The President's Shadow, by Brad Meltzer

Brad Meltzer has a love of arcane historical information and events.  The President's Shadow, book three of his "The Culper Ring Series," picks up with archivist Beecher White looking for answers about his father's mysterious military career.  Part of the answer seems to be gripped in the hand of a severed arm, dug up by the First Lady in her garden, only steps from the Oval Office. . . .

Meltzer somehow makes the bizarre and improbable sound sort of believable.  His vision of Washington, the presidency, and the Secret Service is filled with secrets, schemes, obsessions, insanity, stealth, and double-dealing.  I know some of that goes on in the highest levels of power, whether in the U.S. government or elsewhere.  But in Meltzers's world it all takes on an air of cartoonish silliness couched in earnest actors and perilous actions.

Lest you think I'm completely slamming The President's Shadow, if you've read the first two Culper Ring books, you won't be a bit surprised by my assessment.  Fans of the first two will enjoy The President's Shadow.  If you haven't read them, you may feel lost from time to time.  From the discovery of the arm in the first pages, through the marginally believable climactic scene on Devil's Island, the reader just has to suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!