Fantastic Saint: Anthology (Coronet Books)

by Leslie Charteris

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0340354887
• ISBN13: 9780340354889
• Release Date: November 1984
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Simon in Wonderland

Most stories about Simon Templar ("the Saint") tend to be straight crime or mystery stories. But on occasion, the Robin Hood of Crime would stray into the realm of the science fictional or the fantastic. Leslie Charteris' _The Fantastic Saint_ (1982), intro. Martin H. Greenberg is an enjoyable collection of six off-trail adventures of the Saint. The stories are: "The Gold Standard" (as "The Gold Flood," _Thriller_, 1932); "The Newdick Helecopter" (as "The Inventions of Oscar Newdick," _Empire News_, 1933); "The Man Who Liked Ants" (_Double Detective_, 1937); "The Questing Tycoon" (_The Saint Detective Magazine_, 1954); "The Darker Drink" (_Thrilling Wonder Stories_, 1947); and "The Convenient Monster" (_The Saint Detective Magazine_, 1959). Four of these stories were reprinted in _Fantasy and Science Fiction_ between 1952 and 1965: "The Darker Drink," "The Man Who Liked Ants," "The Questing Tycoon," and "The Convenient Monster". Two of the stories ("The Gold Standard" and "The Nordick Helecopter") have to do with fantastic inventions. They are also graced with the presence of Patricia Holm, Simon's lovely and witty girlfriend. Two stories ("The Man Who Liked Ants" and "The Convenient Monster") involve monstrous creatures. One story ("The Questing Tycoon") is about poetic justice meted out through voodoo. And in one story ("The Darker Drink"), Simon goes on a camping trip in California and wanders into a surrealistic wonderland. All of the stories are passable entertainments, but the last tale is especially fine.