One of the reasons I love Fiona Davis’s historical fiction novels is because they are always based upon a location in New York City. The Spectacular continues to deliver her well researched locations with a compelling plot that will leave you wanting more.

The latest novel is based on Radio City Music Hall and tells the story of Marion Brooks, a young dancer hoping to find her place in life beyond being a wife and obedient daughter. Told through flashbacks to her youth in 1952, Marion tries to pursue her dream of dancing in New York City. A last minute tryout for the Rockettes may just be the opportunity. Meanwhile, Marion has to convince her controlling father that she is safe while a criminal, nicknamed The Big Apple Bomber, is on the loose in the city.

Davis has based this story on actual historic events that will compel you to do more research. She is truly an expert author at combining history with a compelling mystery. The Spectacular will appeal to both new Davis readers as well as those familiar with the author. A woman’s journey to find herself, the glamor of New York and the intriguing development of criminal profiling all add up to a captivating new release.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for the opportunity to review this title.

Although somewhat predictable, I really enjoyed this novel. Based on a true historical event, it was well done. The characters were well developed and sympathetic.
Highly recommended

This book was in a word SPECTACULAR.
I loved the combining story lines, the flash backs and the peek into both the rockettes and radio City music hall. Great combo of historical fiction and thriller

Fiona davis has a way of weaving historically true events and stories into a fictional tale beautifully. Every single book of hers I read I find myself looking into the actual history of either the locations or people and this was no exception. Fans of historical fiction won’t be able to put this down and those who don’t typically read this genre should give it a try- she’s a great author to get you pulled in! But be warned, you will want more!

This book follows the story of Marion Brooks who is an amazing dancer stuck at the dance studio she studied at until she gets unexpectantly fired. She decides to take a chance and tryout for the Rockettes in New York City (where she lives). Even though her soon to be fiancé and father do not understand why Marion wants to be a professional dancer she proceeds. Marion becomes a Rockette even though her father does not approve. She decides to begin living on her own. Meanwhile, New York has had a series of bombings orchestrated from someone known as "Big Apple Bomber." After an unfortunate incident while Marion is performing she desires to get answers as to who this person may be.

This book! The combination of mystery and history is impeccable. I was so interested from the get go. I enjoyed the growth of the main character into a women. This book gave me such a variety of feelings while I read it. I do not want to give anything away so I will just say I went from happy to so sad and terrified to a bit of triumph for the main character at the end.

Content: bombings, verbal abuse, affair

Read if you enjoy
Dual timeline
Historical fiction
Dance
Mystery

Thank you Dutton publishing and Netgalley for the ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Leave it to Fiona Davis to snap me out of a reading slump. I read The Spectacular in 2 days! Rockettes, mystery, history, NYC, dance, choreography, twists, interesting plot, strong female characters... It has it all. Loved it!

Fiona Davis is at the top of my list of auto-buy authors. She writes historical fiction in such a way that makes you feel as though you have been transported to that time. For this novel, The Spectacular, we are transported to 1950s New York City and Radio City Music Hall where we meet Marion--a lifelong dancer and dance teacher. Marion is offered a spot as a Radio City Rockette, much to the chagrin of her family and boyfriend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable quick read about the Rockettes and NYC in the 1950s. The story focuses on Marion, a 19-year-old who wants to break free from her stifling NY suburban life and move to NYC and be a Rockette. As someone who grew up in the same suburbs and lives in NYC (and worked across the street from Radio City for years) I enjoyed the historical NY descriptions (as I do whenever I read one of Fiona Davis’ novels). The intrigue of the serial bomber added to the novel (I never knew about this little nugget of history).

I flew through this book and had fun reading about the Rockettes, NYC in the 50s and Marion. The characters were well written although I do think that the father was a little heavy handed and probably could have been scaled back a bit.

This is a 3.75 star review so I will round up to 4

Thank you to Penguin group and Netgalley for the chance to review

Fiona Davis does it again! The Spectacular takes the reader into the world of the 1950’s Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. Marion Brooks is a relatable, likable heroine. Her story is beautiful, yet flawed. As always, Davis weaves in a relatively unknown historical event into the tale. Her stories are entertaining and fascinating, and I’m already looking forward to her next book.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Dutton for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

The Spectacular is set in NYC in the 1950s, and features Marion, a dancer who defies her father and auditions for the Rockettes. She gets entangled with a bomber who has been setting off homemade bombs around the city for over a decade. This part is true to history. I liked the behind-the-scenes look at dancing at Radio City Music Hall and I enjoyed her pursuit of the bomber alongside a psychiatrist who helps create a criminal profile. The plot with Marion and her father, where he refuses to support her independence, was tiresome after awhile and could have been scaled back.

