The Spectacular - Large Print by Fiona Davis (Paperback)

About the Book

New York City, 1956. When nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks "comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes, ... she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer. Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the 'Big Apple Bomber,' who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years. ... With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a years-long manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling. As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she's been training herself to blend in, ... if she hopes to catch the bomber, she'll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk"

Book Synopsis

New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis transports us back to 1950s Manhattan and glamorous Radio City Music Hall....

New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion is over the moon to have been selected to be one of the Rockettes, Radio City Music Hall's glamorous precision dancing troupe. It's an honor to perform in the world's most spectacular theater, an art deco masterpiece. But with four shows a day as well as grueling rehearsals, not to mention exacting standards of perfection to live up to, Marion quickly realizes that the life of a Rockette has both extraordinary highs, and devastating lows.

Then one night a bomb explodes in the theater. It's only the latest in a string of explosions around the city orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the Big Apple Bomber, who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a decades-long manhunt, the police, at Marion's urging, turn in desperation to a radical new technique: psychological profiling.

As Marion finds herself pulled deeper into the investigation, she realizes that as much as she's been training herself to blend in--performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes--if she hopes to catch the bomber, she'll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she's worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.

About the Author

Fiona Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Dollhouse, The Address, The Masterpiece, The Chelsea Girls, The Lions of Fifth Avenue, and The Magnolia Palace. She lives in New York City and is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School.