The Inner Circle - Brad Meltzer [0]
BRAD MELTZER
GRAND CENTRAL
PUBLISHING
NEW YORK BOSTON
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Table of Contents
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Copyright Page
For Theo,
my son,
who came into my life
when I needed him most
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I know who’s in my inner circle. Many of them are listed below—including you, treasured reader, who give me the support that still lets me do this. So thank you to the following: My first love and first lady, Cori, who pushes me, challenges me, fights me, but most important, believes in me. Since junior high. Jonas, Lila, and Theo are my greatest and most beautiful treasures, and they astonish me every single day. There is no greater love than the love I have for them. Jill Kneerim, the patron saint of agents, who remains my steadfast champion and dear friend; Hope Denekamp, Caroline Zimmerman, Ike Williams, and all our friends at the Kneerim & Williams Agency.
This is a book about history and friendship—and the profound power when you combine the two. But it’s also about what we’ll do for our families, so let me thank mine, beginning with my dad, who taught me how to fight, especially when it came to those I love most, and my sister Bari, who continues to teach me even more of the same. Also to Will, Bobby, Ami, Adam, and Gilda, for everything a family can be.
Here’s a secret: As a writer, you can only be as good as the readers you share your first drafts with. So let me start with the reader whom I couldn’t do this without: Noah Kuttler. For every page I write, Noah hears it first. He is ruthless, insightful—and never takes his eyes off the craft. He’s the one I count on to make sure I’m being intellectually honest—and also to make sure I’m not being the middle-aged cliché that my body so wants to be. Ethan Kline has read and improved every early draft since I started writing; and Dale Flam, Matt Kuttler, Chris Weiss, and Judd Winick have saved me in more ways than they’ll ever realize.
In a novel so steeped in our nation’s history, I owe the following people tremendous thanks for sharing that history: First, President George H. W. Bush, who inspired so much of this during a cherished conversation I will never forget. And while we’re on the subject, let me thank the man himself—George Washington—for being such a wild genius (you’ll see what I mean inside). At the National Archives, which everyone should go visit, Susan Cooper, Matt Fulgham, Miriam Kleiman, and Trevor Plante were my masterminds and guides. They answered every insane question I threw at them and the best part of this process has been the friendship that we’ve shared. Special thanks to Paul Brachfeld and his amazing team, including Kelly Maltagliati, Ross Weiland, and Mitchell Yockelson, who I admire so much; Lisa Monaco, Ben Powell, Brian White, and all my friends at the Department of Homeland Security’s Red Cell program for helping push this idea even further; White House doctor Connie Mariano and my pals at the Secret Service took me back inside my favorite white building; Debby Baptiste toured me through the underground storage caves; Steve Baron for the St. Elizabeths’s details; my confidants Dean Alban, Arturo de Hoyos, Brent Morris, Tom Savini, and Mark Tabbert for their great historical insight; and the rest of my own inner circle, whom I bother for every book: Jo Ayn Glanzer, Mark Dimunation, Dr. Lee Benjamin, Dr. David Sandberg, Dr. Ronald K. Wright, Edna Farley, Jason Sherry, Marie Grunbeck, Brad Desnoyer, and Kim from L.A. More Archives research came from Juliette Arai, Judy Barnes, Greg Bradsher, Cynthia Fox, Brenda Kepley, John Laster, Sue McDonough, Connie Potter, Gary Stern, Eric VanSlander, Mike Waesche, Dave Wallace, Morgan Zinsmeister, and in memory of John E. Taylor; thanks to A. J. Jacobs and Michael Scheck for their idiosyncrasies. The books George Washington, Spymaster by Thomas B. Allen and Washington’s Spies by Alexander Rose were vital to this process. Finally, Roberta Stevens, Anne Twomey, Kevin Wolkenfeld, Alison Coleman, Pat Finati, Phyllis Jones, Linda Perlstein, and the