As I was getting ready to begin my review, I came across this extensive interview with Author Terry Irving by Blogger Nick Wale...so I decided to change my format a little and provide information about this fascinating novel's author!http://nickwale.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/meet-terry-irving/
http://nickwale.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/irving-unleashed-a-revealing-conversation-with-terry-irving/
http://nickwale.org/2013/02/27/irving-confidentially-an-inside-look-at-courier/
No! Not right now... He's not as mean as he looks in this pic LOL so check out lots of other ones...
I moved to Washington DC in 1973 to kick around for a few weeks until I decided on a real career. I ended up riding a classic BMW R50/2 for ABC News during Watergate.
Carrying that news film was the beginning of a 40-year career that has included producing Emmy Award-winning television news, writing everything from magazine articles to stand-up comedy and developing many of the earliest forms of online media. After producing stories in Beirut, Hong Kong, El Salvador and all 50 states, I still live right outside Washington, DC because my wife and my dog simplyrefuse to live anywhere else.
I thought it was ironic that this author was not picked up by an American publisher! The topic surely can't scare anybody now after soooo many years, right?
The Vietnam War--why it went on so long, why it was getting such a bad rep and why were we losing so many Americans, while, when those that did come back, were treated so badly!
Finally, a potential answer! Sure, it's fiction, but it sounded feasible to me. In fact, it sounded highly likely to have occurred! After you read Courier, do let me know if you agree that this book just might be sharing exactly what happened...
Courier
By Terry Irving
It felt like the motorcycle had become a part of his body--a part that made him whole. The back tire of the BMW R50/2 had started to lose traction on the crusted ice--ice that had hung around for months in the shadowed parts of the alley, where the sun never reached. The wheel was spinning now and drifting left, the back end approaching a ninety-
degree angle to the front, but Rick Putnam realized, with a bit of surprise, that he wasn't concerned... It was all reflex action--as automatic as walking.
~~~
He scanned the street in front of him, then, without moving his head, methodically checked behind him in the rearview mirror. Catching a glimpse of himself--something unusual since he never sought out mirrors--his startling blue eyes under deep brows stared back. Women might find them mesmerizing, but he regretted how they made him so easy to remember. Usually he wore dark sunglasses, but in today's gray afternoon light, sunglasses might result in one of those curious second looks that sometimes proved so inconvenient.
He had spent many years making sure he was neither noticed nor remembered...
...a specialist in the restoration of silence began his latest assignment...
~~~
Rick took off as soon as he had been given everything that would be used later that evening on the news. The others would follow after gathering up their gear. One of the guys had taken some extra footage and was trying to get it put in for use, so Rick grabbed everything while they continued to argue...
The specialist was ahead of Rick and was moving forward, By the time that he was done everybody involved in the interview would have been eliminated...
It had been going as planned, except for the Courier...
The first attempt on him failed...so did the second...
Rick had almost died during the war...he had been seriously hurt and presumed dead, so that they continued to throw additional bodies on top... some of the shots that hit him were from Americans as the battle had continued. When he was finally found, they fully expected him to die...
Rick had other plans...and you'll see that physically he was keeping himself in great shape, and had learned to be much more on alert in any and all situations. Only his emotional lapses and his nightmares continued... But all that he had done to prepare for his continued survival was now what was keeping him alive, even as others continued to try to eliminate the last individual involved in any way...
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| "What the hell do they want with you?" Rick turned to head outside. "They've already tried to kill me and even some of my friends to get it." "What the hell you got? You started selling smack all of a sudden? "Nothing that profitable," Rick said as he limped back into the sunlight. "Apparently, it's the reason all of us were stuck in the shit over in Nam for so long. The reason a lot of good guys died." He stood up slowly and walked to the garage door. The two Vietnamese were out of their car, facing off against the bikers. ~~~ |
If chase scenes are exciting additions for you, then this will be even more fantastic as bike versus auto comes often! It is amazing that Rick lived through everything, flying with two bikes that were his favorite "dance" partners
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| It was early evening when Rick stopped the bright green Kawasaki directly in front of the Datsun and blew the horn. As the two men jerked alert, he gave them the finger... The Kawasaki was one fast machine...Rick realized how drastically different it was to control this explosive crotch rocket... ~~~ |
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