Bet on the Saint
Encyclopedia
Bet on the Saint is the title of an unpublished novel by Fleming Lee (but credited to Leslie Charteris
), featuring the character of criminal-turned-detective Simon Templar
(alias "The Saint") who had been created by Charteris in 1928.
The novel was written in 1968, at a time when Charteris served in an editorial capacity overseeing a continuation series of novels and novellas that picked up after Charteris himself retired from full-time writing of the stories in 1963.
According to the book The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Film and Television 1928-1992 by Burl Barer
, Charteris and Lee collaborated on this novel, which was based upon a storyline from the earlier The Saint comic strip
. The plot, as described by Barer, is one of the more science fiction
-oriented Saint stories, and has to do with Templar attempting to stop the distribution of a performance enhancing drug that endows athletes with super-human strength.
Barer writes that neither Charteris nor Lee were particularly happy with the final manuscript with Charteris doing "copious rewrites". Breaking a pattern he had maintained for nearly 40 years, Charteris chose not to submit Bet on the Saint to his longtime British publishers, Hodder & Stoughton
. Instead, he submitted it solely to Doubleday, the company that ran The Crime Club
the imprint
that had published the first US editions of virtually every Saint book since 1928. Doubleday also refused, which led to Charteris - for possibly the first time - offering first publication of the novel to other US-based publishers, as apparently the decision by Doubleday to reject the manuscript ended a long-standing agreement of the publisher having first refusal of Charteris' work. However, he was unable to find an alternate publisher and Bet on the Saint was abandoned.
Fleming Lee soon afterwards completed another comic strip adaptation novel, The Saint in Pursuit
which after Charteris edited the manuscript, was accepted for publication by both Hodder & Stoughton and Doubleday/Crime Club as per usual and published in 1970 (and despite the end of the "first refusal" agreement, all remaining Saint books published under Charteris' watch up to 1983 would still be published first in the U.S. by Doubleday under their Crime Club imprint).
To date, this "lost" Saint novel remains unpublished and a copy of the manuscript is kept with a collection of Charteris' papers at Boston University
.
This is one of two known Saint novels that were submitted for publication but never released to the public. The other was a 1979 work by Joy Martin (but championed by Charteris) entitled The Saint's Lady
.
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...
), featuring the character of criminal-turned-detective 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") who had been created by Charteris in 1928.
The novel was written in 1968, at a time when Charteris served in an editorial capacity overseeing a continuation series of novels and novellas that picked up after Charteris himself retired from full-time writing of the stories in 1963.
According to the book The Saint: A Complete History in Print, Radio, Film and Television 1928-1992 by Burl Barer
Burl Barer
Burl Barer is an American author and literary historian. He is best known for his fiction and non-fiction writings about the character Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint".-The Saint:...
, Charteris and Lee collaborated on this novel, which was based upon a storyline from the earlier The Saint comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
. The plot, as described by Barer, is one of the more science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-oriented Saint stories, and has to do with Templar attempting to stop the distribution of a performance enhancing drug that endows athletes with super-human strength.
Barer writes that neither Charteris nor Lee were particularly happy with the final manuscript with Charteris doing "copious rewrites". Breaking a pattern he had maintained for nearly 40 years, Charteris chose not to submit Bet on the Saint to his longtime British publishers, Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
. Instead, he submitted it solely to Doubleday, the company that ran 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...
the imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
that had published the first US editions of virtually every Saint book since 1928. Doubleday also refused, which led to Charteris - for possibly the first time - offering first publication of the novel to other US-based publishers, as apparently the decision by Doubleday to reject the manuscript ended a long-standing agreement of the publisher having first refusal of Charteris' work. However, he was unable to find an alternate publisher and Bet on the Saint was abandoned.
Fleming Lee soon afterwards completed another comic strip adaptation novel, The Saint in Pursuit
The Saint in Pursuit
The Saint in Pursuit is the title of a 1970 mystery novel featuring the character of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". 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 comic strip story by Charteris...
which after Charteris edited the manuscript, was accepted for publication by both Hodder & Stoughton and Doubleday/Crime Club as per usual and published in 1970 (and despite the end of the "first refusal" agreement, all remaining Saint books published under Charteris' watch up to 1983 would still be published first in the U.S. by Doubleday under their Crime Club imprint).
To date, this "lost" Saint novel remains unpublished and a copy of the manuscript is kept with a collection of Charteris' papers at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
This is one of two known Saint novels that were submitted for publication but never released to the public. The other was a 1979 work by Joy Martin (but championed by Charteris) entitled The Saint's Lady
The Saint's Lady
The Saint's Lady is the title of an unpublished novel by Joy Martin featuring the character of criminal-turned-detective Simon Templar who had been created by Leslie Charteris in 1928....
.