One of the most historical novels I have read in the past. In There had been a "mad bomber" in the later 560's in New York City. Also included is the daily life of a Rockette in Radio City Music Hall. The author's note was the finishing touch of this amazing story.

It was so captivating with insights into relationships and delved into their reasonings which is rarely done.
One of the best reads of the year! Don't miss it!

I really enjoy Fiona Davis’ books—I love how she takes a particular time & place and really makes it come alive with realistic and relatable characters. I always learn something from her books, as well as being entertained. This one detailed the life of a Rockette in the 50’s. Having seen the iconic Christmas Spectacular several times, it was fascinating to get a behind the scenes look at what it takes to put a show on like that. The concurrent plot of searching for a serial bomber made it even more interesting. A great historical fiction read!

Such a great book with a wonderful setting and characters! It had me gripped from the beginning. Completely recommend

Marion Brooks loves to dance. This is the 1950s and her father is not so thrilled but she has been able to balance her love of dance and family by teaching in a dance studio. When an opportunity to try out for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes presents itself she decides to go for it just to say she tried. Problems arise when she succeeds - she is a Rockette. Meanwhile a serial bomber is targeting NYC. He has a grudge against Marion's Father's company. When the bomber strikes Radio City with tragic results, Marion and her friend Peter investigate.
This is a review of an ARC provided by NetGalley.

This book comes out in June and I'm very happy to have another Fiona Davis novel to put into the hands of historical fiction readers.

Full disclosure: I really love reading the historical fiction novels by Fiona Davis. I love having an author who isn't writing about wartime to hand to readers at my library. She is wonderfully inventive and makes the settings she selects come to life.

Having gone to Radio City Music Hall for the 2nd time, the first being about 40 years earlier, I was especially excited to read this novel. This book of hers feels a bit different than the others but I really enjoyed it. It kept me reading past bedtime which is very unusual for me lately.

I read every Fiona Davis book that comes out! I can't wait to see what amazing New York historical building she's going to write about next. The Spectacular does not disappoint. I learned so much about the NYC Rockettes and to be honest, I've never really been interested in them before---but as I was reading this book, I found myself going to YouTube to look up their routines, one in particular (I won't mention because it's talked about quite a bit in the book).

The story of young Marion trying to find her way and her own identity even as her father and sister keep trying to tell her to be sensible and marry the reliable boyfriend. As in all Davis' book, her protagonists end up writing their own future.

This book did not have as much past and present alternating stories, I missed that aspect a bit. But this is still a wonderful win for the author!

While her father expects her to settle down and get married, Marion has always been passionate about dance. When she is passes the audition to become a Rockette, she leaves home to follow her dream.
Her life will be forever changed when a bomb detonates during a performance . She is now consumed with identifying the bomber and is working with a young doctor interested in psychological profiling.
An intriguing read.
#TheSpectacular #NetGalley

Fiona Davis brings 1950's Radio City Music Hall a to life in The Spectacular. Blending together the story of Marion a young dancer instructor whi kands a job as a Rockette nd that of the true story of the 1950's "Mad Bomber of NYC " (taking fictional license with where some of the bombs were placed). Marion's family and fiancee were not happy with the choices she was making to pursue her dancing career, even less so when the bombings began.

The book is told by looking back at the career that Marion had as a Rockette during a special presentation of the Christmas Spectacular. We follow her life through the dangerous times in the city and see how a woman wanting a career of her own was nearly scandalous in the 1950's,

Through our the novel, we are treated to a behind the scenes look at the Christmas Spectacular and how the Rockettes work as team to get through rehearsals and a grueling performance schedule, which I enjoyed very much. Sadly, I did not really feel a connection to any of the characters, making the story a little hollow for me.

I know Fiona Davis to be a well loved writer and look forward to other works, but this one was not the match for me that it was for other readers.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I am a fan of Fiona Davis and I love historical fiction so I was delighted to have the chance to read her new book The Spectacular. The novel alternates between 1956 and thirty years later in the life of one of the Rockettes in the iconic dance line of Radio City Music Hall. Davis does an incredible job of recreating New York City in the post war era. She loves the city and apparently dance because she does a superb job of conveying the joys and the pains of pursuing a career in the theater. For me the novel fell short with the family and the romantic plot lines. She tried to turn the lead character, Marion, into a sleuth and a talented dancer, who almost single-handedly solves a decades old crime with ease. Hard to believe.. The tie in the bow ending was sweet and more of a Gothic novel feature. I was disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC ...

I was SUPER excited to read this book. Fiona Davis is the author I recommend to a lot of patrons looking for historical fiction, especially when they are over the abundance of WWII stuff out there (for the record - I am never over the abundance of WWII fiction).

I have loved all of Davis' stuff, and this is no exception. She always pulls from real historical buildings, events, and people to build her stories. This one gives us a behind the scenes look at the Rockettes in NYC in the 1950's. We also get to see the beginnings of criminal profiling as a procedure police departments will start to pick up.

One of the highlights of Davis's books is the swap between a more current time (here, in the early 90's) and the past. If I had only one complaint, it is I wish we could have seen more of Marion in the modern times, heard a little more about her life, and spread out the ending just a little bit longer ... but maybe I just didn't want the book to end! Recommended.

Thank you Fiona Davis and Netgalley for this ARC! As an avid fan of Fiona Davis and her historical fiction, I always look forward to her new releases and this book did not disappoint. Davis tells the story of a Radio City Rockette and how she deals with the Big Apple Bomber, who was terrorizing NYC at the time. The book goes back and forth between the narrator in the 50s and the 90s and sets the reader up with just enough knowledge to know we in for a surprise. Davis has done it again! I adored this book.

