Zig is a military mortician. He not only takes professional care of the men and women in uniform making the ultimate sacrifice, Zig sees his work as a duty, a mission.

Having lost a young daughter, he also understands the importance for the parents of military personnel to say goodbye. Having worked on thousands of fallen military personnel has eased the mourning for his daughter because he knows he does not mourn alone.

Still, his peace with his mourning is shaken when one of his daughter’s childhood classmates ends up on his table. She is one of several people killed in the crash of a government plane.

Only, despite having the same name and matching stats to his daughter’s classmate, the woman on the table is not her. Can’t be. Zig knows.

So begins a story trying to answer several questions: Where is the real Nola Brown? Who is the woman on the table? What caused the plane to crash? Why do people want Nola dead? What does Harry Houdini have to do with the case? And given that one of the people killed in the plane was the best friend of the President of the United States, is the President involved?

Zig finds himself entrenched in all of these questions and more as he seeks answers and is thrust into peril in Brad Meltzer’s latest novel, “The Escape Artist.”

Meltzer novels include “The Book of Lies,” “The Book of Fate,” “The Inner Circle,” “The Fifth Assassin,” “The President’s Shadow,” etc. He’s also the writer of non-fiction books and comic books.

Readers familiar with Meltzer’s style will immediately recognize his work here. Slow reveal of backgrounds, flashbacks, a friendly hero who is way out of his depth involved in a thriller.

Early in the action, Zig finds the real Nola and she is a character reminiscent of Lisbeth Salander from “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series. Nola is brilliant, resilient, no-nonsense and has a sad past stretching throughout her childhood.

“The Escape Artist” is a perfect escape for readers who love mystery and page-turners.