The Saint and the Fiction Makers

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The Saint and the Fiction Makers
FictionMakers.jpg
First UK edition
Author Fleming Lee
John Kruse (teleplay)
Leslie Charteris (characters)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Series The Saint
Genre Mystery novel
Publisher The Crime Club
Publication date
1968
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages211 pp
Preceded by The Saint Returns  
Followed by The Saint Abroad  

The Saint and the Fiction Makers (some editions use the hyphenated form "Fiction-Makers") is the title of a 1968 mystery novel featuring the character of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". [1]

Contents

The novel is credited to Leslie Charteris, who created the Saint in 1928, but the book was actually authored by Fleming Lee and is adapted from a teleplay by John Kruse written for a two-part episode of The Saint , "The Fiction Makers", [1] which first aired in December 1968 and was later released as a theatrical film. [1] As with other Saint books released during this period, Charteris served in an editorial capacity.

The novel was first published in the United States by The Crime Club in 1968 (possibly before the episodes aired), and in the United Kingdom the following year by Hodder and Stoughton. The movie stars Roger Moore as Simon Templar with Sylvia Syms.

Plot summary

Simon Templar is hired by a friend in the book publishing trade to protect one of his stars, a secretive recluse named Amos Klein who writes a popular (and lucrative) series of spy novels.

When he arrives at Klein's house in the country, he hears a woman's screams and several gunshots. Rushing to the rescue, he finds a woman tied up and gripping a revolver behind her back. After untying her, he finds out that she is "Amos Klein", a woman who adopted a male nom de plume to increase sales of her novels. She explains that she has to be able to do everything her character in the novels does and that she was just doing some research. The pair are soon kidnapped by a group of people who claim to be members of S.W.O.R.D., the evil organization from Amos Klein's novels. Their leader, "Warlock", the mastermind of the group, believes that Simon Templar must be the Amos Klein he is looking for and that the woman must be his secretary. They then find out what the kidnappers want: for Amos Klein to write the plot of their next grandiose heist.

Related Research Articles

The Saint is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a series of novels and short stories 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 participation were published in 1997. The character has also been portrayed in motion pictures, radio dramas, comic strips, comic books and three television series.

Leslie Charteris author

Leslie Charteris, was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of the charming antihero Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."

<i>The Saint in New York</i> novel by Leslie Charteris

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<i>The Saint</i> (TV series) television series (1962-1969)

The Saint is a British ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the United Kingdom on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It was based on the literary character Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in the 1920s and featured in many novels over the years. He was played by Roger Moore. Templar helps those whom conventional agencies are powerless or unwilling to protect, often using methods that skirt the law. Chief Inspector Claud Eustace Teal is his nominal nemesis who considers Templar a common criminal, but often grudgingly tolerates his actions for the greater good.

<i>Enter the Saint</i> book by Leslie Charteris

Enter the Saint is a collection of three interconnected adventure novellas by Leslie Charteris first published in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in October 1930, followed by an American edition by The Crime Club in April 1931.

<i>The Last Hero</i> (The Saint) novel by Leslie Charteris

The Last Hero is the title of a thriller novel by Leslie Charteris that was first published in the United Kingdom in May 1930 by Hodder and Stoughton and in the United States in November 1930 by The Crime Club. The story initially appeared in The Thriller, a British magazine, in 1929. Because of this somewhat convoluted publishing history, The Last Hero is occasionally cited as the second volume of adventures featuring the crime-busting antihero Simon Templar, alias The Saint, predating Enter the Saint. In fact, according to Charteris himself, it was the third book of the series. This is supported by references to the events of Enter the Saint within the novel.

<i>Alias the Saint</i> book by Leslie Charteris

Alias the Saint is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in May 1931 by Hodder and Stoughton. This was the sixth book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint". The three stories had previously been published in The Thriller magazine in the UK.

<i>She Was a Lady</i> novel by Leslie Charteris

She Was a Lady is the title of a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris featuring his creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint. The novel was first published in serialized form in the magazine Thriller in February and March 1930, and after being rewritten by Charteris, was first published in complete form in the United Kingdom by Hodder and Stoughton in November 1931. This was the seventh book chronicling Templar's adventures, and the fourth full novel.

