The President’s Shadow

Bestseller Meltzer’s third near-future Culper Ring thriller (after 2013’s The Fifth Assassin) opens with a great dramatic image: First Lady Shona Wallace finding a severed arm in the White House Rose Garden. This grim discovery leads President Orson Wallace to consult Beecher White, a member of the Ring, which was founded by George Washington to “protect the presidency” and at present consists of only six members. The two men have a complicated relationship: Beecher once saved Wallace’s life, but also believes that the chief executive committed a violent crime as a college student. Beecher agrees to help Wallace when he learns that the dead man’s hand was clutching a flattened penny that could have a link to the mysterious death, many years before, of Beecher’s father, who was a mechanic in the Army. Fans of historical conspiracy fiction will find a lot to like, but readers should be prepared for thin characters and a wildly over-the-top plot. [em]10-city author tour. Agent: Jill Kneerim, Kneerim, Williams & Bloom Agency. (June) [/em]