This was such an enjoyable, quick read--I loved this thrilling story about a crime-solving Rockette in the 1950s! When dance teacher Marion is fired from her studio job, she decides to audition for the Rockettes on a whim. She joins the company right before the busy Christmas season, and I found all of the details about being a dancer fascinating. The long hours and number of shows the dancers did each day was truly astounding. I also really enjoyed the mystery of the Big Apple Bomber that Marion helped solve; there really was a bomber who terrorized NYC for 16 years in the 1940s and 50s, targeting landmarks like Radio City. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and closed door romance, and is suitable for young adults--thanks to Netgalley, Dutton, and Fiona Davis for the librarian preview copy.

Fiona Davis takes us into another iconic building in NYC – Radio City Music Hall. It is 1956 and Marion auditions for the Rockettes without her family’s knowledge. It is Marion’s dream to be a dancer, but her father has a different path for her: marry her fiancé and become a doting housewife. Marion leaves home and moves into a boarding house with other dancers and artists. Davis takes us behind the scenes into the life of a Rockette – the endless rehearsals, the shows, and the camaraderie between the dancers.

As with most of Davis’ novels, there is a mystery to solve. New York City has been plagued with a bomber for years. The police have had no leads. The latest bombing is in Radio City Music Hall during one of the shows while Marion is onstage. Marion and her friend, Peter (a resident in psychiatry), investigate the bombings.

The Spectacular is well-written and well-researched. The plotline about the bomber is based on a real terrorist, George Metesky, who planted explosives in various places in New York City in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to be a Rockette during that time was fascinating to me.

I highly recommend The Spectacular. Readers of historical fiction who like a bit of mystery and romance added to a historical timeline will enjoy it, as well as readers who like stories with a dance storyline. Fiona Davis has written another enjoyable novel. I look forward to her future writings!

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me with an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

1950s Manhattan as experienced through a Rockette. Bombs explode and a mystery falls on the shoulders of the Rockette. What must she do to solve it?

I've been to New York City many times, but I have never been to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. After reading The Spectacular, I now have to go! This story recalls and fictionalizes the time in 1956 when there was a mad bomber causing havoc in NYC and places bombs in Radio City Music Hall. Marion Brooks is a young dancer that stumbles her way to becoming a Rockette. Her controlling father is none to happy she is following in her mother's artistic footsteps. When a bomb explodes in the Music Hall, Marion's life is thrown into chaos and with the help of some dear friends, she helps the police figure everything out. The second (and shorter) timeline is from 1992 when Marion is brought back to Radio City Music Hall for an anniversary celebration. In the end, the older Marion summarizes her life and makes a final choice that will leave readers smiling. The author creates such a detailed story that you feel like you are in 1956 New York and are walking through the halls of the iconic Radio City Music Hall. The characters felt true to the time period of controlling older men and more modern thinking younger people. The Author's Note at the end explains how was truth and what was changed for the story and I really like to have that information when the story is based on real events. If you have enjoyed the author's previous books, you will love this one as well.

Thank you to the Penguin Group and Net Galley for an ARC of The Spectacular by Fiona Davis in exchange for an honest review.

I was captivated by this book honestly from the cover. But everything inside was so pretty and fitting with the book too. The writing was pretty, the layout was pretty. I was so beautiful lost in this story I could have been in a dream. It was such a great read. I really want to look into it more to see how closely this was based on real events. I love books based on real events but I am not sure how much it is yet. Either way it felt so real and I felt like I lived this story along with the characters.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for an ARC of this book. This was my first Fiona Davis book and I enjoyed it tremendously. I thought the characters were well developed and story line was interesting. I thought the story of a Rockette and the "Big Apple Bomber" of NYC was interesting. It is a story of finding your self, standing on your own two feet, and making hard choices. I was invested from the beginning and intrigued by the story.
I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from Ms. Davis.

