by CW Browning (Author, Publisher), Jan Cramer (Narrator)

An Audiobook Novella

 THE COURIER, by C.W. Browning, is an excellent teaser to a series I want to read. Evelyn Ainsworth has been trained by “life” to be the perfect spy, although she doesn’t realize it and might not ever have chosen to step into that role. 

As the children of a British diplomat in Asia, Evelyn and her brother grew up learning languages, other useful skills, and daring acts. Evelyn enjoyed freedoms she would never have had in England, at least not as a girl.

As the story picks up, she is a young woman in 1938, enjoying Paris with her gentile relatives. Yes, Germany is being stirred up by some disagreeable fellow named Hitler, and France is mulling over what they should do about it. But it seems of no concern to Evelyn, sitting at a table sipping tea on the beautiful Champs-Élysées.

That is until her father asks her to deliver a package to his home office across town. There, she is asked if she’d be willing to make another delivery, this time from Germany.  It was an easy task. She had only to meet a man in a cafe, take a package from him and bring it back.  It sounded easy and exciting, and Evelyn gladly agreed. 

Things quickly got very complicated on this “easy” pick-up, as a German Security Officer surveils their meeting with way too much interest. Evelyn takes things into her own hands (GASP!), and a battle royale of wits and agility ensues.  

After a taste of danger, a look into the eyes of “evil,” and a string of impromptu lies she never dreamed she could tell flowing from her mouth, she makes it home.  But will Evelyn choose to continue in this subtle but dangerous war effort on behalf of freedom, or will she return to her upper-class lifestyle with a good story to tell?

Of course, you know how the answer!  I can’t wait to start reading THE OSLO AFFAIR, the full-length novel next in the series!