The Escape Artist (Zig and Nola, 1)

I have long been a fan of Brad Meltzer, but his writing has reached a new level of excellence with The Escape Artist. Simply put, I couldn't put it down. The character of Nola Brown is fascinating -- mysterious, calculating, desperate, and incredibly clever and resourceful. The story begins with a plane crash and a mystery -- the dead woman pulled from the wreckage was Nola. Wasn't she? And if Nola didn't die in the crash, who did? Why? And what is Nola running from? Jim "Zig" Zigarowski, a forensic pathologist at Dover Air Force Base -- where the bodies of military personnel are brought for identification and readied for burial -- is convinced that the dead woman can't be Nola, a childhood friend of his own deceased daughter. Zig is haunted by his only child's death and determined to find out why the U.S. Army seems determined to make it seem as though Nola, its artist-in-residence died in the crash. But Zig is not a trained investigator and his forays into finding answers are fraught with danger and near-misses. Meltzer contrasts Zig's naivete with Nola's cunning to exquisite result. The U.S. Army's secret can be traced all the way back to Harry Houdini. They just need to work together, staying alive long enough to follow the clues and discover the truth. The action never slows, the cast of supporting characters is as intriguing as the two main players, and the result is a perfectly entertaining adventure founded upon obscure trivia brought to life through Meltzer's imaginative story-telling.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book!