The Inner Circle (Culper Ring, #1) by Brad Meltzer

The Inner Circle (Culper Ring, #1) Reviews

• 
  Tom Callaway

  This was my first Brad Meltzer book, and it started out well, but as time went on, a few things became painfully obvious:
  1. "No one is who they appear to be at first." And I mean, no one. Not a single named character escapes this cliche.
  2. Towards the second half of the book, we get hit with Dan-Brown mini chapters, intended to add suspense, but only achieve a sense of talking to the reader as if he/she is 5 years old.
  3. The plot gets more and more and more convoluted...I halfway expected space aliens or mole people to emerge as the masterminds. Then again, when the plot collapses on itself in a rushed made-for-tv movie-like dramatic moment (in a puddle, in a cave) we're repeatedly reminded by the author that he has left plot threads dangling, unresolved...
  4. ... because he's already working on a sequel! Did you notice that I introduced these unresolved plot threads during the final 75 pages? Then pointed them out in mini-chapters?
  
  Meltzer seems like a smart guy, well versed in historical and military lore, but this book feels like his publisher requested a "Dan Brown series of novels".
• 
  Mike

  I love books with the whole historical conspiracy thing and I like Brad Meltzer, but this one was a miss. Since it's a Brad Meltzer book, I expect a certain amount of sad sackness to the protagonist, but this one was too much to take. And there were too many moments where everything stopped for exposition from people who would not normally do such a thing, in situations that no one would normally do it. And some situations, I just didn't buy. If you've never read Meltzer's books, do yourself a favor and read The Zero Game instead.
• 
  Mike (the Paladin)

  Let me go slowly here...I wish I could find a way to rate this book by various categories within the book. In other words I give the idea/plot 5 stars and the actual storytelling a 2. At best much of the time.
  
  Let me also say this, I'm interested enough in the "story" that I plan to move on to the next book. You will see I went with a 3 star rating (or maybe you've seen already, ha...). This is about as close as I can come to reflecting my thoughts and feelings on this book in a single rating.
  
  We have a plot set among the documents stored in the U.S. Archives. Now we get subjective as that alone drew me in and piqued my interest. The plot/story itself is one of conspiracy, history, espionage and murder. Sadly there is another facet to the book.
  
  I think someone may need to explain to Mr. Meltzer that it's possible to write about an annoying and frustrating person without making the actual storytelling frustrating. There were times when I almost set the book aside out of frustration with Beecher.
  
  The idea is (I'm sure) to place a normal or every-person into the center of the situation...a situation where death is hoovering over his shoulder and a love from his youth has shown up in his present (just after he was dumped by his fiancée) and at least seems to need his help.
  
  But Beecher...Beecher is...well, he's a nudge. And he's a whiny nudge at that. He's also pretty slow for a big part of the book. We get a repetitive, frustrating narrative. We get a book that puts me in mind of how Bilbo Baggins says he feels, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”. That's this book. We simply have too much book for the story it's telling.
  
  Okay rant over as I said I (overall) like the book, recommend the book and plan to follow the story into the following volume. Just be aware that if you're anything like me you may (at least occasionally) want to slap Beecher "up side his head" and shake him.
  
  Of course it could be just me...
• 
  Daniel Audet

  If you're not a Brad Meltzer fan yet, you will be after you read this book. Released earlier this year to rave reviews, it looks like we have the beginning episode in a series featuring our reluctant, mildly dorky, intellectual but - inexperienced in espionage - hero - Beecher. Meltzer's attention to detail and his well known expertise in American History play in beautifully here as the plot deepens, thickens and splinters into several directions. Secret groups bent on preserving the presidency and national security at ANY cost, people with their own agendas, dirty deeds done dirt cheap that end up costing a nation it's security and maybe even a President his office. Beecher intends to do the right thing - even if it costs him his life. Ya gotta love this guy, a very easy HERO to relate to, though I wouldn't call him that to his face. The girl? If you ask me I wouldn't trust her as far as I could throw her(and I'd like to - literally...)but our man cares for her....so....let him find out for himself....
  I highly recommend this book and I'm looking forward to more from Brad in the future. I'll be also taking a read through his backlist. Many of you out there in readerland know Brad's work well, I just read my first one but it will not be my last! You can also find Brad on Twitter.
  Just want to add this too: I'm both a writer and a huge fan of thriller fiction, so for me this book was a great read. Many of us on our way up look to other authors for all the elements of art and craft and Brad certainly has them mastered.
  
