Janice

This is a service to those Brad Meltzer fans out there- BEFORE you listen to The Fifth Assassin, which I was really looking forward to, you need to re-listen to The Inner Circle so that you are caught up on all of the nuances at the beginning of the book. It has been awhile between book releases, so frankly I had forgotten all but the major premise of the previous book.... so just a heads up to reread the prequel to this book first in order to get the most enjoyment from it.

It is not often that I am predisposed to write any sort of review, however, I felt I had to comment on this one - the story itself has good momentum, and ultimately it ends well - very James Bond kind of a tale - but then there is the hour long history lesson at the end. I'm not adverse to learning about illuminated manuscripts and their corresponding history, and while it is interesting to me (I minored in art history with a focus on medieval art & architecture) the gross amount of historiana coupled with a James Bond type spy story was much like eating chocolate and then topping that off with a big bowl of bran.