Jay MacLarty Books In Order

Publication Order of Simon Leonidovich Books

Jay MacLarty
Jay MacLarty was born in December 30, 1943 in Spirit Lake, Iowa, and grew up in Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. During adulthood, he lived for extended periods of time in Colorado, Nevada, Florida, and California. Jay has been married twice (not all that successful ones), and has two kids.

By the time he turned thirty, he had owned liquor stores, restaurants, and nightclubs, before founding a software company and a string of retail stores. Jay also wrote one of the first computerized handicapping programs for thoroughbred racing.

Jay, who was always an avid reader, finally turned his attention to the written word, working nights and weekends on a sweeping and lengthy ethnic saga. The manuscript was reviewed well, however judge too literary and long for a first-time novelist, and he was told he should go write the popular novel first.

That book wound up becoming “The Courier”, the first in a series of books starring Simon Leonidovich, a common-man hero. It is a high-tech thriller that draws on MacLarty’s unique background of politics, high-tech, and business.

All four of MacLarty’s novels were nominated for Barry Awards.

Jay’s debut novel, called “The Courier”, was released in the year 2003. His work is from the science fiction genre.

He died December 23, 2010 at the age of 67.

“The Courier” is the first novel in the “Simon Leonidovich” series and was released in the year 2003. The Courier’s Motto is that the package always shows up undamaged, unopened, and in one piece. However, the courier might not be so lucky.

Simon Leonidovich is just an average-looking guy, with more frequent-flyer miles than most airline pilots and a disarming smile. He is an international and high-tech courier of different “packages” that range from nuclear materials to human organs and priceless works of art. When he accepts a job to make a pickup at a tiny laboratory in Sweden, it appears to be just another easy job, until somebody sets him up to take a fall.

All of a sudden, he is on the run, attempting to protect secret data capable of saving the lives of millions and destroy one international corporate merger. The cops want him for a murder. One psychotic hired killer wants him for the pleasure of killing and for the package. Simon only wants to stay alive.

Readers found this to be a fun thriller with quite the original premise and protagonist. This is quite the page turner that has readers seeking out the rest of the books in the series. Jay does a fantastic job of building the entanglement of the independent courier into this cover-up.

“Bagman” is the second novel in the “Simon Leonidovich” series and was released in the year 2004. A high-risk courier’s job is quite simple. You pick up something, and you drop it off. The hard part is not getting killed doing it.

Kyra, Big Jake Rynerson’s daughter, one of the wealthiest men in the world, gets kidnapped while in the Galapagos Islands. Simon is hired to deliver the ransom. Playing a billionaire’s bagman is not that simple, not when so many people stand to gain by her disappearance, and not when somebody close to Big Jake plays for the wrong team. To make things complicated, and Simon finds himself falling for Caitlin Wells, Big Jake’s clever and enticing assistant, however she might be the one scheming to control the Rynerson empire.

When the money drop is botched, the stakes get lethal for Kyra and Simon. From the flashy lights of Vegas to the dark jungles in Colombia, Simon matches his wits against a cold-blooded foe that seems to know each one of his moves. Now he has to somehow finish the job, save the girl, and find out who has been pulling the strings before his pursuers deliver him right into an unmarked grave.

This is a superb thriller with some strong action sequences in it. There was one section that made some hold their breath in anticipation as to what would happen. Simon has some great self-deprecating humor, that blends nicely with the fast pace. The novel is rather compelling in terms of character and plot.

“Live Wire” is the third novel in the “Simon Leonidovich” series and was released in the year 2006. For the right price, Simon will deliver anything, anywhere. This time, the cost might be too much.

Faced with the urgent news that North Korea intends to sell all its nuclear weapons indiscriminately on the black market, the US president has to resort to the unthinkable. He secretly offers supporting a North Korean faction that is intent on overthrowing Kim Jong-il’s government.

To facilitate this lethal covert operation, Simon Leonidovich gets recruited to deliver some vital CIA documents to North Korean dissidents. However, when Simon finds he is trapped behind enemy lines with this incriminating evidence, he finds the real nature of the threat. One elaborate conspiracy from somebody inside the administration who wants to take the president down.

“Choke Point” is the fourth novel in the “Simon Leonidovich” series and was released in the year 2007. Simon gets drawn into a game of international intrigue in the new gaming capital of the world, the odds have been stacked against him like never before.

Big Jake Rynerson, as he is overseeing the frenzied yet suspiciously troubled construction of his huge new Macau mega resort, called The Pacific Pearl, works in secret with the president of the United States. This is in order to frame a new international trade agreement, the Pacific Rim Alliance, between Taiwan, China, and America.

Simon, to help forge this partnership, the guy that is able to deliver anything to anywhere, is asked to return one priceless artifact, known as the Crest of Ch’in, to the People’s Republic of China. There are many shadow forces, however, that view a Sino-American alliance as a threat to their interests. With the opening of the Pacific Pearl just a few weeks away, one violent attack leaves Big Jake in a fight for his life. And the guy that is able to save the Alliance struggles to save himself.