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Thursday, May 17, 2018

The Escape Artist

I could hardly put down Brad Meltzer's latest thriller The Escape Artist (#744).  When a small plane crashes just after takeoff at a remote Alaska army base, there's a government VIP on board.  The bodies are flown back to Dover Air Force Base, which deals with preparing the bodies of fallen military.  Jim "Zig" Zigarowski is a skilled mortician working there.  When he recognizes the name Nola Brown as one of those ill-fated passengers, Zig volunteers to prep her body.  For him, it's personal.  The only problem is the body is not Nola Brown's.  In fact, it reveals a clue that Nola may be alive and in danger.  When the body is whisked away before Zig has a chance to ask too many questions, he suddenly finds himself chasing ghosts from the past and in very real danger in the present.

Who would have thought a mortician could be such a compelling hero?  Brad Meltzer has done his homework in researching the meticulous work carried out at Dover's Mortuary every day to honor the dead.  Of course, he did consult another one of my favorite authors, Mary Roach, while working on the background. (See my posts of 3/28/11, 4/25/13, 5/14/13, and 7/8/16.)

And how the heck does Harry Houdini figure into the plot?  You'll just have to read The Escape Artist to find out!

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