''The Saint and the Fiction Makers'' (some editions use the hyphenated form "Fiction-Makers") is the title of a 1968 mystery novel featuring the character of

Simon Templar ''The Saint'' is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books un ...

, alias "The Saint". The novel is credited to

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.Fleming Lee Fleming Lee (December 19, 1933 – December 24, 2012), born Fleming Lee Blitch, was an American author, best known for his collaborations with Leslie Charteris on his series of "Saint" novels. Fleming was born in St. Augustine, Florida to Looni ...

and is adapted from a teleplay by

John Kruse John Kruse (1921–2004) was an English film and television screenwriter, director and novelist. He is mostly remembered for his work on ITC classic TV series '' The Saint'', as well as several films of the franchise, and as the author of the ...

written for a two-part episode of '' The Saint'', "The Fiction Makers", which first aired in December 1968 and was later released as a theatrical film. As with other Saint books released during this period, Charteris served in an editorial capacity. The novel was first published in the United States by

The Crime Club ''The Crime Club'' was an imprint of the Doubleday publishing company, which later spawned a 1946-47 anthology radio series, and a 1937-1939 film series. Literature Many classic and popular works of detective and mystery fiction had their fir ...

in 1968 (possibly before the episodes aired), and in the United Kingdom the following year by

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publish ...

. The movie stars

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 1 ...

as Simon Templar with

Sylvia Syms Sylvia May Laura Syms (born 6 January 1934) is an English actress, best known for her roles in the films ''Woman in a Dressing Gown'' (1957), ''Ice Cold in Alex'' (1958), ''No Trees in the Street'' (1959), ''Victim'' (1961), and ''The Tamari ...

Plot summary

Simon Templar is hired by a friend in the book publishing trade to protect one of his authors, a secretive recluse called Amos Klein who writes a popular series of spy novels. When he arrives at Klein's house in the country, he hears a woman's screams and several gunshots. Rushing to the rescue, he finds a woman tied up and gripping a revolver behind her back. He discovers that she is "Amos Klein", a woman who adopted a male pen name to increase sales of her novels. She explains that she has to be able to do everything her character in the novels does and that she was just doing some research. The pair are soon kidnapped by a group of people who claim to be members of

S.W.O.R.D. S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) is a fictional counterterrorism and intelligence agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Its purpose is to deal with extraterrestrial threats to world ...

, the evil organization from Amos Klein's novels. Their leader, "Warlock", the mastermind of the group, mistakenly assumes that Simon Templar is Amos Klein and that the woman is his secretary. The kidnappers want Amos Klein to plot a grandiose heist.

References

External links

* 1968 British novels Simon Templar books 1968 films Films directed by Roy Ward Baker The Crime Club books {{1960s-mystery-novel-stub