<i>The Holy Terror</i> (short story collection) book by Leslie Charteris

The Holy Terror is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in May 1932 by Hodder and Stoughton. This was the eighth book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". When published in the United States for the first time, in September 1932, the title was changed to The Saint vs. Scotland Yard.

<i>The Saint Goes On</i> book by Leslie Charteris

The Saint Goes On is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United Kingdom in November 1934 by Hodder and Stoughton and in the United States in May 1935 by The Crime Club. This book continues the adventures of Charteris' creation, Simon Templar, alias The Saint.

<i>Thieves Picnic</i> book by Leslie Charteris

Thieves' Picnic is a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris featuring his Robin Hood-inspired crime fighter, Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The book was first published in the United Kingdom in 1937 by Hodder and Stoughton, and in the United States by The Crime Club the same year. Later editions of the book were retitled The Saint Bids Diamonds; another alternate title is The Saint at the Thieves' Picnic.

<i>The Happy Highwayman</i> book by Leslie Charteris

The Happy Highwayman is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in 1939 by Hodder and Stoughton in the United Kingdom and The Crime Club in the United States. This was the 21st book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The 1963 Hodder and Stoughton paperback edition erroneously gives 1933 as the book's original publishing date.

<i>The Saint Goes West</i> book by Leslie Charteris

The Saint Goes West is a collection of three mystery novellas by Leslie Charteris, first published in the United States in 1942 by The Crime Club, and in the United Kingdom the same year by Hodder and Stoughton.

<i>Saint Errant</i> book by Leslie Charteris

Saint Errant is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in 1948 by The Crime Club in the United States and in 1949 by Hodder and Stoughton in the United Kingdom. This was the 28th book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint", and the first Saint short story collection since 1939's The Happy Highwayman. Several of the stories were based upon the then-current Saint comic strip, while the story "Judith" was first published in 1934.

<i>The Saint in Europe</i> book by Leslie Charteris

The Saint in Europe is a collection of short stories by Leslie Charteris, first published in 1953 by The Crime Club in the United States and in 1954 by Hodder and Stoughton in the United Kingdom. This was the 29th book to feature the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint", and it also marked a resumption of the book series after a five-year hiatus. The publication of this book also marked the 25th anniversary of the character.

<i>Meet the Tiger</i> novel by Leslie Charteris

Meet the Tiger is the title of an action-adventure novel written by Leslie Charteris. In England it was first published by Ward Lock in September 1928; in the United States it was first published by Doubleday's The Crime Club imprint in March 1929 with the variant title Meet – the Tiger!. It was the first novel in a long-running series of books featuring the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". It was later reissued under a number of different titles, including the unofficial Crooked Gold by Amalgamated Press in 1929 which failed to credit the authorship of Charteris, and the best-known reissue title, The Saint Meets the Tiger. In 1940 the Sun Dial Press changed the title to Meet – the Tiger! The Saint in Danger.

Patricia Holm

Patricia Holm is the name of a fictional character who appeared in the novels and short stories of Leslie Charteris between 1928 and 1948. She was the on-again, off-again girlfriend and partner of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint", and shared a number of his adventures. In addition, by the mid-1930s, Holm and Templar shared the same flat in London, although they were unmarried. Although such co-habitation between unmarried partners is commonplace today, it was rare, shocking in the 1930s. The two also appeared to have a somewhat "open" relationship, with Holm accepting Templar's occasional dalliances with other women.

S.W.O.R.D. is a fictional criminal organization that exists as a creation within a creation. The organization appears in the novel The Saint and the Fiction Makers, written by Fleming Lee. It is credited to editor Leslie Charteris who created the title character of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The Fiction Makers was adapted from a two-part episode of the same title written by John Kruse from The Saint TV series. This was later recut and released in 1968 as a black-and-white movie.

The Saint's Lady is an unpublished novel by Joy Martin featuring the character of criminal-turned-detective Simon Templar who had been created by Leslie Charteris in 1928.

Bet on the Saint is the title of an unpublished novel by Fleming Lee, featuring the character of criminal-turned-detective Simon Templar, created by Charteris in 1928.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Barer, Burl (1993). The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Film and Television. McFarland & Company. pp. 170, 171.