Book Review: Brad Meltzer’s The Escape Artist

The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I usually read mysteries, given my artistic preference as an author, but this thriller intrigued me. It has all the thriller elements: the White House, a secret society, lots of action.

But this book has more. What about a protagonist who is an undertaker? Jim “Zig” Zigarowski has a special mission: he reconstructs the service men and women killed in action so that their loved ones can have some ease in their grief.

No only that. He evaluates people he meets with one simple criteria: do they have HEART?

He reconnects with Nola Brown, currently the Army’s artist-in-residence and a childhood friend of his daughter. She was killed in a tragic airplane crash, or was she?

And what about that secret society filled with magicians, that keeps popping up at the most unlikely times?

What I like about this thriller is not the non-stop action, although there’s lots of that. What makes the book worth a read is the true relationship that builds between these two lonely people.

Good enjoyment. Well written.