by Brad Meltzer
First published 2015
Beecher White works as a staffer at the National Archives, but his real job involves something far more dangerous. He belongs to the Culper Ring, a secret organization that George Washington created two centuries ago to protect the President. When groundskeepers discover a severed arm buried in the White House Rose Garden, the President's team calls on Beecher for help. The arm contains a puzzle in its clenched fist, but the message targets Beecher personally rather than the President. Someone managed to breach White House security to plant this grisly warning, and they know exactly who Beecher is. His investigation forces him to confront secrets from America's past and uncover truths about his own family that have remained hidden for generations. The deeper Beecher digs, the more he realizes that this threat connects to the most shocking revelations about his personal history.
Genres: american-fiction, adventure, mystery, thriller, action
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: secrets, unreliable-narrator
Setting: National Archives, White House, White House Rose Garden
Period: 21st-century
401 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing