The Inner Circle by Brad Meltzer is the eighth in a series of fiction as created by Mr. Meltzer, and luckily, our Library has most of them.  Each book is unique in its own way, and each has a compelling theme that does give you the opportunity to think.  I’ve been lucky enough to have read several of his previous works; they are all spell binding, a book that keeps you turning the pages ‘til very late at night.  Meltzer not only draws a plot that moves; his characters are so deeply painted that you recognize their faces and foibles in your friends and neighbors.

The author seems enthralled with historical facts of our country. Some of his books are set in the Capitol as this is.  The plot begins in the National Archives with the finding of a book with missing pages, a book that has been a part of George Washington’s personal library.

The workings of the Archives of the United States as opposed to the Library of Congress make up the mechanics of the book as the main characters are all Archivists with some specializing in Military History from our beginnings.  This is a totally fascinating book with a complex set of characters in a complicated plot; the good guys are bad and the bad guys are good!

Tick Tock , one of the latest books by James Patterson in conjunction with Michael Ledwidge, tells of his latest character, Michael Bennett, a detective in New York City.  Mr. Bennett is an interesting man of Irish descent and the adoptive father of ten.  While on vacation at his beach house in Queens, he is called back to work because of a serial killer who has taken on the style of several previous serial killers in NYC.

Patterson’s books are all very easily read; he divides his books into short chapters which make for very easy and quick reading.  His plots are interesting; they do catch your attention; they are not very deep but developed enough that all the pages hang together.  And his characters are   lightly glossed over.  But he is a master when it comes to description: ”Dapper as can be in a chalk-pinstripe Alexander McQueen power suit …”  Or upon returning to the beach house …”Boogie boards and blown-up flotation devices …” and “… as many beach towels as there were flags at the UN.”

Patterson seems to pull in a new writer to help; one always wonders how much he is really involved with the writing of the book?

“When an old person dies, a Library burns down”
Karin Gillespie