THE COURIER
Re-printed at least twice in the UK. The book was recently sold to a Russian Publishers so there is indeed a Russian version
Russ looks like he can't believe his luck as, clipboard under arm, he helps adjust the bikini of a beautiful, giggling blonde. Gone is the sheepish look of previous covers. Russ is really starting to enjoy himself these days! There is a second edition that has blue & yellow text rather than blue & orange and the tagline is different. 10/10
Lock up your women, Russ Tobin's back!
At the start of the book it's just before Christmas, Russ is 24 and has been in London since June. He's working in TV doing adverts and hanging out with his buddy Tony Dane in the questionably titled "Kum Kum Club". On page 49 he meets Vicki Hurst, who works as a Holiday Courier and by the time Russ has "got to know her" properly (on Page 65!) - the idea of becoming a Courier is starting to appeal to him. His success in the White Marvel Soap Powder adverts renders him unemployable on TV for at least a year so it seems an ideal solution. It isn't until Page 122 that he finally lands a job as a Courier in Magaluf, Majorca - starting on 13th March until the season ends on October 20th! Like The Debt Collector - Russ is only actually employed as per the book title for a few short chapters. But don't worry - there is a whole other book full of Russ's Majorcan adventures to come. On Page 138 he meets fellow Courier and soon to be partner-in-crime - the girl-crazy Irishman Patrick Holmes. On Page 188 he gets a letter from Tony Dane saying that he's coming to stay for the whole month of June. You can guess the rest.
Page 12
Page 33 - Tony and Russ take June and Eileen back to their flat whereupon they get to see a home movie of the two girls stripping off, and then a full on blue movie (which in the pre-internet era was clearly quite a shock to young Russ. He claims this is the first time he's ever witnessed such an explicit film, bless him). The lads and girls pair off (even though they have the option of all joining in together, Russ is too much of a genteleman to countenance such an idea), and it's only the next morning when Russ & Tony realise that all was not quite as it seemed...
Page 15 in the pub, then on Page 23 back at the Girl's flat. On Page 63 Russ imparts some VODKA KNOWLEDGE when asked if he always drinks Vodka - "Ever since I discovered its gentle affinity with my head in the mornings. Whiskey had endowed it with some real thumpers. Gin is pernicious and gives me indigestion. Rum stinks. There's not much left."
Page 8
Perhaps it's that being a Courier is a really tough 24hr a day job and not the non-stop girl-fest you would expect (although Russ has a damn good try...) but in actual fact it's more basic than that. Take chances and follow a dream. Everything happens for a reason.
A good one - the White Marvel money is pivotal to the whole Tobin story arc across the series and what better place for him to end up than on a beach. 9/10 |