"Nearly twenty years ago I attended a book signing here in Portland. He was a new author on his first tour, and I was a new bookseller. The crowd was thin, but Brad Meltzer was unfazed and read boldly from his first book, The Tenth Justice. Since that day, Brad has written nearly a dozen bestsellers, eight children's book, three non-fiction, a scattering of comics, and has hosted the hit TV show, Decoded, that aired on the History Channel for two seasons, and more recently Brad Meltzer's Lost History, as Meltzer hosts viewers as they search for lost or stolen history.
In years past I was enthralled with history laden political thrillers by the likes of Allan Drury, Fletcher Knebel, and James Grady. I grew thirsty for books in that special genre until five years ago when Brad Meltzer started his Culper Ring series with THE INNER CIRCLE. He introduced us to Beecher White, a young archivist working in D.C. at the National Archives. That book was followed by THE FIFTH ASSASSIN. The franchise was enhanced further by THE PRESIDENT'S SHADOW and HOUSE OF SECRETS..
Beecher White is the leader of the current Culper Ring, which was organized in the summer of 1778 by American Col. Benjamin Tallmadge under orders from General George Washington. During the revolutionary war Robert Townsend, who used the alias "Samuel Culper, Jr.," spied on the British in New York City."