Assassinations Books

This is a review of the Kindle edition, not the paper versions.
I found this book doubly disappointing. The first and most bothersome problem was the poor formatting- inconsistent capitalizations, run together words, strange hyphenations. This was distracting and didn't allow the story to flow for me.
The second problem was the predictability of the plot and the somewhat cartoon-like characters.
The book did seem to be well researched and there were few glaring errors although the author is confused as to the functions and missions of the various intelligence organizations. At least he got the weapons correct which is often not the case in novels of this type.
I don't know if the printed versions of this novel have the same formatting problems. I will probably purchase one more novel in the series and then see if things have improved.

Transfer of Power is a very good action novel despite the fact that the bulk of the book is a siege situation. Rafique Aziz, a Palestinian terrorist, has managed the unthinkable. He has taken over the White House and is holding several hostages. Fortunately the secret service was able to whisk the president to his secure shelter underground before the terrorist takeover.

There is a lot happening outside of the White House as a result of the terrorists' actions. The Vice President and his staff start plotting and imagining what life will be like when they take over the White House if the terrorists manage to pry the president out of his shelter. The military generals, the FBI, and the CIA all try to deal with the situation in order to rescue the president, pacify the public and accommodate the United States' allies.

Fortunately CIA operative, Mitch Rapp, can be counted on to skirt the bureaucratic red tape and come up with a plan.

It seems to me that most action novels have some shortcomings. Transfer of Power seems more believable than most, but the ending feels very abbreviated. After hundreds of pages of a siege situation the concluding action sequence seems very condensed and short on details. Much of the conclusion is told in the form of an epilogue which hardly seems like a fair payoff after the reader has been primed for 400 plus pages.

Transfer of Power is not the best action novel, nor even the best Mitch Rapp novel, but it is still an entertaining page-turner for readers who enjoy a book filled with political intrigue, special forces maneuvers and combat.

This is a real stay up late can't put down book. Don't miss it and don't think it can't happen here.

I found that reading the series begun with Term Limits, it helps to read them in order of writing, as they build on previous issues. Transfer of Power is the second in the series, and I found it very hard to put down, just as I did Term Limits. I have finished the next two in the series, The Third Option and Separation of Powers, and I find all of Flynn's books full of incredible knowledge of the FBI, CIA and a full grasp of the pitiful inadequacy of our present Congress and the political system in general. I strongly recommend that all Americans read these books. All those who think "all is well" in Washington will have their eyes opened.

This is the second Flynn novel that I have read, and I had higher hopes with the introduction of Mitch Rapp. The first novel was a bit better, mainly because this seems a little drawn out. The dialogue is weaker, and character development is minimal. The action sequences are pretty good, but they make up a small portion of the book. My favorite authors are Lee Child, and Barry Eisler. True, neither writes a political thriller, but the character development is far superior, and the action/violence is well choreographed.

Summer entertainment. Much better than the movie and adds much more. Mark Wahlberg did a good job, but too young for the part. Reading the book, had to take his image out of my head.

Sum it all up with this and a Jack Daniels
"I got a woman who did me good who is now Payne's playtoy. I got a dog that stuck by me when no one else would and ended up in the ground. I got a country that thinks anybody who fought in Vietnam is some kind of crazy sniper who shoots at the president and any man who owns a gun is a crazy man. Those are debts that have to be paid first off."

Looking forward to reading Time to Hunt, which I just ordered next.

"Point of Impact" is one of my favorite books and I have read all of Stephen Hunters earlier and later works. They are not all gems for those of you who haven't read them but they are pretty good.
I have been waiting for this movie for years. In the late 1990's the project was supposed to star Tommy Lee Jones but that movie never got made. This movie is pretty faithful to the book with updating for modern times. However, the ending is out of left field and a terrible conclusion. Perhaps this is because through all of the other books about Bob Lee and his father, never once did I feel ashamed of their behavior as I did watching this ending. Shame on Stephen Hunter for allowing this to happen to his story.

Well written and full of suspense. This is my first Stephen Hunter book, but it won't be my last! The story line is not predictable, in fact you'll be surprised at every turn!

