“The Inner Circle” by Brad Meltzer

                I took on Brad Melzer’s prior book based upon the intriguing premise of what Superman and Cain from the Bible had in common.  Thoroughly pleased with that excellent work, I eagerly awaited the opportunity to read this latest offering “The Inner Circle”.  The man’s way of writing a story plot and theme together with such intricacy up can seem like down; right and seem like left, and reverse can seem like full throttle ahead.  There is never anything boring about a Brad Meltzer book; complicated at tiomes, yes; demanding of one’s full attention, of course; but dull and predictable, never.

                The setting for the story is Washington D.C.  The main character is an archivist at the National Archives, the primary distinction being the repository for this country’s founding documents.  The plot approaches from two vantage points: first, there is a president who uses his free time to relax in some reading of those documents at the Archives, where he is sequestered in his own secure room with an archivist on call.  It is discovered, quite by accident, that the room the president uses is also being used as a conduit for secret message, from which one side of the message correspondence is coming from the historic Culper Ring, a network of civilian spies who helped George Washington during the Revolutionary War.  Whether these are messages to and from the president, or correspondence originating from two entirely different sources is unknown; but at this juncture is where the game becomes afoot.

                The other avenue from which the story weaves its plot – seemingly unrelated, but eventually weaving around the president appears in the form of a woman who attended school with the main character, Beecher, the archivist.

                Beecher is not merely another archivist who goes about his job every day.  He is noted for his ability to help the most people who visit the National Archives seeking their assistance.  Couple this trait with a recent breakup with his girlfriend, and this woman from his school days easily receives the assistance she seeks in locating the identity of her father.

                These two stories dovetail when she becomes one of three people in the secure room when the secret message from the Culper Gang to the president (or not?) is discovered.

                A tantalizing read, I enjoyed the myriad of characters, the richness of their depth.  The historical aspect is always a thrill.  Whenever an author can blend historical fact in with their fictionalized narrative it leaves one with a tale to not only entertain but also inform, which is what I believe Brad Meltzer accomplishes here.

                However, there are moments where the fiction and the fact can be so closely intertwined separating one from the other might become too arduous a trek for some readers to attempt.  It can become tiresome when too many twists and turns are given and the characters that follow you along though the story, their motives are never clear until the very end.  In other words, any of the good guys can be the villains, and any of the villains could be the good guys.  None of it is clear until the very end.  And as to any conclusion, this was a very good book to read – especially for those searching for something out of the ordinary – but in a matchup with The Book of Lies, The Book of Lies wins.