The Inner Circle
by Brad Meltzer
Copyright: 2011
Pages: 457
Rang: 5/5
Read: Nov. 18-25, 2010
Challenge: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 60
Format: E-Book
First Line: He knew the room was designed to hold secrets.
“There are stories no one knows. Hidden stories. I love those stories. And since I work in the National Archives, I find those stories for a living. “Beecher White, a young archivist, spends his days working with the most important documents of the U.S. government. He has always been the keeper of other people’s stories, never a part of the story himself . . .Until now. When Clementine Kaye, Beecher’s first childhood crush, shows up at the National Archives asking for his help tracking down her long-lost father, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the President of the United States privately reviews classified documents. After they accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact—a two-hundred-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington—hidden underneath a desk chair, Beecher and Clementine find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder. Soon a man is dead and Beecher is on the run as he races to learn the truth behind this mysterious national treasure. His search will lead him to discover a coded and ingenious puzzle that conceals a disturbing secret from the founding of our nation. It is a secret, Beecher soon discovers, that some believe is worth killing for.
I was able to request this book directly from the publisher, Hachette Book Group, through the website http://netgalley.com. This is truly a great source for those who enjoy ARCs, but would like to have them in the e-reader format. Anyways, on to the review. I have never read a Brad Meltzer book before, even though I have two or three of his previous books on my shelves. However, when I first stumbled across the information regarding the upcoming release of this book, I was immediately intrigued. I was a history major in college, so anything with a Presidential/Historical aspect will usually catch my interest. And the fact that this book had murder, conspiracy and a little bit of history … well, it was a home run for me! I was immediately taken in with the storyline, I loved the whole idea of the president of the United States going into the National Archives to perhaps send and receive secret messages. I liked how the story unraveled right in front of my eyes, especially when I was trying my hardest to find out who Beecher, the main character, should trust and who he should not trust. I wanted to scream at Beecher sometimes because of how stupid he was acting because he was supposedly lovestruck. Overall, I truly enjoyed this book and I know that it will do well with other readers when it hits bookstores early in January 2011. I would highly recommend this book to anyone and I am definitely looking forward to getting to some of the other Meltzer books that I have in my TBR pile.
Tales of a Book Addict 