Worth the buy and read. Significantly better and richer than the movie. There's good reason for the solidly high ratings given to this book.

POINT OF IMPACT is the first novel I've read by Stephen Hunter, the Pulitzer-prize winning film critic for THE WASHINGTON POST. It's a very solid read, esepcially if you're a gun officiado.

This novel in many ways reminds me of the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child. Bob Lee Swagger, the hero of this novel, is a veteran of the Vietnam War who is also the ultimate loner and tough guy. Swagger finds himself framed for a murder he doesn't commit, and is forced to go on the lam. The rest of the book deals with his efforts to prove his innocence, and take vengenance on the powerful people who set him up.

Hunter is a good writer, and he knows how to write an excellent action scene. Some of the gun fights in POINT OF IMPACT are really impressive. Like most action novels, the plot is unbelievable and much of the characterization is two-dimensional. Hunter also throws in far too much technical information about guns and ballistics -- I personally found all this data rather dry and unncessary to the storyline. Still, after a slow start, this novel becomes quite exciting to read, and Hunter knows how to tell a compelling story with heroes you can root for.

Overall, POINT OF IMPACT is a really good action novel, and I look forward to reading more of Hunter's work.

This book went fast for me. The author's style is fairly direct, which is good given the subject matter (less direct approach leads to bogged down in names and who was where, etc.). On the negative side, occasionally he goes a little too fast and I missed important issues and people. In addition, this book loses a little perspective due to it largely being from the perspective of law enforcement - those who knew Pablo Escobear as associates are largely dead. Overall though, it's like a good piece of crime/manhunt drama.

Once I begin a book I usually finish it, even if it's not that good.
But I couldn't finish this book. I read about one third and then quit. It was so boring. It was more about politics than drugs. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Doctor Dealer (a great read!).

Book was very informative. It did a very good job detailing the time period of Pablo Escobar's rise and fall. Written very neutral and represented both sides of the hunters and huntee very well. A very complex operation during a time that was much different then today. If only we had the capabilities to apply the pressure the columbians used then we could probably capture or kill Bin Laden today. Similar paralles although Pablo's vice was drug trade and money, Bin Laden appears to be religion and hate. Wished the book had a few more pictures that expandeed on the charcters and groups that represented Pablo and those that represented the government. Good book that I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about Pablo Escobar.

A must read if you want to really know Pablo Escobar - the history, stats, numbers and some key people. Its so easy to read you wouldn't want to put the book down. Def. check it out!

The full story of the life and times of Pablo Escobar: from his early life of crime as a headstone thief to his brutal rise to the pinnacle of the Medellin drug cartel. Most of the story however, is about how the joint military and intelligence Task Force eventually cornered and killed the drug Kingpin. That Task Force, was led by Ambassador Morris (Buzz) Busby, Navy Seal and ex-DCM for the Conference on Disarmament under Ambassador Louis (Lou) Fields (while I served as part of the US delegation with him.)

The US "Delta Force," in conjunction with the Colombian security forces in an operation called "Centra Spike" had to pull out all of the stops to finally locate and kill the elusive fugitive.

Not since "Black Hawk Down" has Mark Bowden written such a gripping thriller. Anyone who liked Black Hawk Down will love this one too.

Five Stars

the series keeps getting better with every new edition!
highly recommemd the entire series!

3rd in the trilogy- A dynamic political/ suspense thriller/murder mystery. Couldn't put it down. Perfect score. A great conclusion to the Camel Club.

I picked this book up in the Airport in Atlanta and read it flying to Los Angeles. It was a perfect book to eat up flight time as it was fast paced and entertaining. I liked the author's writing style as it kept me glued to the book. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read. It would make a good movie as I could see Tommy Lee Jones playing Oliver Stone.

Keeps you extremely interested and wanting more - this book provides it chapter after chapter. For those who want everything truth based - read the dictonary. Isn't so graphic that it leaves nothing to the imagination - making it even more of a great read.

