picture of the Saint stick-figure accompanying a flamenco dancer on a guitar.)

P.S. For a list of -- and discussion of -- all Charteris's Saint books, see my So You'd Like To... Guide.

One of my favorite Saint novels. Seven short stories showing the good and bad side of the Saint.

One of the best Saint novels I have read. It is filled with both sides of the Saint: crime and good deeds. Even if you are not a fan of the saint, you will enjoy this book.