brad metsler is the author of a series of thrilling novels, and he is a recovering attorney.laughter] his penchant for research has made history cool, and i think he's the only south floridian on the panel this morning. if you want to see more of him, turn on the history channel. his newest thriller, "the president's shadow," opens with one simple idea. one morning in the white house rose garden, the first lady uncovers a severed arm buried in the dirt. [laughter] sloan crossly is a noted essayist, and she writes frequently of life and the world for "the new york times." many of us were under a misguided assumption until last month that class was her debut novel, but she blew the whistle on herself, and we now know it was her second novel, and maybe this morning she will fill us in on the details. rick moody is the author of four novels. his latest novel is "hotels of north america." i haven't read the normal, however -- the novel, however, i have learned there are discussions of various scams and cons including the melon drop. as a former prosecutor, i think i need to do som