Customer Reviews

Live Wire: A Simon Leonidovich Novel

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Yay! Jay Maclarty has once again written a terrifyingly realistic scenario. Simon Leonidovich is hired as a courier by the US president. His package? Documents indicating US support for the overthrow of the Korean government. Only when the hand-off goes terribly wrong, does Simon start to suspect that his mission may not be what it seems. Now all he has to do is find out who is setting up the President, and stop them, avoiding people who would love to see him dead.
No one can send a reader careening around the world like MacLarty. From the too-tight seats on an airplane to a lock-box on a Mekong river trawler, he sends his readers places most people never go. And with good reason.

In Jay MacLarty's fictional universe, Simon Leonidovich is the best at what he does, which is to make deliveries of just about anything --- documents, computer discs, whatever you want --- quickly. MacLarty has infused his character with a unique appeal. By no means is Leonidovich a tough guy, which makes him more believable than many in the thriller genre. He doesn't drop kick through doors or scissor-jump his way out of cars the way I saw someone else in his chosen field do in a movie recently. What Leonidovich can do, however, is think on (and with) his feet, a skill that has served him in good stead and that he utilizes once again in LIVE WIRE.

LIVE WIRE is the third of the Leonidovich novels, and it is possibly the most ambitious one to date. Leonidovich is retained to transport different sets of documents back and forth between the United States and North Korea. The whole setup seems a little bizarre to him, and sure enough, he's been selected as both the vessel and sacrificial lamb as part of a plot to carry out a coup d'etat upon the U.S. government. Leonidovich doesn't sacrifice well, however, and the plot begins to unravel almost from its unfortunate beginning. The problem is that Leonidovich knows much more than is good for him, even though he really doesn't know much at all.

One thing he doesn't know is that an old and deadly adversary of his has been unleashed, one who will stop at nothing to avenge himself upon Leonidovich and who is greatly looking forward to getting the job done. Leonidovich may have the might and majesty of certain elements of the United States government against him, but he is not without resources of his own. Big Jake Rynerson is there to help, of course, as is Victoria Halle, Leonidovich's intrepid assistant. And, interestingly enough, resolution is obtained on at least one front with assistance from a somewhat unexpected source.

LIVE WIRE is perhaps not quite as tight a novel as its predecessors, THE COURIER and BAGMAN, but it's still great fun and a rapid read that will give fans of MacLarty and Leonidovich their money's worth. This is a series that should continue to enlarge its fan base for quite some time to come.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

The Director of the CIA has discovered that the president has committed many felonious acts to fill his financial coffers; if POTUS' actions become known, he will be impeached and probably convicted of crimes. Knowing the country cannot absorb such a traumatic crisis at this time, the CIA head comes up with a clever way of overthrowing the President and replacing him with the General, his superior in the army.

Tucker convinces the President that North Korean possesses a nuclear bomb that the rogue nation plans to sell on the weapons market. To prevent that from happening, he convinces POTUS to back rebels who want a democratic unified Korea. For Tucker's hidden agenda to succeed, someone must be caught in North Korea with papers describing the President's intent to overthrow the regime, an illegal act. Courier Simon Leonidovich is the chosen fall guy, but he escapes the trap. Tucker's minions have orders to assassinate him on sight. Simon knows what has occurred and hopes to reach DC where he figures he faces further attempts on his life to shut him up.

LIVE WIRE is a frightening thriller because the events seem plausible. The characters with the exceptions of Simon and the CIA Director are stereotypes symbolizing ideas and concepts rather than people; to a degree so are Simon and the CIA chief with the courier trying to do the ethically correct thing and stay alive while the spymaster wants the crook out of the White House. There is plenty of action and political intrigue in Jay MacLarty's cat and mouse thriller, which depending on who survives will determine the direction of the United States.

Harriet Klausner

This is the second 'Bagman' novel I have read. The first one was okay a little over the top and illogical, this one however goes way beyond that it's almost a comic book without the pictures. It's the kind of book you skim through instead of reading. The plot (such as it is) is silly, the characters more cardboard then creative. I can't recommend this book to anyone unless you have nothing else to read.