Read @ Joe’s

Title: The First Conspiracy (2019) Author: Brad Meltzer Publisher: Flatiron Books Book jacket: This is the story of a secret plot and how it was revealed. It also shows just how hard the battle was for George Washington and how close America was to losing the Revolutionary War. Joe Says: The First Conspiracy is a fascinating story that reads like a modern-day thriller instead of an 18th century historical text.

The bizarre-but-true conspiracy plot takes place in 1776, during the first months of the Revolutionary War. Don’t go snoozing yet. This is not a stuffy history lesson about cobblestone streets and powdered wigs before the era of indoor plumbing. Think instead of the John Adams HBO series with a healthy infusion of Madeira. This is crime and conspiracies and espionage and betrayal and counterfeiting. This is, after all, a Brad Meltzer page-turning mystery.

The story surrounds a number of Loyalists who wish to see the colonial uprising end with a whimper, not a shot heard ‘round the world. Led by New York’s British-installed governor William Tryon and mayor David Mathews, the plot is to remove General Washington  – preferably mortally – through the bribery of those closest to him, his own bodyguards known as the Life Guards. Yet through a series of crazy coincidences and even convenient stupidity, the secret plot is – spoiler alert – thwarted by America’s first counterespionage committee.

The First Conspiracy is a fascinating story that reads like a modern-day thriller instead of an 18^th century historical text.

The novel presents a fascinating story, and Meltzer, along with co-author Josh Mensch, does an excellent job explaining it. Perhaps a little too concisely. The ending wraps up all rather quickly once the British invasion of New York begins. There is also a healthy acknowledgement of interpretation as, understandably, a great number of secret correspondences are simply not available. Meltzer and Mensch smoothly provide Spackle for those cracks but the filler is noticeable when dealing with walls of brick.

As a history lesson masquerading as a mass-market thriller, The First Conspiracy is a fun, engaging read for the patriot lurking in all of us.