I had a chance to sit down today and chat with Brad Meltzer as he passed through Atlanta on his book tour for THE INNER CIRCLE.
For a guy who has dined with Presidents and has his own TV show (Brad Meltzer's DECODED on the History Channel) - not to mention written a slew of best-selling historical thrillers... I have to say, Brad is just a regular guy. As down to earth and warm and funny as you can possibly imagine, Brad Meltzer is a guy you'd happily have over for dinner.
His new book THE INNER CIRCLE is the story of Beecher White - and ordinary guy who happens to work at the National Archives and finds himself in the middle of a Presidential level conspiracy. The "Inner Circle" refers to a real group in history called The Culper Ring. It was a spy ring of "ordinary people" that was created by George Washington to help win the Revolutionary War. Thought to be disbanded just after that in real life - Brad creates a world where this supremely successful group still operates.
"George Washington had this incredibly successful group in place. Why would he end that?" says Brad.
The book brings us a couple of great new characters, a page-turning pace and a little bit of a cliff-hanger ending. But no worries, for the first time in his fiction writing career, Brad is doing a series!
I'm going to put it out there - if you haven't tried suspense or mystery for book club, THE INNER CIRCLE is a great place to start. A fast, fun read AND plenty to talk about both from a historical perspective and a character perspective.
Gotta dash -- I'm off to see Brad speak at the Margaret Mitchell House!
-- Dana Barrett, Contributing Editor
