Courier: Book 1 of Freelancer Series (1) - Softcover

Irving, Terry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0986087319 ISBN 13: 9780986087318

Publisher: Ronin Robot Press, 2015

Synopsis

It's 1972. The Watergate scandal has Washington on edge and Rick Putnam, a Vietnam veteran and courier for a national television network, is trying to get his life back together after the ordeal of war. He's found that pushing his motorcycle to the limit wipes out the terrible nightmares--for a while. But it all turns real when Rick picks up film from a crew interviewing a government worker with a hot story. Within hours, both crew and witness are dead and Rick is in the killer's crosshairs.

About this title

Review:

"Peabody Award-winner Irving, a veteran TV news writer and producer, uses his own formative experiences in the business as the starting point for this conspiracy thriller set in Washington, D.C., in 1972. Rick Putnam survived his tour of duty in Vietnam, but remains haunted by his experiences there. He now works as a courier for the Associated Broadcast Network, transporting film from the field back to the studio on his motorcycle. After Rick picks something up from the network's top investigative journalist, Joe Hadley, a hit man takes out Hadley and his crew, the first of a number of murders carried out to conceal the contents of the images Rick was given. The next victim is an accountant Hadley interviewed who worked for the Committee for the Reelection of the President. Though that revelation signals that the bloodshed is connected with the White House, Irving uses a lesser-known allegation of Nixonian villainy as his payoff. The fast-paced action will appeal to Baldacci and Meltzer fans" --Publishers Weekly "An action-packed tale of murder and political intrigue set in the politically turbulent 1970s.... Irving portrays [courier Rick Putnam] as a classic pulp-fiction hero: a chiseled, chain-smoking ex-soldier who's always ready with snappy quips. ... Irving's story is relentlessly paced, punctuated by bursts of action and violence, and driven by artfully unfolding suspense.... An exciting and gritty...thriller." --Kirkus Reviews "The suspense never lets up from the first page to the last. Rick Putnam is a recent Vietnam vet in the early 1970s who works as a courier for a Washington, DC television station while trying to put his life back together after being injured in the war...."Courier" is a tense story set in the days before social media, when news professionals still need to develop film in a dark room and splice footage together. Author Terry Irving clearly knows the inside of the news business in a different time..." ---Reviewed by Kathleen Heady for Suspense Magazine

About the Author:

I am an Emmy Award-winning television journalist—Ted Koppel called me "Nightline's best breaking news producer." I've spent 4 decades covering Washington’s scandals and scoundrels at CNN, MSNBC, ABC, and many other media outlets. My work at the network level has earned me a shelf filled with Emmys and an urge to write something longer than 20 seconds. I’ve tried to put this experience into every page of Courier, a journey behind the headlines and into the very real heart of the nation's capital. I did start out as a motorcycle courier in 1973 and I wish I could say that I based the character of Rick Putnam on myself--but he's far tougher, stronger and better-looking.

About this edition

• Publisher: Ronin Robot Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0986087319
• ISBN 13: 9780986087318
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 302
• Illustrator: Castle Nick