Fiona Davis is quickly becoming a favorite historical fiction author for me after loving The Magnolia Palace and again with her new novel, The Spectacular! The way you feel as though you are in Radio City Music Hall with the characters and training with the Rockettes was amazing. I love when a book can transport you through time and space! Marion was such a likable main character and her tenacity to follow her dreams and be independent was really admirable. Her interactions with secondary characters were great and I thought her involvement in the Big Apple Bomber case was really interesting. The storyline had a nice balance between the case and her time with the Rockettes, in addition, to the few chapters that brought readers into present day Marion’s life to see where she ended up. This book had me intrigued until the very end and I was very satisfied with how everything wrapped up with the different storylines. It’s a five star read for me and I highly recommend!

The Spectacular was another winner from Fiona Davis! WOW! I had no idea of the Big Apple Bomber and I learned so much. I loved being on the "inside" of a dancers life for the Rockettes. So much NYC history packed into this fast paced novel. Well done!

Marion was struggling to find her place, in her family, in the dance studio she was teaching at, when she came upon the opportunity to audition for the Rockettes. Despite her father's stubborn insistence that the give it up, and her "almost fiancé's" confusion at her choice, Marion is determined to see what her life will be like if she pursues her dream. And Davis does a wonderful job giving an inside look at the lives of the grueling lives of the Rockettes, how hard they work and how they are there for one another.

Tying together the rich history of Radio City Music Hall Rockets, a fictionalized version of the mad bomber of the 1950's NYC, family dynamics and a touch of romance, Davis has once gain created an amazingly enjoyable novel.

Fiona Davis takes us back to 1950's New York City and the glamorous world of Radio City Music Hall and The Rockettes. The author does an excellent job of giving us a first hand look at the life of a Rockette, as well as allowing us a glimpse into the historic Rockefeller Center. As is her trademark, she incorporates fact with fiction, weaving an interesting tale of Marian, who leaves her family and boyfriend behind to pursue her dream of becoming a dancer. A big part of the story involves an incident that actually happened in New York City, where a bomber went uncaptured for several years, planting pipe bombs in restrooms and phonebooths throughout the city and terrorizing the inhabitants. This is a thoroughly enjoyable well-written historical fiction drama that delivers an intriguing story with some true facts. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I always enjoy reading Fiona Davis's books! The amount of research and thought for historical accuracy that goes into each of her novels helps make her stories so captivating and real. I loved learning more about little Rockette traditions and quirks while also following as the field of forensic psychology really starts. Our main character was easy to root for and I think made solid decisions even when they were hard.

I will definitely be recommending this book to historical fiction readers, but also to true crime readers because I think that it has wide appeal!!

What an amazing book! I love historical fiction and when it covers subjects in NYC such as the Rockettes, I am all in. I have only read a couple of Fiona Davis’ books and they have both been fantastic so I need to read her others. This one focuses on Marion, who is 19 and newly selected to be one of the Rockettes, which happens to coincide at the same time a bomb explodes in the theater, which is the latest in a series that have been going off, and at Marion’s urging this starts the beginning of psychological profiling as this seems to be the result of one individual that cannot be caught. Marion is pulled into the investigation and as a result, is forced to make sacrifices that she never thought she’d have to make.

This was absolutely wonderful, and had so many layers to it that I was not expecting, mainly the true crime piece that was a fabulous surprise. Marion was such a strong character but vulnerable, as she was placed in so many situations and handled them well, where I would have went off on so many and not tolerated as much as she did, but it was a different time back then. I literally DEVOURED this in one day, it was so good.

If you have not read historical fiction and have always wanted to, I highly recommend starting here. If you need a good book to read, then here you go. This will be in my top reads for the year and the audio was wonderful, but I think the physical book would be great too.

Thank you to PRH Audio, DoubleDay Books, and NetGalley for the copies to review.

I always love Fiona Davis's books, and this one was no exception. I learned a lot about New York City, and the story itself was incredibly interesting. The characters were well written and I think they were true to the time period, and the story was exciting to read. It was a book that managed to do a lot in under 400 pages. As a reader you got to know the characters and you had complex feelings about them which changed during the course of the book, which is impressive considering the amount of things happening in the story. Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC!

What an amazing story of the Rockettes, Bombers, Parkinson, dancers, and family struggles. Loved this book and Fiona Davis. This is my 3rd Fiona Davis book and I am already to read the next one. The way she makes you feel like you are truly part of the book is amazing.

Marion Brooks is beyond excited when she is offered a job dancing with the Rockettes but she has no idea of the dangers to come.

The Spectacular was such a fun and interesting novel. The story alternates between 1956 and the present day in NYC. Fiona Davis always does an amazing job of bringing the city to life and I love how she incorporates historic buildings into her stories. Along with the vivid setting, the history of the Rockettes was really interesting. The Spectacular is a glittering novel with a fast paced plot that will keep you on your toes.

This one started out strong but quickly dove into drivel. The conversations between the characters felt stilted, awkward and unreal completely changing the way I felt about reading the book.

I loved learning more about the Rockettes. & The Christmas Spectacular is a wonderful production that I enjoyed thoroughly when I lived in NY.. I encourage everyone to go watch the show, but let the book.go..

This was an excellent and engaging historical fiction novel with wonderful character development. The story had history, intrigue, romance, & plenty of family drama. Thank you to Edelweiss+ for the ARC. I was bothered by how the author described Marion in the beginning. She was in her 50s and she wrote her as if she were much older, couldn't move well, moving into a senior facility, etc. She also used the term "gaslighting" when Marion was 18 & that term wasn't really popular in culture until recently.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the way Fiona Davis writes and will read anything she writes. The story was enjoyable and I could not put it down.