Fiona Davis amazes us again in 1950s New York. Marion has to choose between the high school sweetheart who would make her life comfortable and her dad happy OR choose to follow her dreams of dancing with the Rockettes. As she learns more of her mother who died young, she feels drawn to live her life as she chooses. Add in the Big Apple Bomber who has planted bombs around NYC for years, a quirky psychologist the she begins to have feelings for, and you have an amazing story of intrigue, budding love, of learning who you are and of what your parents have hidden from you. Marion learns to live through grief, fear, and trouble. Another hit for Fiona Davis!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy of this title. Fiona Davis has written another historical love letter to New York City. The Spectacular is the story of Marion, an aspiring dancer in the 1950s. By happenstance, she auditions and becomes a Rockette, This is to the extreme displeasure to her dour father. Marion's mother died when she was a girl, and she has since felt like an outsider to the relationship between her father and sister. There have been several bombings in NYC, and this spate of domestic terrorism collides with Marion's job as a Rockette and a burgeoning love. The story is told in flashbacks by the aging Marion who is in the process of selling her home and moving into an apartment. Well-told with well-drawn characters.

Thank you to @netgalley, Dutton, Penguin Random House and #FionaDavis for this ARC. Marion has just been fired from teaching at a dance studio in Manhattan for not giving the little girls enough structure in class when she hears about an open audition for The Rockettes. Though she knows her father would not agree and she may be throwing away her chances of getting married, she can't pass up on the dream! To her surprise, she aces the audition and is asked to join the troupe. This book follows her story from before The Rockettes, during, and after and is full of mystery, love and tradegy. I LOVED IT and I venture to say that it may be Davis' best yet!!! #TheSpectacular #FionaDavis #June2023

Love all the books by Fiona Davis! I feel like she transports you to these settings and pulls you in. I loved hearing about Fiona and her time with the Rockettes and trying to solve the bombings. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

This was one of Fiona Davis‘s best books. As usual she carefully researches the time period that the book takes place. In addition, there was an added element of suspense and mystery in this book. I learned a lot about the history of radio City Hall, and what it took to be a Rockette. I was surprised to see that terrorism existed back then and corporate wrongdoings. I had never heard about the mad bomber before.
The characters resonated with me, and I especially found Marion, Bunny, Judy and Peter likable. The book was a page turner and I did not want to put it down, it reads like a crime story with elements of romance. I highly recommend this book.
easy read

Fiona Davis's books always manage to surprise me, and The Spectacular is no exception. Yes, this is a book about the Rockettes, but it's also a book about a serial bomber, complex family relationships, unresolved trauma, and chasing your dreams.

Marion, our main character, bucks her father's expectations to chase her dream of dancing professionally and unexpectedly earns a position as a Rockette, one of the high-kicking stars of NYC's Radio City Music Hall. Marion's experience as a Rockette provides a lot of interesting information about the profession, the troupe, and the dedication it takes to be a professional dancer, and I enjoyed learning more about the group. But her new job is tied up in the complex relationships with her father and sister, and when tragedy strikes, Marion's job takes a backseat to hunting down the Big Apple Bomber.

I had never heard of the Bomber, although it seems like he's largely been forgotten by most people, even those who lived in NYC at the time. The fact that he wasn't caught for over sixteen years seems baffling, and the use of psychological profiling to eventually bring him in made for fascinating reading. Peter, the doctor who provides the profile for the Bomber, is an interesting character, and I liked his determination to help others and to change the field of mental health.

Together, Marion and Peter work to find the Bomber, and I really loved this aspect of the story. Reading the description for this book, I assumed this would be a secondary storyline, but once it gets going, the search really becomes the main plot. Yes, there's still dancing, but I loved following this unlikely duo as they basically play Nancy Drew and Frank Hardy to solve the case. Davis does a nice job of organically working in new clues and building off of plot points from earlier in the story.

The dual timelines aspect is small; there are several short chapters from Marion's POV in the early 90s, and they add a nice "modern" update to Marion's life. The final chapters are all in this timeline, and a surprise meeting creates for a lovely happy ending. I wasn't expecting it, but I loved that it happened.

The Spectacular really is spectacular as a work of historical fiction and as an intriguing mystery. Fans of Davis will love this novel as will fans of forgotten history and cleverly crafted whodunnits.

This book brought back many memories of growing up in New York and going to see movies and the Rockettes at Radio City. Marion Brooks has always wanted to dance, but she is stuck teaching at a local dance studio. When the opportunity arises to go to a try-out for the Rockettes, she jumps at the chance, though not very confidently. To her surprise she is selected and that leads her to the arduous training, a brutal dance schedule and being estranged from her father and sister. In the background is the Big Apple Bomber - someone is setting off small explosives in various landmarks including Radio City during the 50s and 60s but no one seems to know who he is. Drawn to the case, Marion and a young doctor believe psychological profiling might help discover who the bomber is. Riveting and imaginative mystery.

Fiona Davis does not disappoint. I liked that she told the history of the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall through the eyes of Marion, a typical woman of the 1950's, who was expected to marry and have children. Most interesting was the advent of criminal profiling, as the mystery of the bomber evolves.

I loved this latest historical fiction novel by Fiona Davis. Her books are becoming "sure thing" selections for me. This is an intriguing story set in a historical location in NYC. I knew little of the Rockettes before this, so I enjoyed learning about the dancers and the history. Marion is an interesting character. I loved the combination of mystery and historical fiction. Davis always throws something extra in her books and this time it was the criminal profiling aspect. I will recommend this to my students and my friends, and I will be purchasing both the ebook and print book for my library!