  _____________________________________________________________________________________________
  I started reading Brad Meltzer's "The Inner Circle" over the weekend, this being my 1st Meltzer book. Meltzer is a writer whose style and intelligence level, and love of history and micro managed detail are so intertwined, like Steve Berry's, you KNOW you're in for a good ride and that's exactly what Brad delivers here.
  The story; An insecure archivist at a national book and priceless collection vault in DC stumbles onto a secret document while prepping a secret meeting room for the prez of the U.S. There's a torn book once owned by George Washington, a girl from our hero's past involved and a wise-ass co-worker also in the mix. Meltzer skillfully paints the portrait of a thriller from word one, page one, switches pov's like the pro that he is and uses dialogue so well to fill us in on what we're doing and where we're going. Good stuff so far, I will keep you posted.
• 
  Lewis Weinstein

  You really need to be able to deal with major uncertainty to enjoy this read ... who can be trusted is a question the answer to which is constantly changing ... exciting action, interesting characters, and a plot that captivates ... the ending, however, was strained and just a tad unsatisfying (which is why 4**** rather than 5*****)
• 
  Jay Connor

  I had lost faith in Brad Meltzer. His stellar explosion onto the political thriller scene in the late '90s and early '00s was very welcome. Grisham had moved on to "Italy," Baldacci had begun a storytelling "plausible-deniability" period with his Camel Club series, and the rest of the landscape was trying to create plot lines around the new national dread - terrorism.
  
  Meltzer came on the scene with three great reads having different branches of government taking center stage: "First Counsel" (White House); "The Tenth Justice" (Supreme Court); and "The Zero Game" (Congress). Then came the "Books." "The Book of Fate" and "The Book of Lies" rivaled each other in having their reader ask the worse possible question: do I really want to finish? He had clearly run out of interesting branches of government!
  
  Now comes "Inner Circle." I almost passed. But Meltzer has found a new "branch" of government -- the National Archives! His lead - Beecher - and his mentor, Tot, make archivists cool. Well ... interesting. Though "Inner Circle" isn't up to the caliber of his first three, despite some really good historical underpinnings, it is a sign of recovery from Meltzer's most recent subpar performances. Whatever you do, do NOT expect "Inner Circle" to give you the complete plausibility which comes with truly great thrillers. But be happy for a good writer struggling to get back on form.
  
  
• 
  Eric_W

  This book starts off with an incredibly implausible scene. Beecher, an archivist, is helping an old the friend in the archives try to locate some information about her long-lost father (who turns out to be in an asylum for the criminally insane after attempting to assassinate the president.) He is showing her a SCIF room, very private rooms where the president and other special dignitaries can view especially important and secret documents without being spied upon (why would they have surveillance videos in the room then? Anyway, Beecher spills coffee and knocks over a chair revealing a hidden document which for some bizarre reason (the room might be being used as a blind drop site) Beecher and the security guard friend feel they must take and investigate. The guard squirrels away a copy of the security video to hide that they were in the room and then he is murder. Inexplicably, Beecher becomes immediately paranoid assuming everyone else knows something is is out to get him. My crap detector was into overdrive by this point.
  
  The premise is not a bad one, and I love books that integrate historical facts to build alternate conspiracy theory type of story. The Culper Ring was a group of spies working for George Washington. This group actually existed, but Meltzer takes it one further, building his plot around the continuation of the ring as a conspiracy to well, you know, take over the world. Supposedly they communicated by using special invisible inks and sending messages on pages in books in the Library of Congress and the National Archives. Clementine (Clemmi for short if you can swallow it,) is an old friend of Beecher (his fiance had recently died, of course) and, we learn, the unknown daughter of Nico who had assassinated the president’s wife, missing the president, and is now incarcerated in a mental institution. The implausibilities continue to build.
  
  That’s enough. A big disappointment.
  
  Smacks of a badly done DeVinci Code. I received this book free as an advance reader copy.
• 
  Jennifer

  The Inner Circle is a smart political adventure full of intriguing mystery. The novel starts with a bang and continues at a thrilling pace until the very last word. Brad Meltzer takes political history and turns it on its ear. Creating a massive presidential conspiracy theory that surpasses even the wildest of imaginations, Meltzer convincingly leads the reader on a joyride through the darkest of presidential secrets.
  
  Beecher White is a compelling lead. An average guy with job steeped in history finds himself caught in a fight for his life. Racing to learn the truth before his time runs out, Beecher loses his naivety and learns that the advice "trust no one" is harder than it may seem.
  
  The Inner Circle could easily be compared to The Da Vinci Code. The historical attributes and adventure feel is the same. The Inner Circle replaces religion with politics and adds a more intellectual feel though.
  