Another fabulous historical story from Davis. Marion was a strong character who stuck to her desire to do what she wanted by becoming a Rockette. Reading about the Rockette's in that time period was very informative. The way the mystery was solved seemed a little unbelievable that anyone could try their hand at investigation.

The first part of the book you learn about Marion, her father, and sister. Her father was a liar and very old fashion. You see Marion's attempt at becoming a Rockettes dancer. It is so interesting and full of details that I am sure are from Fiona Davis' research. I found this part very interesting.

The second half is a mystery that Marion attempts to solve. She and a friend find out things and do things the detectives were not able to figure out. I found this half unbelievable. I have never been a fan of a civilian figuring out a mystery.

I will read another Fiona Davis. This one was half great for me.

The Spectacular takes place over a few months and is a brief 1990s story incorporating long retrospective flashbacks to 1956, when 19-year-old Marion Brooks successfully auditioned for the Radio City Rockettes, much to the chagrin of her father. The restrictions of her patriarchal family cause Marion to defy expectations and take her future into her own hands, and the ensuing issues are integral to the story.

Quite apart from the magical pull of the Radio City Music Hall itself, the meticulously detailed reflections on dance rehearsals, synchronisation of eye-high kicks and smiles, and clever height adjustments, using line placement and costume, are fascinating. Four shows a day, seven days a week, three weeks on, one week off – this gruelling regimen drew me into Marion’s and her friend Bunny’s world. I felt deeply involved in this part of the novel: the camaraderie, the troupe mentality, the slightest mistake exposing human fallibility in clockwork precision, and how the visual lure of synchronised harmony in human movement touches the deepest part of our psyche.

Hence, for me, the first half of the book is the most compelling. Following a terrible tragedy at Radio City which affects Marion personally, the latter part of the novel delves into family drama. Marion’s behaviour, though fully understandable emotionally, doesn’t feel credible. With a fraught relationship already in tatters, references throughout the book to Marion’s father as Simon distance him from the usual nuclear family father-daughter connection.

The novel dwells on historical events from 1956, when the New York City police hired a psychiatrist to help identify the Mad Bomber who terrorised NYC for sixteen years. The history behind these events was the lead-in to criminal profiling. In The Spectacular, Davis continues to shine the spotlight on extraordinary New York landmarks.

It wasn’t all lights and sparkles at Radio City Music Hall and instead we follow the path of a very real serial bomber that was rampant in New York for 16 years in the 1940s and 50s. While the story took some fairly large liberties with the actual history, I thought it was very well written and enjoyable, while also paying homage to the complexities of mental health and the real people that suffered due to the bomber. I was disappointed in the way the ending was written and felt it packed too much into the last couple chapters that wasn’t overly needed. However, an excellent read and a story contained so much more complexity and dark history than I was expecting. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

After Marion loses her job as a dance teacher at one of New York City’s finest dance studios, she takes a chance and lands the once in a lifetime opportunity to perform as one of the coveted Radio City Music Hall Rockette in the 1950s. Marion’s father doesn’t approve of her dreams to be a professional dancer and forces Marion to choose her own true happiness on the stage or her family and the vision they have for her as a dutiful wife. The decision only gets more complicated as the Big Apple Bomber targets multiple Rockette performances and Marion’s life is forever changed. The story is told from only Marion’s POV both then (at the time she was a Rockette) and looking back now during elderly age.

I’m not normally into historical fiction but the cover and synopsis were just so intriguing. I’m obsessed with the beautiful cover design! I’m so glad I gave it a chance because I loved it and it ended up being one of my book club’s picks for July! It’s an incredibly bittersweet story full of hope, loss, and the complexity of life.

Thank you so much to Penguin - Dutton, Fiona, and NetGalley for the digital review copy!

Another great piece of historical fiction by this author! The Spectacular, as with many HF books, enlightened me to a piece of history I knew nothing about. The story blends the reality of the "Big Apple Bomber" with the dreams and determination of Marion, a young woman yearning to pursue her dreams instead of her father's demands.
I loved the glimpse into the life of a Rockette in the 1950s and felt like I stepped back in time to life in New York City seventy years ago.
Marion is determined to be a Rockette, determined to help solve the mystery behind the bombs and determined to create a future that will make both herself and her father happy. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this interesting read!

I fell into this book and the life of Marion right away! My one line is that this was another SPECTACULAR read! The historical aspect of each of the Davis novels draws you into the decades and don’t let you go. The Rockets have a fascinating history and even the building becomes a favorite character. Add in the family drama and bonus storylines of Marion and her friend, Bunny, and you will wishing this book would have a sequel like I did! Well done! This author is a must read for me. I am giving this review for the privilege of reading a beautifully written book and enjoying a piece of history.

Historical fiction isn’t my go-to genre, but this was an excellent and memorable read whether you like the genre or not!

I went into this book blind, only vaguely knowing it was about the Rockettes. I highly recommend doing the same! I wasn’t expecting some of the events that are actually talked about in the book summary, and I think that added to my enjoyment!

This was a really compelling read! I really didn’t know what to expect, but I felt transported back into 1956 and never thought I’d be so into a book about dancers! The characters felt so real, and I got caught up in the mystery and action at the end. Such a unique read that I really loved!

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton Books for the copy in exchange for my honest review!