Charteris Leslie Скачать все книги 31 Количество книг

On the eve of World War II the redoubtable Simon Templar (better known as THE SAINT) finds himself in the imperial city of Vienna, his attentions divided between a very sensuous countess and some legendary diamonds — both of which he is trying to keep out of Nazi hands.

Since the days of the Holy Roman Empire, the legendary Hapsburg Necklace has been guarded by members of the Austrian nobility. But never before has it had so beautiful a protector as one Francesca, the Countess Malffy (also known as Frankie). And never before has it been so in danger of being stolen. For its hiding place, the Malffy ancestral manor, has recently been occupied by a new tenant — the Gestapo.

And as THE SAINT and Frankie plan a mission to retrieve the necklace, it becomes increasingly apparent that the Germans are not their only adversaries. Also vying for the crown jewels is a most unpredictable eccentric who is every bit a match for Simon Templar.

Two stories set in 1950, when Simon Templar was still proving that a wartime interlude of at least semi-respectable endeavour had not permanently impaired his piratical propensities.

“The Midas Double”, in which the Saint’s assistance is called upon by a Greek shipping magnate who is being brilliant impersonator, is a convolution of false identities and double-dealing. And hard-hitting action is promised when he is enlisted to infiltrate a gang of ruthless mercenary commandos in “The Pawn Gambit”.

In this duet of hitherto unrecorded adventures the Saint shows himself at his reckless and impudent best.

Amos Klein was the name of the ingenious thriller-writer and S.W.O.R.D. (Secret World Organization for Retribution and Destruction) was the ruthless institution Amos Klein had created in fiction. Who was this brilliantly imaginative writer? One man was determind to find out, and when he did, a simple kidnapping would set his destructive plan in motion. His gang had already created a real-life S.W.O.R.D. — all they needed now was its creator. Neat? Very. Successful? Almost. Because they made two small but fatal mistakes. The beautiful, brainy Amity Little wasn’t Amos Klein’s secretary, and the man who accompanied her wasn’t Amos Klein — it was Simon Templar.

On an errand of mercy to help an elderly neighbour, the Sainted Simon Templar meets a very distraught — and very beautiful young woman.

Seems she is missing a brother, and someone is missing a Rembrandt. Together they track the fiend behind it all: .

On the other side of the Atlantic our “afficionado of the unexpected, the master of the unpredictable,” Simon Templar, makes the acquaintance of a lovely young heiress at a Mainline charity ball.

But a little sleuthing reveals that one member of the Social Register is also listed on the Who’s Who of Organised Crime...

In these stories, Simon Templar proves by his timely intervention that those on the side of the angels can to defend them.

The Helpful Pirate:

The Bigger Game:

The Cleaner Cure:

The Intemperate Reformer:

The Uncured Ham:

The Convenient Monster: may

All these stories have appeared in magazines prior to publication in this book.

Scene: Europe and the British Isles

The Saint is in Portugal on the trail of a young woman whose father was in the US Army and disappeared towards the end of the war. Her father worked as an investigator, tracing large sums of money. Soon the Saint and the Ungodly are on the trail of Nazi gold.

The Art Collectors

The task befalls the Saint to rescue a beautiful girl from the clutches of some unsavory “art lovers.” Fairly routine for Simon Templar; not-so-routine is the lady’s possession of five paintings worth over a million which is making her a target for considerable international foul play. And where did she get those paintings?

The Persistent Patriots

The Saint’s nose for adventure takes him to Nagawiland, where, true to form, he happens to be in the right place at the right time to save the local P.M. from assassination. And then the fun begins...

Here, in his six intrigues, the Saint becomes involved with everything from haunted ladies, tycoon, and a Candy King in California to justice in Georgia and a Florida dragon whose scales were mathematical — and adventures that are “big enough” even for the swashbuckling Saint.

When the Saint goes fishing, he catches an unusual specimen in the shape of a young lady claiming to be Adolf Hitler’s daughter. And when the Ungodly also arrive on the scene, it seems clear the fish will just have to wait...

Two intriguing tales of criminal strategy that feature The Saint at his best. In , Father Bernardo, pastor of St. Jude’s church, has a dilemma: the church owns a three-hundred-year-old jewel-encrusted silver chalice, bequeathed under the condition that it never be sold. But St. Jude’s is a desperately poor parish, and the money from the sale of the chalice would greatly relieve the plight of the parishioners. When The Saint comes up with an ingenious plan to steal the chalice and send Father Bernardo a “donation” for its assessed value, appears solved — until someone steals the chalice from The Saint!

