Brad Meltzer introduces us to more mystery in the Nation’s Capital with The Inner Circle. The first installment in The Culper Ring series is filled with suspense, thrilling action and so much more!
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 200 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.
While I knew the name Brad Meltzer, I first his books through his Conspiracy series, but lately, I’ve been exploring his fiction stories. The Inner Circle opens with vibes of my favorite go-to movie National Treasure. However, the book quickly deviated in a way that left me wanting more—but not necessarily in a good way. While the story isn’t a bad read, my expectations were a bit high on this one.
The Inner Circle delivers a story that is far more grounded in reality than something like the National Treasure film series. Instead of finding a hidden message on the back of the Declaration of Independence, we get a tale centered around concealed truths. The plot itself was fantastic, but the execution of said plot is where it fell flat for me. On top of that, I feel the story could’ve been told in about 100 less pages.
The book does a solid job kicking off The Culper Ring series giving it plenty of intrigue and potential. Despite the small flaws, I’m still excited to see where Beecher and the rest of the series go next.
The Inner Circle is available at bookstores everywhere from Grand Central Publishing. The audiobook, narrated by Scott Brick, is available at Libro.fm!