  The Inner Circle is a thoroughly modern novel, though it leans heavily on events in the past. It's a wonderful mix of old and new with a mystery that'll spin you in circles. I was blown away by this novel. Reading The Inner Circle is, by far, the best adventure I've been on in quite a while.
• 
  Dawn

  Everyone knows I love State of the Union night. Reading all the pre-event hype left me craving a mid-winter escape with a political thriller, a fictional president and a zingy caper. The kids at Huffington Post made it seem hip to avoid O: A Presidential Novel, so I went with Brad Meltzer's The Inner Circle. That's how the conspiracy among NPR, Comedy Central, and yes--the History Channel--was revealed to me. They worked in covertly in unison to make me believe that this was an excellently crafted story with a well-constructed mystery featuring novel historical highlights. It is not. It contains the blandest protagonist in fiction, dialogue presented exclusively in the form of questions, and ridiculously basic plot failures. In Brad Meltzer's world, a character who was a 20-year old man when he became involved in a fight 26 years ago is described in the present as "sixty or so." And so on.
  
  This book was a complete disappointment. If you want to know how high up this thing goes, start with Steve Innskeep and follow the money.
• 
  Tim

  This story is longer than necessary. There are interesting conspiracy plots , but the main characters are not strong and become distracting. 6 of 10 stars
• 
  Kay

  My first Brad Meltzer book, great read, very entertaining!
• 
  Michael

  When Michael Crichton published "The Lost World" a few years ago, I felt like I was reading the screenplay for the upcoming "Jurassic Park" sequel rather than an actual novel. A similar thing happened reading Brad Meltzer's latest novel "The Inner Circle."
  
  The story itself is a popcorn thriller of a book. The story opens with archivist Benjamin January preparing for a meeting with his old high school crush, Clementine. She's contacted him again via Facebook and needs his help with tracking down the identity of her father. Scarred from the death of his fiancee several years before, Ben can't help but wonder how much of a reconnection there could be with his long-lost crush.
  
  Clementine's visit to the National Archives coincides with the day that the President is going to drop by to look at some documents, in a room that insures privacy. Ben decides to show off the room to Clementine and thanks to a spilled cup of coffee, they quickly become caught up in a far-reaching historical intrigue that reaches back to the days when George Washington was governing the United States.
  
  From there, deaths begin to occur around Ben as he realizes he's stumbled across something greater.
  
  If you're willing to accept this story as a mindless Hollywood action thriller in print form, you're likely to enjoy it a lot more than I did. Not taking too long out to question things that are developing and how and why they're developing will help as well. At times, "The Inner Circle" feels a bit like its trying to be another entry in Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code" series. As I said before, the novel feels like it's just crying out to become a movie or a screenplay--and it could work as a mindless, fun action thriller.
  
  But there are points when the story tries and wants to be more and comes up frustratingly short. Character motivations change from chapter to chapter and while Ben and Clementine are given some backstory, every other character feels two-dimensional. Meltzer falls into the trap of springing flashbacks into the story at points when he needs to introduce a piece of Ben and Clementine's past to the readers but couldn't quite dream up a way to do it within the story itself.
  
  And the story ends at a point that we could possibly have a follow-up book or series of stories. At this point, I'm not sure I enjoyed this one enough to want to continue reading more.
  
  Overall, a fairly uneven reading experience. But if you're looking for a good, popcorn novel (mayhaps to read on while on a plane or traveling), this one might fit the bill.
• 
  Matt

  Meltzer puts out another great novel! He brings conspiracy to the forefront and makes you wonder what is REALLY going on inside US Politics.
• 
  Jeremy

  this book for sure is a page turner. I started it and could not walk away. Brad definitely can tell a story. Beecher is an incredible character. If you read this book I hope you have a map because you are sure to get lost in it.
• 
  Titus Burley

  I approach any book I read with an innocent until proven guilty attitude; I plunge into a book expecting and hoping to like it. Though I had been intrigued by the premises of Meltzer's books, it wasn't until I read a really touching and well-crafted blog dedicated to his late father that I felt compelled to read one of his novels. Meltzer's premises often tap into little known facts or "secrets" in American history. Think "National Treasure" type adventure novels. So here was the perfect set-up - a book I wanted to like, by an author whose essay I had loved, about a subject (American history) of which I am an enthusiast. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the plot actually. A roller coaster, convoluted, completely unbelievable plot. In retrospect I learned that Meltzer also writes comic books. Ah-ha. That explains the comic book aspect of this novel. I'm not sure what it is about these promising American history meet contemporary action novels that have been so disappointing to me of late. There are three that I have read in the past year and considered duds. The terrain is fertile, but the authors allow the harvest to spoil.
• 
  Eden

  2020 bk 238. I came across Brad Meltzer's television shows on Amazon prime and realized that while I knew who he was, and had read some of his non-fiction, that I had never read the fiction titles. I picked up the Inner Circle - and fell into a world of suspense centered around the National Archives, a President with shady doings in his past, a former assassin. I enjoyed the story, convoluted as it was. Brad is writing for a general audience, the chapters are short, containing one element of the plot and no others. It is one that can be read, put down, and then picked back up again. There is enough repetition of the back story as told from a slightly different point of view that the reader cannot find themselves lost. An enjoyable adventure.
• 
  E.A.

