The Fourth Courier

The Fourth Courier by Timothy Jay Smith is an espionage story and murder mystery set in 1992 Poland. We learn early in the story that the fourth courier was murdered under similar circumstances to the first three – with a severe knife wound to the face and a bullet through the heart. The author wrote, “Post-communist Poland, with its porous borders in the East and West, had quickly become a freeway for unlawful trafficking.” When the local cops were unable to make headway with their investigation, Minister Brzeski, head of the ministry in charge of law enforcement, asked for help from the FBI, and Agent Jay Porter volunteered for the assignment. The case took on added significance when it was determined that the shoes of the couriers were contaminated with radioactive material. It appeared that someone was trying to smuggle material for an atomic bomb out of Russia and through Poland.

The reader was introduced to most of the key figures within the first few pages of the book. I thought the portrayal of Polish society and the poverty of their living conditions in 1992 was probably accurate. I’ll not give away the plot other than to say that Smith brought this plot of shifting and uncertain alliances to a satisfactory ending. There was lots of sex and violence which was all depicted in a believable manner. This is my first book by Smith although it is his fourth novel. This one gets my recommendation.