The Courier

Simon Leonidovich #1

by Jay MacLarty

An international courier specializing in high-tech, sensitive, and extremely valuable parcels, Simon Leonidovich finds his latest assignment going badly awry when his young sister is kidnapped, he becomes the target of a global police manhunt as a murder suspect, and a psychotic hired assassin targets him for death. Original.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Crime

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Jay Hector MacLarty was an American entrepreneur and novelist known for his thrillers featuring professional courier Simon Leonidovitch. Born in Spirit Lake, Iowa, he spent his early years in Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. By the age of thirty, he had owned restaurants, nightclubs, and liquor stores before founding a series of retail stores and a software company. He also developed one of the first computerized handicapping programs for thoroughbred racing.
MacLarty later turned to fiction writing, taking a break from his software business to pursue his passion. His first novel, a thousand-page manuscript, remained unpublished, leading him to focus on writing commercially appealing thrillers. This resulted in a four-book series published by Simon & Schuster: The Courier (2003), Bagman (2004), Live Wire (2006), and Choke Point (2007). Each novel was nominated for a Barry Award, with Bagman receiving a starred review in Publishers Weekly.
Beyond writing, MacLarty was an active leader in the Las Vegas Writer's Group, helping aspiring writers advance their careers.

Reviews

[Farhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, techno-savvy thriller with quite an original premise as well as protoganist. Simon owns a private courier service and is a no-questions-asked, globetrotting delivery man who gets involved with an international pharmaceutical company trying to hide the fact that the thirty-three million users of its wonder weight-loss drug might be risking death due to a fatal side-effect of the medicine. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

[Brett]

Thriller

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 1st of the Simon Leonidovich stories. Enjoyed...a page turner and I will continue to rread the series.

[Kaylol · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's quite good.

[Scout · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. The author did a good job of building the entanglement of an independent courier into a cover-up.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started reading this on the train out to visit a friend, and ended up finishing it the same day. A bit cliched in parts, but enjoyable like a summer blockbuster.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great first book in the series.