The Saint on Guard
Encyclopedia
The Saint on Guard is a collection of two mystery novella
s by Leslie Charteris
, first published in the United States
in 1944 by The Crime Club
, and in the United Kingdom
in 1945 by Hodder and Stoughton. This book continues the adventures of Charteris' creation, Simon Templar
, alias The Saint, and continued the World War II
-themed adventures that had begun with The Saint in Miami
. Both stories had previously been serialized in magazines in 1942 and 1943.
The two novellas featured in this book were also published individually by some publishers. "The Black Market" was published as The Saint on Guard by Avon Books in the 1950, while "The Sizzling Saboteur" was published as The Saint and the Sizzling Saboteur by Avon and by Charter Books in the 1980s.
.
The Sizzling Saboteur was retitled The Fellow Traveller and first aired as the first episode of the second season on September 19, 1963. The Black Market was retitled The Rough Diamonds and aired on November 21, 1963, also as part of the second season.
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
s by Leslie Charteris
Leslie Charteris
Leslie Charteris , born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 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."-Early life:Charteris was born to a Chinese father...
, first published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1944 by The Crime Club
The Crime Club
The Crime Club was an imprint of the Doubleday publishing company, which later spawned a 1946-47 anthology radio series.Many classic and popular works of detective and mystery fiction had their first U.S. editions published via the Crime Club, including all 50 books of The Saint by Leslie Charteris...
, and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1945 by Hodder and Stoughton. This book continues the adventures of Charteris' creation, Simon Templar
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
, alias The Saint, and continued the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-themed adventures that had begun with The Saint in Miami
The Saint in Miami
The Saint in Miami is the title of a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris featuring his creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint. As with an earlier release, Follow the Saint, the order of publication for this book was changed...
. Both stories had previously been serialized in magazines in 1942 and 1943.
The two novellas featured in this book were also published individually by some publishers. "The Black Market" was published as The Saint on Guard by Avon Books in the 1950, while "The Sizzling Saboteur" was published as The Saint and the Sizzling Saboteur by Avon and by Charter Books in the 1980s.
Stories
The book consisted of the following stories:- The Black Market - When a shipment of iridiumIridiumIridium is the chemical element with atomic number 77, and is represented by the symbol Ir. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum family, iridium is the second-densest element and is the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C...
needed for the production of Allied weapons and equipment is hijacked and put on the black market, Templar hatches a scheme to recover the goods, supported by his shady US intelligence contacts and much to the chagrin of NYPD Inspector Fernack. But when one of his prime leads is murdered, Templar finds himself framed for the crime. - The Sizzling Saboteur - The Saint travels to Galveston, TexasGalveston, TexasGalveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
in pursuit of a man who has been sabotaging weapons factories, but when his quarry turns up burned to crisp, he has to contend with both the local police, a trio of mysterious men behind the sabotage, and a beautiful Russian. The story includes an element of metafictionMetafictionMetafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
as the name Leslie Charteris is mentioned within the story.
Television adaptation
Both stories in this collection were adapted as episodes of the TV series The SaintThe Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
.
The Sizzling Saboteur was retitled The Fellow Traveller and first aired as the first episode of the second season on September 19, 1963. The Black Market was retitled The Rough Diamonds and aired on November 21, 1963, also as part of the second season.