The Mailman, Andrew Welsh-Huggins (Mysterious Press, 2025). Meet Mercury Carter, a “mailman” like none other. Merc, as he prefers to be called, is the protagonist in Andrew Welsh-Huggins’ novel, fittingly titled The Mailman. Merc is totally dedicated to delivering packages, letters, even people to their designated destination. That isn’t always an easy task. In the opening chapter of Welsh-Huggins’ novel, Carter is trying to deliver a package to attorney Rachel Stanfield only to discover that she and her husband Glenn are being held hostage by a 4-man team of terrorists who have plans of their own for Rachel. They want her to tell them the location of a woman named Stella Wolford. Just why isn’t entirely clear. Stella is involved in a wrongful termination suit against her employer, a large health-care company that fired her for poor performance. Rachel claims to have no knowledge of Stella’s whereabouts; something the terrorists don’t believe.
It’s a good thing Carter arrives when he does because terrorist leader Finn and his three cohorts have some very nasty things planned for Rachel and her husband Glenn, who are expecting a child in a few months. Eventually, the thugs abscond with Rachel, leaving Glenn tied to a bomb in the basement. Merc is able to rescue Glenn just before the bomb explodes, but the effort to rescue pregnant Rachel proves to be more difficult and more dangerous.
Before further discussing the plot of The Mailman, let me discuss protagonist Mercury Carter in a little more detail. It could almost be said he was born to be some kind of deliveryman, even though as a kid, he aspired to be a professional baseball player. A broken ankle put a dent in those plans and the murder of his father at the hands of a drug runner brought them to a complete halt. Thereafter, Carter served as a gun-carrying agent for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service before a serious gunshot wound — not exactly suffered in the line of duty — forced him into private practice.
As a freelance mailman, Carter wears a utility vest with multiple pockets, each of which holds some useful tool or gadget. One pocket holds a blackjack, which helps Carter knock out one member of Finn’s team, another contains pliers Merc uses to detach Glenn from the bomb, still another yields latex gloves he uses to pick up supplies at a crime scene. No less important to Carter is the Baretta he carries in a holster, a weapon he uses more than once before Welsh-Huggins’ story ends. And perhaps most-important of all is Carter’s Uncle Dean, his “dispatcher” who keeps track of his whereabouts and provides him with valuable information at key moments.
As for the plot of The Mailman, it follows a fast-paced, sometimes helter-skelter path. Accompanied by Glenn, Carter pursues Finn and company to different places in Illinois and Indiana, hoping to rescue the captive Rachel. Along the way, they rescue Glenn’s daughter Abby, an unhappy private school student who the four thugs briefly hold captive. They also rescue a lawyer for the health-care company Stella Wolford is suing. Swirling around the pursuit are questions that aren’t answered until near the end: What exactly is Carter trying to deliver to Rachel Stanfield? Who is the mystery man the four thugs are working for? Why does he want to get his hands on Stella Wolford? What is the significance of the number 227?
Welsh-Huggins’ writing is crisp and insightful. His use of the third-person omniscient POV allows him to reveal how other characters besides Carter view what’s happening around them and to them. I have only one criticism of The Mailman: Occasionally, plot developments seem a bit implausible. Carter seems just a little too lucky sometimes. That’s even more true for Rachel who (thankfully) does not lose her unborn child despite being bound, gagged, blindfolded, and manhandled by her captors.
The story ends with Welsh-Huggins’ hero preparing to embark on another adventure in Lynn, Massachusetts. I’m guessing that adventure will unfold in Welsh-Huggins’ next Mercury Carter book, The Delivery. I plan to put this new novel high on my reading list.