 Much of Hornung 's work fell out of favour as time passed ; Rowland observed that " all of Hornung 's other works have been forgotten , with the possible exception of Stingaree , but the cricketing Cracksman continues to <unk> " . The idea of a criminal as a positive character was one of Hornung 's legacies , and Twentieth @-@ Century Literary Criticism states that " critics have also interpreted Raffles as a prototype of the <unk> in modern crime fiction " . The academic Frank <unk> Chandler , describing Raffles 's death , writes that " all his creator 's attempts to portray him as a hero , rather than an anti @-@ hero , <unk> fail . " Valentine highlights one aspect of the stories was the mix of " <unk> and daring " demonstrated by Raffles ; in this respect he was a literary " forerunner of The Saint , James Bond and other <unk> types " . The writer Colin Watson agrees , and called Hornung " a precursor of [ Ian ] Fleming " . 