Review: The Spectacular

I LOVE it when books are based on true events. This book is based on a man (“the big apple bomber”) who set off bombs around NYC in the 1950s, including an explosion at Radio City Music Hall. Radio City Music Hall is where the Rockettes perform. This story is about a Rockette whose sister died from one of the explosions.

I loved the behind the scenes peek at the Rockettes. The author did a great job with her research. I also loved the romance, the family drama, and the mystery.

For me, the biggest missing piece was the interiority. I feel like things were happening with little to no buildup, and then not enough grieving/processing afterwards. But overall it was a solid read!

In 1956, Marion Brooks has been fired from her job as a dance teacher and given an ultimatum by her father Simon, an esteemed executive at the Met Power firm in NYC - get married to her long-time childhood friend Nathaniel and become a housewife, or leave his home. Marion's mother passed decades ago when she was a child and her sister Judy, the picture of obedience and stability, can offer little help to Marion as she struggles with what to do next. On a whim, Marion auditions for the Rockettes, the famed dancing troupe that performs regularly at the Radio City Music Hall and just makes the cut off. Thanks to her newfound friend and fellow Rockette Bunny, she's able to find a place to stay and a job that will allow her to support herself.

In the midst of this, however, is the ongoing threat of the Big Apple Bomber - an individual that has left and detonated a number of pipe bombs in many of NYC's most prominent places. For Marion, his latest actions hit too close to home and with little support from the police department, she pulls in the help of Peter Griggs, a psychiatric resident at Creedmore Psychiatric Institute, to try and find him before it's too late.

"The Spectacular" has an intruging plotline, blending elements of historical fiction and mystery surprisingly well. As a NYC-er, I loved the tribute to the city's landmarks and institutions and in her afterword, author Fiona Davis goes into more detail the actual events and individuals she modeled her characters and stories off of. I struggled to get through this novel, however, for a few reasons. The writing style felt clipped and limited, despite being told from a third person perspective for the majority of the novel, and Marion's character didn't feel well-developed. There isn't much growth from her and many of her actions and words felt anachronistically feminist for the time period and her situation. Pacing-wise, the beginning third of the novel felt incredibly slow as well and the last third had so much packed into it that it novel felt unbalanced.

As a whole this was an enjoyable read, but wasn't one of the stronger novels I've read this year.

Thank you to net galley and Fiona Davis for the opportunity to read and review this “Spectacular” new novel. I love how Davis takes on an iconic building and brings it to life. This story not only brought the building to life but also sheds some light on the Rockettes. The story centers around Marion a young dancer who realizes a dream by auditioning and becoming a Rockette in the 1950s. The story takes an exciting turn when a bomb explodes in Radio City Music hall. Marion joins forces with to find the bomber who has been plaguing NYC for quite some time. Well researched, very suspenseful a fantastic historical fiction read.

Wow, historical fiction fans will love this book based on events in New York City from the 1930s to the 1950s. This story spans over 50 years. It follows Marion, a dancer. Marion is a dancer, living with her father and teaching dance classes. Marion decides to audition for a job as a Rockette. Her father, an executive at Met PoPower, disapproves of her decision. But Marion decides to audition anyway.
Marion becomes a Rockette and moves to a house with other dancers.

At the same time Marion is starting her new life as a Rockette, there are bombings throughout the city. The bomber leaves notes, and through them, it is revealed the perpetrator is connected to Met Power, The company where Marion's father works as an executive. Tbstoryn follows Marion as she begins her new life. When the bomber strikes close to Marion, killing her sister, she seeks the help of Peter. Peter is a doctor working in the field of mental health. He has done groundbreaking work profiling criminals to help law enforcement find offenders. Paul and Marion start t collaborate in trying to find the bomber.

The story follows Peter and Marion as they work to find the bomber's identity, using Peter’s profiling technique to assist them. As the story unfolds, the reader gains more insight into Marion and her family dynamics. There is glamor, danger, and love in this story. I was drawn in from the beginning of the book. The characters were fascinating. I was on the edge of my seat as the story unfolded. I was rooting for Marion and Paul. I was hoping they would find the bomber and each other. I read this book over two days, and l could not put it down.

While not everything for Marion worked out as I had hoped, I was rooting for her. And the ending was a total surprise.