I had read one other book in the "Camel Club" series and was disappointed. However, after seeing all the great reviews for this book I decided to give the series another shot (plus I have just gotten a Kindle and it was cheap :-)). Once again I was disappointed. I would have given this 1-star, but Balducci's writing style is interesting - he moves the plot (what there is of it) along at a good pace. However, the characters were flat/one-dimensional with no depth. The 'bad guys' always make mistakes at just the right time and the 'good guys' are basically superheroes that always make the right move. The plot is driven by superhuman achievements by the heroes and by ridiculous coincidences. No more "Camel Club" books for me...

Mythological assassin vs detective.


Mythological in the sense that he has a fancy name tying in to the history surrounding that particular assassin.

In this case, some perhaps not so nice people want a French leader removed, and haven't managed it themselves, so they bring in an outside expert.

On the other side is a detective trying to track him down.

An excellent example of tense spy thriller writing of the time, by one of its foremost proponents.



4.5 out of 5

I usually don't describe books as something "I couldn't put down" but this is an exception. "The Day of The Jackal" is a page-turning thriller from start to finish.
Frederick Forsyth puts his keen newsman's eye and pen to describing the intracacies and frustrations of police work. The author builds the French assassination plot/worldwide manhunt into a crescendo before making one final U-turn that leaves you knowing there was more to the story.
I could write a book about the ending itself but I'll resist doing that here so as not to spoil things for those who haven't read the book.
I'm tempted to look for answers in "The Odessa File" (Forsyth's other famous novel) since Odessa (a post-World War II Nazi SS diaspora society) is mentioned in "Jackal." Yet the Detective Lebel in me suspects that most of the answers are tucked inside the taut sentences of "The Day of the Jackal."

After many failed attempts to assassinate Charles de Gaulle by the local French militant organization, an outside professional (the Jackal) is hired. The way in which Forsyth puts together a story, it has us even rooting for the assassins.

Forsyth's observant mind is at full force: with detailed detective work and the assassin's planning stages. Wonderful visualization and knowledge of the French culture and architecture. My only gripe is the French dialect slows down the reading pace. This is a complete and well thought out novel.

Wish you well
Scott

Fictional books about the hired assassin can be broken down into three basic tiers. From bottom up, there are the bad ones, the good ones, and, alone at the top, there is THE DAY OF THE JACKAL. Frederick Forsyth started his career off with a bang as sharp as any shot by the Jackal himself, an assassin paid half a million dollars to knock off Charles de Gaulle, President of France.

In the Jackal, Forsyth creates quite possibly the leanest killing machine on the printed page. Far from killing indiscriminately, the Jackal kills those he is paid to kill, and those poor saps whose deaths are necessary to achieve the final goal. Nothing more and nothing less. His grey eyes study the target as a scientist studies the dissected squirrel in the laboratory, approaching his job with pure, cool professionalism.

French Intelligence, having picked up on the plot to hire the Jackal, puts a detective on the hunt. The cat-and-mouse game that follows is exceptionally well sketched, with the Jackal keeping just a step (sometimes half a step) ahead of the police, all the while keeping his eye on the prize and planning methodically for the kill.

False identities, false leads, inside men, they're all here. The interrogations are so taut that one can almost smell the cigarette smoke filling the room. And the climax? Really good. THE DAY OF THE JACKAL lifted the standards for the political thriller and it is a standard that has rarely been matched even to this day.

