Surprisingly fun. Like Fleming crossed with Wodehouse. Dated, but then so are Fleming and Wodehouse. ( )

Enter the Saint by Charteris is from 1930. The writing style, especially the dialogue is very dated. The book is made up of three long short stories. Not exactly mysteries, more like tales of how Simon Templer(the Saint)tripped up criminals. The 1962 TV series The Saint with Roger Moore was loosely based on Charteris’s books. Enter the Saint has not passed the test of time.
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These are 3 novella about the Saint: The Man Who Was Clever, The Policeman With Wings and The Lawless Lady.

I've come to realize that while I like the TV show with Roger Moore and I like the movie with George Saunders (both of whom are very debonaire) I don't particularly like Charteris' writing. In these stores, The Saint is anything but debonaire...rich maybe but not a 'gentleman' as in the TV and movie versions. Oh well.

It is still classic pulp mysteries. ( )

Wow. Now I see why nobody reads this horrid crap anymore. This goes in my black cabinet of worst writing in world history. But three stars for historical interest. ( )

I'm not really sure how to characterize this. The Saint is something like a superhero. He can take down any bad guy and get out of any impossible situation. With his ragtag band of associates he works to take down London's most notorious crime syndicates. His methods are not exactly orthodox, and the police (particularly one Inspector Teal) find him aggravating rather than helpful.

I'm of mixed feelings. On the one hand, Charteris can be very funny, and there's some real humor here. On the other hand, this is so over the top that I expected to see comic book style exclamations like BAM! and POW! every time the Saint went into action. It's basically a mix of witty comedy and ridiculous adventure. I'd prefer a bit more puzzle, a bit more mystery, a bit less ka-pow. ( )