The Inner Circle

There are stories no one knows. Hidden stories. I love those stories. And since I work in the National Archives, I find those stories for a living. Beecher White, a young archivist, spends his days working with the most important documents of the U.S. government. He has always been the keeper of other people's stories, never a part of the story himself... Until now. When Clementine Kaye, Beecher's first childhood crush, shows up at the National Archives asking for his help tracking down her long-lost father, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the President of the United States privately reviews classified documents. After they accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact - a 200 hundred-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington, hidden underneath a desk chair, Beecher and Clementine find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder. Soon a man is dead, and Beecher is on the run as he races to learn the truth behind this mysterious national treasure. His search will lead him to discover a coded and ingenious puzzle that conceals a disturbing secret from the founding of our nation. It is a secret, Beecher soon discovers, that some believe is worth killing for. Gripping, fast-paced, and filled with the fascinating historical detail for which he is famous, The Inner Circle is a thrilling novel that once again proves Brad Meltzer as a brilliant author writing at the height of his craft.

The new adventure-packed thriller by the New York Times bestselling authors of Riptide, The Relic, and The Ice Limit.

THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, like The Relic, takes place in and around New York's Museum of Natural History.

Publishers Weekly

In seven bestselling novels (from Relic to The Ice Limit), Preston and Child have delivered a body of science-based thrillers that for high excitement and robust scientific imaginings rival those of Michael Crichton. Their eighth outing is another richly entertaining tale, about the hunt for a seemingly immortal serial killer at work in New York City. Preston and Child revive characters and settings from earlier novels, often a red flag that authorial imagination is tiring; but in this case, all comes together with zing. There's FBI Special Agent Pendergast (from Relic), pale, refined and possessed of a Holmes-like brain; dogged New York Times reporter William Smithback Jr. and his fiery erstwhile girlfriend, Nora Kelly of the New York (read American, where Preston used to work) Museum of Natural History (both characters from Thunderhead with the museum the setting for Relic). The action begins when groundbreaking for an apartment tower in downtown Manhattan reveals a charnel house of murder victims from the late 19th century. Enter Pendergast, who for unexplained reasons taps Kelly to study the remains before the site is stripped by the building's developer, a Donald Trump-type who, with the mayor's backing, will accept no construction delays. As Kelly calls on Smithback for investigative help, the city is struck by killings that duplicate the earlier murders, with the victims' spinal cords ripped away and clues pointing to a 19th-century scientist who sought the secret of immortality. Featuring fabulous locales, colorful characters, pointed riffs on city and museum politics, cool forensic and paleontological speculation and several gripping set pieces including an extended white-knuckle climax, this a great beach novel, at times gruesome, always fun: Preston-Child at the top of their game. (June 3) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

SUMMARY: Beecher White is a young archivist who works with the most important documents of the US government. When Clementine Kaye, his first childhood crush, shows up at the Archives, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the President privately reviews classified documents. It's also where Benjy and Clementine accidentally find a priceless artifact - a 200-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington - hidden inside a desk chair. Eager to discover why the President is hiding this national treasure, the two find themselves entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder that will reveal the most well kept secret of the US Presidency. In downtown Manhattan, a gruesome discovery has just been made-an underground charnel house containing the bones of dozens of murder victims. Research reveals that a serial killer was at work in New York's notorious Five Points neighborhood in the 1880s, bent on prolonging his lifespan by any means. When a newspaper story on the old murders appears to ignite a new series of horrifyingly similar killings, panic overtakes New York City. Now, FBI agent Pendergast, journalist Bill Smithback, and archaeologist Nora Kelly join forces to protect themselves from a vicious killer...before they become the next victims. A young archivist working in the National Archives and his childhood crush accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact--a 200-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington--hidden inside a desk chair. Eager to discover why the President is hiding this important national treasure, the two soon find themselves entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder that will reveal the most well-kept secret of the U.S. Presidency. A young archivist working in the National Archives and his childhood crush accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact--a 200-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington--hidden inside a desk chair. Eager to discover why the President is hiding this important national treasure, the two soon find themselves entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder that will reveal the most well kept secret of the U.S. Presidency "In an ancient tunnel underneath New York City a charnel house is discovered. Inside are thirty-six bodies, all murdered and mutilated more than a century ago. While FBI agent Pendergast investigates the old crimes, identical killings start to terrorize the city. The nightmare has begun. Again." -- P. [4] of cover A gruesome discovery has just been made in Manhattan - a cache of the bones of dozens of murder victims. Evidently a serial killer operated in New York's notorious Five Points neighbourhood in the 1880s. Then a news story on the old murders appears to ignite a fresh series of similar killings. When New York City construction workers uncover the remains of thirty-six people murdered and dismembered over 130 years ago, archaeologist Nora Kelly and Special Agent Pedergast set out to investigate the killings