  I picked up this book in the search for finding additional writing like David Baldacci, one of my favorite authors, and was pleasantly surprised with this book and author (who was new to me).
  
  I enjoyed the context, having lived in DC previously, and liked reliving some of the highlights of that city. I also enjoyed the conspiracy aspect of this series. It wasn't as fast paced as I'm used to with Baldacci and I hoped for more action from the main character and a little less…sappiness, but that in no way made this a bad read. I'll definitely be continuing on in the series and look forward to book 2.
  
  ---
  This was an audiobook read for me
• 
  R.P. Morel

  Great book with a good twist on the average run-of-the-mill thriller.
• 
  Scott Rhee

  Avid watchers of the History Channel have more than likely seen, or at least heard about, Brad Meltzer. He is, in some ways, to the History Channel what Alton Brown is to the Food Channel. Meltzer's show "Decoded" is the "Good Eats" for conspiracy theorists, a well-researched, melodramatic, funny, tongue-in-cheek look at everything from the Lincoln assassination to the Mayan end-of-the-world-in-2012 prophecies. Meltzer is also a bestselling author of more than a dozen novels, most of them involving cleverly-constructed conspiracy theories. His latest "The Inner Circle" is set in modern-day Washington, D.C. at the National Archives. When Beecher White, an archivist, accidentally finds a rare document hidden under a seat in the Presidential Reading Room, the incident ignites a sudden race that involves murder, cover-ups, a presidential assassin, and a legendary spy ring started by George Washington during the First Administration. Fast-paced and enjoyable, "The Inner Circle" is an excellent edge-of-the-seat thriller perfect for a rainy afternoon or a relaxing day at the beach. For fans of Dan Brown, Meltzer is a worthy alternative.
• 
  Mike

  The worst Brad Meltzer book in his published career. Then again, because I usually enjoy this author, maybe my expectations were too high.
  
  The first BM i read was THE MILLIONAIRES whenever that one was new. I couldnt put it down. it was so good that i read THE FIRST COUNSEL shortly after. I never read the same author back-to-back so that was a big deal. DEAD EVEN was a lot of fun!
  
  THE INNER CIRCLE tasted the same as THE BOOK OF LIES & THE BOOK OF FATE. It almost seems as if Meltzer has gotten too comfortable with the insecure childless single 30yr old man caught between a rock and a historical conspiracy hardplace. I swear it was much like reading the same exact book after someone went and shook some of the words around.
  
  OH and what a terrible ending. No spoilers but expect a lot of finger pointing and "Beacher, listen to me! ..." on replay.
  
  Not my favorite. Will not be re-reading or recommending. I'll wait for the next one.
• 
  Kate S

  I enjoyed this thriller set in and around the DC area. I found myself very familiar with many of the places mentioned throughout the story. I had a problem with the timeline. Ten years ago there was an assassination attempt on the President of the United States and around that time the First Lady was killed. This First Family was not the Clintons, either of the Bush families, or the Obamas, but all of those First Families are discussed and apparently held their office as history reports it. Now, there is a new President, but 14 years ago email was still a little known thing. I had trouble with when this story was taking place and it was to a point of distraction from the story. Otherwise, it was a fast-paced, cliff hanger thriller. I felt the ending was a little weak, but it was set up nicely for a sequel.
• 
  Debbie

  This is the first book that I've read by Brad Meltzer, and I really enjoyed it. Having never read another of his books, I can't make any kind of comparison.
  
  Washington D. C. is the setting for this political thriller with flashbacks of earlier memories. A story filled with so many twists and turns including betrayal, conspiracy, and murder. We learn about the Culper Ring & the Plumbers. Which to trust? Meltzer also provides lots of historical details including facts about George Washington.
• 
  Lauren

  Grandma,
  I'm so sorry I sent this to you last Christmas. I know it was signed by the author, but that's no excuse for such a crappy present. I understand if you viewed it as an insult. Again, my apologies.
  With love and regret,
  Lauren
• 
  Pierre Tassé

  I enjoyed the book and have ordered the sequel to this one. Interesting style of writing and kept me thinking..liked it.
• 
  Andy Green

  Could not put it down. Enjoyed the original story that took inspiration from history but didn't rely on it. Can't wait to read the next one.