Capture the Saint by Burl Barer: One Reader's Opinion

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I had an opportunity, thanks to the local library, to lay hands on the above-named epistle, nearly fifteen years after first publication. The first new Saint story in over a decade, assuming we count the adaptation of a movie script that, after the same author got done his novelizing job, was almost thoroughly eviscerated of any references to the novels and short stories that inspired it by the time it reached the movie theatres. I think perhaps one Biblical quote that tied into The Last Hero managed to survive the filming, but I digress.



Anyway. Barer is a Saint fan of considerable long standing. The attention to continuity and character detail showed. It started with the appearances of Barney Malone(from The Last Hero) and Viola Inselheim(from The Saint in New York) and the behaviour of Mr. Templar and his old friends returned at various points - no, I'm not going to name them all here! - was quite consistent in style with Charteris' own back in the day when the old scribbler did his own manuscript work. True to form in that sense. A success on that score.

However, the story's backdrop reminds me more of modern superhero comics than of anything else. It's clear as the story goes on that, with Viola all grown up and taking up the joys and responsibilities of adulthood, setting it twenty or so years after The Saint in New York makes a certain amount of sense.

Setting it also in the "now" of 1997, though...that threw me. It's a bias of mine: that the Saint is a period hero as much as Sherlock Holmes. That period, for me, would be from 1930 into perhaps the 1960's and 1970's. I recognize that using the "now" of the day allowed Barer to set the Saint against practitioners of one of those timeless evils that only seem modern, namely the commercialization of child abuse. Perhaps it's something Charteris himself would have done in due course, perhaps not. I'm not sure I can address that aspect of it.

All in all, though, still a good read on its own terms. I'd recommend it to any fan of the Brighter Buccaneer and his friends. Which I understand is now possible, seeing as it's been released in Kindle format and a second hardcopy printing will soon be available.

I'm hopeful that this will lead to the rest of the old Saint books returning to print before too much longer. It would be nice to have a complete set in my own library shelving someday.

Comments

CAPTURE THE SAINT

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the positive review of Capture The Saint. I am currently writing a new Saint novel, The Return of the Saint, which has Simon Templar back in the UK -- and also making a return visit to the Central American Republic of Pasala where he and Archie Sheridan once fomented a revolution.

Tomorrow I meet again with the director of the new Saint TV movie/pilot episode of series...trying to make the script "saintly"

Thanks for your continued interest in The Saint!

Ladies, Gentlemen and Respected Others...

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...Mr. Burl Barer himself!