Legend has it that this clever, calculating character sprang from the bloodied pages of a nation’s history that the author knew.  

Indeed, in creating this character the author brought to life one of his most vivid and indelible characters.

The character sees opportunity in tragedy and urges people around them to carry out deeds that will come back to haunt them. When those “deed-doers” falter, this character urges them on, with words that are still familiar to many of us.

And yet, once this character gets what they want, the world around them begins to fracture.

Possessed by guilt, this character gives away their role in the plot and they are revealed for the cruel and conniving person they are.

Do you know who the character is? Email me at kerri@mpr.org with your guess and see the answer in next weeks newsletter.

Now, onto the book of the week.

Always wondered what the government is hiding at Area 51? Speculated about those bizarre saucer sightings over Phoenix, Redmond, Wash., and Dexter Mich.?

In his new book "UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government's Search for Alien Life Here ― and Out There," national security reporter Garrett Graff says the U.S. is “covering up the full extent of its interest and investigation into UFOs" but it's not because it’s concealing the carcasses of aliens or the wreckage of supersonic spacecraft.

Graff says, “The deeper I got into this subject, the more I came to realize that the government’s UFO cover-up has primarily been a cover-up motivated not by knowledge but of ignorance.”

— Kerri Miller | MPR News.