John Lone Books

Duffy provides nothing but the facts, taken from nothing less than the governments own records and documents. The result is clear, Oswald was not alone in life, or in the set up of the murder.

When 52-year-old Jacob L. "Sparky" Rubenstein (more commonly known as Jack Ruby) stepped out of a group of policemen and reporters in a Dallas Police Department basement to shoot Presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24th, 1963, it sparked a whole new wave of "It Was A Conspiracy" talk with respect to the John F. Kennedy murder (which Oswald was charged with committing two days before he died at Ruby's hand).

But when weighing all the evidence surrounding the actions of Jack Ruby during that November 1963 weekend when President Kennedy was assassinated, a clear pattern emerges -- and it doesn't add up to "conspiracy".

Many conspiracy believers endorse the theory that has Ruby "rubbing out" Oswald at the behest of organized crime figures. But would a known blabbermouth like Jack Ruby have really been a wise choice for Oswald's killing (which was carried out on Live television all around the United States)? Who, then, is going to "rub out" the person who just eliminated LHO?

Plus, there's the "timing" factor to consider when talking about any possible pre-arranged "hit" on Lee Oswald in the DPD basement. If Ruby woke up on Sunday morning with the intent of killing Oswald at 10:00 AM (which is a time that was later pushed back by the police), would Ruby have really NOT been in "position" to do the deed until approx. 11:20 AM (CST) that Sunday? (Could he have possibly known about the delays in transferring Oswald to the County Jail? Highly doubtful he could have known.)

Also -- Would Ruby have really taken his dog with him to a pre-planned murder? (One of his pooches was found in his car after the murder of Oswald.) And would he have left that dog in his car under such circumstances? By all accounts he loved that dog greatly, even referring to "Sheba" as his "wife". He would never have taken that dog with him downtown if it was in Ruby's mind to kill Oswald at the police station that morning.

And would Ruby have really taken the time to stop at the nearby Western Union office and send a $25 money order to one of his strippers (who worked at one of his Dallas nightclubs) just a mere four minutes before casually strolling into the DPD basement to encounter Lee Oswald? How can CTers possibly reconcile that pesky item?

In my opinion, every single thing about Lee Oswald's murder by Jack Ruby spells a "last-minute" and "spur-of-the-moment" act of violence. And it also spells "deeply personal" on Ruby's part.

It was known that Ruby was distraught and in tears much of that November weekend. The death of JFK hit him hard. And it's certainly true that the press was painting just one man as the killer of the President -- Lee Oswald. (And given the trail of evidence that the police had to follow, there was no other possible rational and reasonable conclusion to reach other than that.)

So Ruby was probably thinking like most of America on that Sunday morning -- he thought this guy Oswald killed his beloved President. It's, therefore, fairly logical to assume that Ruby hated Oswald's guts that weekend. ....

....And Ruby was known to almost always carry a gun on him.

....And Ruby was friendly with the DPD.

....And Ruby liked to be "where the action is".

....And Ruby could practically come and go at his own leisure within the DPD Headquarters and Precincts.

....And Ruby always dressed rather conservatively (one policeman later stated: "I never saw Jack when he didn't have on a black suit"), meaning he could literally "blend in" with other similarly-dressed plainclothes policemen and reporters in the DPD basement that Sunday morning.

....And at 11:21 AM on 11/24/63, Jack fired one shot from his revolver into the gut of Lee Harvey Oswald, resulting in Oswald's death 106 minutes later.

All of this adds up to the actions of a second "Lone Nut" during that dark weekend back in 1963.

East of the Sun and West of the Moon has always been my favorite fairy tale and I collect different versions. I was excited to find an audio version until I heard it. The music is very distracting and makes listening to the words difficult. There is nothing wrong with just reading a story. The human voice is melodic enough that you don't need to add all that other stuff. It changes the whole mood of the story and I really didn't like it.

This book, though very informative, is taken from so many other already available sources that it reads more like some student's book report. The most inaccurate passage being that Jeff in "The Killer" wears white gloves like Jeff in "Le Samourai". I own "The Killer" and do not remember seeing him wearing gloves. Also, Christopher Heard claims that some scenes from "The Killer" match "Le Samourai" shot for shot. That is completely untrue. Obviously Mr. Heard has not done his homework and thoroughly researched his subject matter. All in all, it is an interesting read if you are unfamiliar from where some of the material is plagerized.

