The Saint Meets His Match by Leslie Charteris

I bought this book in that same kitschy little Boise, Idaho store that I mentioned in my last blog post (I think). I paid far too much for a used book, but I couldn't resist. I have to admit that part of its charm is that it was once the property of the Bibliotheque Municipale de Villepreux and I so enjoy picturing its possible journey from its nascent Great Britain to France. And was it in the "English language" section of that bibliotheque? And how did it get to an obscure little store in Boise Idaho? Anyway, I like The Saint. Mostly.

The Saint is in the best tradition of classic heroes--devil-may-care, attractive, honorable, immortal (can't kill that guy no matter what happens to him), clever, witty....oh, yes. In this book he meets a strong, angry, beautiful girl who is caught up in some bad behavior...but justified bad behavior (if there is such a thing). Can he help her banish her demons? Can he beat the bad guys? Will he romance the girl? Will she be his in the end?

This is a novel length adventure, by the way. And I found it difficult to get into, for some reason. I guess it moved a little bit slowly at first. And, I gotta say, The Saint's clever, flippant, daredevil approach to everything...well, it's easier to enjoy in small doses. I really did enjoy the collection of Saint short stories that I read, but this one was not quite as enjoyable. Still worth reading if you like that kind of thing (and I pretty much do), but not as engaging as many other things that I've read.

Bad language: nope
Sex: nope