The Book of Fate » (Reprint)

No stodgy legal thrillers here: Brad Meltzer s exhaustively researched, swiftly paced, enormously inventive novels feature young, whip-smart characters who find themselves in high places -- which means they have a long way to fall. The mix, and the suspense, make for an intoxicating read.

Six minutes from now, one of us would be dead. None of us knew it was coming. So says Wes Holloway, a young presidential aide, about the day he put Ron Boyle, the chief executive's oldest friend, into the presidents limousine. By the trips end, a crazed assassin would permanently disfigure Wes a kill Boyle. Now, eight years later, Boyle has been spotted alive. Trying to figure out what really happened takes Wes back into disturbing secrets buried in Freemason history, a decade-old presidential crossword puzzle, and a two-hundred-year old code invented by Thomas Jefferson that conceals secrets worth dying for.

The Washington Post - Maureen Corrigan

Readers don't turn to Brad Meltzer's suspense stories for psychological insight or brooding atmosphere. Insider knowledge of everyday life in politics, rock-'em sock-'em action and conspiracy tales that begin tamely enough and vault into the realm of breathless improbability are Meltzer's signature strengths. Squarely in this tradition, his latest outing, The Book of Fate, is sure to please those readers who like to store up stockpiles of cynicism about the private lives of their elected officials.