And for the author to come onto this site to defend his malodorous slapped together quickie bio is contemptible. Heard, the author, "takes offense" and makes claims of having spoken extensively with mssrs. Woo and Chow, and yet these "talks" are not included in the book. All we get are the same story beats featured in mainstream magazines such as People and Time. Anyone who buys this odious ripoff will, in fact, receive nothing but quotes featured in articles posted on www.chowyunfat.com, or www.johnwoo.com, or bullet in the web or any number of other sites available by typing the words 'John Woo' into any search engine. Available for free, mind you. Christopher Heard, unfortunately, is a hack who did not put in the necessary legwork, and who now feels the need to attack his critics and defend his own deficiencies as a writer and "reporter." For all the "authoritative posturing," where is the interview with Kenneth Tsang, who has starred in almost every post ABT Woo work (including Chow's American debut The Replacement Killers)? the detailed examination of Woo's work (how the two-gun stance was swiped specifically from The Shootist and Taxi Driver)? details about his gun-happy works before 1986's A Better Tomorrow? Why didn't Ti Lung become Woo's leading man? why Chow? and who is Ti Lung anyway? and what about the many other projects Woo was supposed to do once he got to America? Band of Assassins? Full Circle? Tears of the Sun? Metal Machine? the sequel to Hard Boiled? Who wrote these? How did they come to Woo's attention? Christoper Heard doesn't know any of this because he didn't know what questions to ask Woo (or Chow). He focused solely on the well known movies, as opposed to the person behind the typewriter and camera. Where was the discussion about how Woo (and later Chow's) work suffered once they reached America? Why is this happening? These answers are not in this "book." This slapped together quickie's contents can be found, free of charge, on the aforementioned sites, where ironically, amateur webmasters offer more answers than this so-called biography. Don't bother with Heard's hackwork. He didn't bother trying to write a real book; he slapped other peoples' quotes together and called it his own work.

Think of this book as a really extensive magazine article. If you're looking for some behind-the-scenes information on the second half of John Woo's career, look no further. However, if you're a film student looking for a complete in-depth critique of John Woo as an artist and director from both a technical and biographical perspective, this book will leave you a little hungry.

For weeks I have heard about this book from friends, publications, as well as the internet. Being a John Woo fan, I planned to purchase the title from the first time I heard it was coming out. So when I recently saw it sitting on a shelf of a book store, I immediately purchased it. It was read and completed within a few hours. Not because the book is very short, but because it was so interesting to read for me.
For John Woo fans, this is a book that definately should be looked into. From the monent I started chapter one I did not want to put the book down. To see how my favorite director came to be the man he is was very interesting, and though I had already known much of the information contained in the book from previous visits to the internet, I did not mind reading about them again.
I, like the author of the book, started my admiration of John Woo after first viewing a Better Tomorrow movie (the first film, in my case). I was browsing a store, looking for an action film to watch for the evening when I saw the Better Tomorrow DVD, sitting there, with Chow Yun Fat smiling on the cover. I bought it, went home, and watched it. Within that week I had the Better Tommorrow trilogy all on DVD, as well as a half dozen other films by John Woo and/or Tsui Hark. That is how I became a fan. So when I started this John Woo book, and learned that the author became a fan in a similiar fashion, I think it made the book a little more enjoyable to read and relate to.
For those who are more of the "casual fan" or John Woo, who have simply viewed a few of his movies and don't know much about him, this is a good book to begin learning. The writing is clear, easy to read, and really seems to be written by a real big John Woo fan. Though I would have appreciated some pictures and the asian names included in the filmography section, this book is good enough such that you won't care about those details as you read through the chapters discussing the times of one of the greatest action directors ever.

And for the author to come onto this site to defend his malodorous slapped together quickie bio is contemptible. Heard, the author, "takes offense" and makes claims of having spoken extensively with mssrs. Woo and Chow, and yet these "talks" are not included in the book. All we get are the same story beats featured in mainstream magazines such as People and Time. Anyone who buys this odious ripoff will, in fact, receive nothing but quotes featured in articles posted on www.chowyunfat.com, or www.johnwoo.com, or bullet in the web or any number of other sites available by typing the words 'John Woo' into any search engine. Available for free, mind you. Christopher Heard, unfortunately, is a hack who did not put in the necessary legwork, and who now feels the need to attack his critics and defend his own deficiencies as a writer and "reporter." For all the "authoritative posturing," where is the interview with Kenneth Tsang, who has starred in almost every post ABT Woo work (including Chow's American debut The Replacement Killers)? the detailed examination of Woo's work (how the two-gun stance was swiped specifically from The Shootist and Taxi Driver)? details about his gun-happy works before 1986's A Better Tomorrow? Why didn't Ti Lung become Woo's leading man? why Chow? and who is Ti Lung anyway? and what about the many other projects Woo was supposed to do once he got to America? Band of Assassins? Full Circle? Tears of the Sun? Metal Machine? the sequel to Hard Boiled? Who wrote these? How did they come to Woo's attention? Christoper Heard doesn't know any of this because he didn't know what questions to ask Woo (or Chow). He focused solely on the well known movies, as opposed to the person behind the typewriter and camera. Where was the discussion about how Woo (and later Chow's) work suffered once they reached America? Why is this happening? These answers are not in this "book." This slapped together quickie's contents can be found, free of charge, on the aforementioned sites, where ironically, amateur webmasters offer more answers than this so-called biography. Don't bother with Heard's hackwork. He didn't bother trying to write a real book; he slapped other peoples' quotes together and called it his own work. Don't bother buying it. A better book has yet to be written on John Woo.