In , our hero finds himself in Cambridge shortly before Christmas, when a string of murders involving St. Enoch’s College are committed by a homicidal maniac dressed in a Santa Claus suit. With Christmas Day fast approaching The Saint must prevent this from delivering anymore deadly presents.

Murder and Mystery Ride the High Seas With The Saint and:

A BEAUTIFUL BLONDE IN A BATHING SUIT who climbs on board his boat one night — under a hail of bullets!

A MILLIONAIRE PIRATE whose fortune had been made looting sunken treasure ships — operating under the noses of the salvage companies.

PLUS A strange invention which leads the Saint to a death-struggle at the bottom of the English Channel — with a fortune in gold bullion awaiting the winner!

In these three classic stories, the Saint investigates crimes that have left the police confounded. In The High Fence, he hunts down a villain who somehow manages to kill people just before they can reveal his identity; The Elusive Ellshaw sees him on the track of a man meant to have died a year before; and a letter calling for help sends him to a sleepy seaside pub disturbed by mysterious underground rumblings in The Case of the Frightened Innkeeper. One thing is sure: despite death threats, gunfire and kidnapping, the Saint will go on until his curiosity is satisfied.

Simon Templar, alias the Saint, has been called by some the law's best friend — by others, its worst enemy. As he himself puts it, "I'm a catalyst. Half the time I don't have to do anything except stand around. Somebody hears I'm the Saint, and I shoot a few arrows in the air, and the fireworks start."

A man's man, a woman's dream, the Saint moves with equal ease through the highest and lowest strata of international society. In these seven fast-paced adventures the Saint heads for sunny climes, hitting the fabulous — and corrupt — pleasure resorts of two continents, among them Saint Tropez, Cannes, Nassau, and Florida.

Readers are sure to enjoy rediscovering how ably Simon Templar, a.k.a. the Saint, manages to add a little more tarnish to his notorious halo. In this caper, the murderous, seamy life of Paris's Left Bank follows the Saint back to London and silently stalks its prey.

In this collection of nine short stories the Saint encounters a clever detective who isn't, a well-meaning mayor, a man who likes ants and a producer who turns out, much to the Saint's surprise, to be actually quite smart.

American version.

Simon Templar is the Saint — daring, dazzling, and just a little disreputable. On the side of the law, but standing outside it, he dispenses his own brand of justice one criminal at a time

In these three stories, the Saint finds himself embroiled in further plots and facing new enemies. sees him up against the most unyielding opponent ever — the taxman. In Scandal, a good deed leads Simon to uncover a plot to undermine the Italian economy, and in the Saint's retirement plans are scuppered when a couple of murderous diamond smugglers object to his scheme of taking their loot for his pension.

In this collection of short stories, the Saint intervenes to teach a motley bag of criminals the error of their ways. Crooked financiers, bookies, fake inventors, dodgy bankers, dealers in pornography, unethical businessmen, murderers, thieves and liars — all will come to regret the day their actions caught the Saint's attention.

In which Simon Templar joins Scotland Yard's Special Branch to the surprise and consternation of Chief Inspector Teal, and confronts beautiful Jill Trelawney, leader of the London underworld. Consciousness raising for the Saint.

THE NATIONAL DEBT

In which the Saint disguises himself as a dusty professor in order to save a lovely damsel from the clutches of a sinister conspiracy.

THE MAN WHO COULD NOT DIE

In which the Saint's well known sensitivity to the adventurous possibilities of any situation lead him to pursue the current fortunes of the extraordinary Miles Hallin, a seemingly unimpeachable man about whom it has been said that if Miles Hallin could have walked a tight rope he would have walked a tight rope stretched across the crater of Vesuvius as a kind of appetizer before breakfast.

Curious events almost seem to cry out for the Saint's intervention, and in these stories he is faced with enough peculiar crimes to keep him well occupied. The various adventures he gets himself into lead him to kiss a policewoman, buy a racehorse, invest in bootlegging, dabble in antiques, rent a flat, recover a treaty, get arrested, demonstrate an invention — and always come out on top.