#1 New York Times bestselling novelist Brad Meltzer, known for his Beecher White thrillers and the newly released novel The Escape Artist, is set to publish his first nonfiction book in early 2019.
EW scored the exclusive, breaking the news last Friday that Meltzer is co-authoring with Josh Mensch, who served as co-executive producer on Meltzer’s History Channel television show, Brad Meltzer’s Lost History. The book, The First Conspiracy, chronicles a secret plot to assassinate America’s first president, George Washington.
For those who’ve followed Meltzer outside of the world of fiction, it really shouldn’t be that surprising that the author, who’s doubled as TV host for multiple hit shows, is making the leap to nonfiction. Almost all of Meltzer’s fictional work is wrapped around an intriguing piece of history, such as the Culpar Ring (The Inner Circle), or little-known conspiracies, like a possible link between presidential assassins (The Fifth Assassin).
The First Conspiracy is scheduled for publication on January 8, 2019, and is currently available for pre-order here, or wherever else books are sold.
In 1776, an elite group of soldiers were handpicked to serve as George Washington’s bodyguards. Washington trusted them; relied on them. But unbeknownst to Washington, some of them were part of a treasonous plan. In the months leading up to the Revolutionary War, these traitorous soldiers, along with the Governor of New York William Tryon and Mayor David Mathews, launched a deadly plot against the most important member of the military: George Washington himself.
This is the story of the secret plot and how it was revealed. It is a story of leaders, liars, counterfeiters, and jailhouse confessors. It also shows just how hard the battle was for George Washington―and how close America was to losing the Revolutionary War.
Taking place during the most critical period of our nation’s birth, The First Conspiracy tells a remarkable and previously untold piece of American history that not only reveals George Washington’s character, but also illuminates the origins of America’s counterintelligence movement that led to the modern day CIA.
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck (“The Godfather of the thriller genre” — Ben Coes) has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.