“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.

"The Lost Symbol " by Dan Brown

When I was questioned as to whether I planned on reading this book, my typical response fell somewhere in-between the lines of the ‘maybe later’ reply.  The stories from the two previous books featuring Robert Langdon proved themselves entertaining, but there was nothing compelling about either one to convince me into dropping my current reading list to join ‘Lost Symbol’ mania.  

Then a coworker set the book on my desk in an almost challenging gesture, forcing me to respond…

Not to my surprise, what I discovered was another page-turner.  Just as with “The DaVinci Code” and “Angels & Demons”, Brown leads a reader with promises of historical teaching moments, pseudo-conspiracy theories, villainous brilliance, and the possibility of simple truth revealed for the first time.  There is a wonder at how much of what he alleges is actual reality versus embellished beliefs.  That curiosity creates a sort of American mythology that could possibly be true, or could be the impossible-to-prove stuff of legend.  The constant ‘is it real; or is it mere fiction’ quandary draws the reader forward to the story’s culmination.  

Then there is the question of the Masons.  Are the Masons as intricately connected to American success as proposed?  From this one reader’s perspective, whenever the Masons are discussed, that discussion is always followed with a litany of famous historical characters claimed as Masons.  When those same historical characters are written of, any involvement in Masonry is never mentioned.  It seems Brown masters the ability of offering just enough truth in his fiction to make whatever is not actuality, a possible fact; hence part of the reason this book is so easy to turn from one page to the next.  You not only desire to see how Robert Langdon solves the riddling mystery posed to him by the villain, but you also find yourself wanting to know just how much of what Robert Langdon states is real.

The bottom line, in my opinion, is anyone who enjoyed the previous stories from Dan Brown, they will enjoy this one as well.  It is worth the read; it holds a person’s interest quite easily.  However, and I include this as a caveat, the ending fails to coalesce with the plot.  Not only does the villain (a superb blend of brilliance and insanity) alter his focus from ascending into heaven to become like God (what the ‘lost symbol’ is meant to reveal), but the summation given by two of Brown’s characters in the final few chapters makes no sense.  Brown is obviously trying to infuse his story with a bit of heart, to lift it above the status of mere thriller, i.e. some ‘meaning’ readers can take away after the last page is read, but he misses that mark.  ‘The Lost Symbol’ is an excellent thriller.  Period.