This is a very entertaining book, enjoyable for anyone interested in modern Western politics and "espionage," without the need for precise historical accuracy.
Forsyth's novel is pure fiction with a heavy dose of generally accurate non-fiction context. The setting is the unsettled political climate of 1963 France under De Gaulle. For a Western democracy, France was (and had long been) a politically unstable nation with a fidelity for its government that was as faithful as the legendary lust of the Frenchman (another myth . . .). Anyway, Forsyth's fiction is based on a plot to assassinate De Gaulle as promoted by the rebels in his army who are bitter about his abadonment of the Algerian colony. The rebels hire a shadowy professional British assassin who insists on working alone, and for big dollars. To stop him, the best of French intelligence is devoted to a continential manhunt to find a man who has not yet committed any crime to investigate and who is otherwise unknown to everyone in the world (including the rebels who hired him). The rest is a great story presented masterfully by Forsyth.
This was a first work for Forsyth, and one can see where the writing could be better at times, but the plot and presentation are generally great. Forsyth's method is journalistic (fitting to the journalist that he was), and the tone is often like listening to Jack Webb's "Dragnet" or William Conrad voicing-over on "The Fugitive." For the most part, the facts are presented coldly, and at first this was a distraction. Later in the book, I realized that Forsyth was gradually, in his method, building characters who are just as rich as any in "pop" literature. For instance, the stolid details of the Jackal's dressing and lunching habits were, I thought at first, mere details to fill the imagination. In fact, Forsyth was presenting, without explicit comment, a picture of this mysterious man as one who so enjoyed the "finer" things and the jet-set lifestyle that he would do and risk anything for the wealth that he needed to support his desires.
I read this book in the summertime - it is that kind of book - the perfect companion to a lazy day with iced tea or a late night with the air conditioner. A classic in the modern spy genre.

Searching for a new author is an adventure wrought with time spent reading jacket blurbs or rear covers.

Personally, I like to do this in bookstores. Nothing is better than walking the aisles, randomly lifting a book from a shelf, and reading the first page if the blurb proves tempting enough.

As an added bonus I like to discover that the central characters in the story will reappear in a sequel or two.

This is how I found Rain Fall. John Rain is a hit man with standards, surely a conundrum with a paradox of principles. Unlike Larry Block's Hitman, John Rain finds very little humor in his work, and often pays a price physically as well as emotionally. He works where he lives; dealing with people he knows or knows of by reputation.

To further complicate the task, Rain must make each death appear natural, which he accomplishes using both high tech and low tech skills. Finesse is the key.

If you want to read a novel that will keep you engaged from the first paragraph, this is the one. An added enticement is that Rain Fall is the first of several books in this terrific series.

Rain Fall is the first in the series of assassin-extraordinaire, John Rain. From the very first "hit" to the last, the reader will be enthralled with this intelligent thriller.

John Rain is a specialized assassin - he eliminates his targets by making their demises look as if they died of natural causes. Rain is an outsider wherever he goes. Half-American and half-Japanese, Rain was ostracized from the time he was born. Having served in Vietnam with the American military, Rain later moved to Japan, disillusioned and haunted by the past. With the skills that made him an excellent soldier, Rain channeled those skills, along with a mastery of the martial arts, to become an extremely efficient assassin. Developing feelings for the daughter of one of his victims was not part of his plan, but when emotions get involved, the best laid plans get thrown out the window.

Rain Fall is a book that is nearly impossible to put down. Filled with twists and turns, amazing martial arts fight scenes and intelligent characters, this page-turner is a must read for action/suspense fans. I give Rain Fall my highest recommendation.

There's a new kid on the block and his name is John Rain. This is the James Bond of the 21st century. Nothing fantastic here though. It's all true to life and extremely thrilling. These novels are well thought out and researched. Tis a series of movies in the making.

Another great read from Barry Eisler, he hooks you into the story straight a way. John Rain, a Japanese American konketsu, or half-breed, learned his lethal trade as a member of the U.S. Special Forces. Although tortured by memories of atrocities he committed in Vietnam, he has become a paid assassin, a solitary man who lives in the shadows and trusts no one, even those who pay extraordinary sums for his ability to make murder look like natural death. But the aftermath of an otherwise routine hit on a government bureaucrat brings Rain to the attention of two men he knows from the old days in Vietnam: a friend who's now a Tokyo cop and an enemy who betrayed Rain long ago and is now the CIA's station chief in Japan. Like the gangster who hired Rain to kill Yasuhiro Kawamura, they want something the dead man had--a computer disk containing proof of high-level corruption, information that could destroy Japan's ruling political coalition. The search for the disk leads them to a woman Rain has come to love, a talented young jazz musician who also happens to be Kawamura's daughter. In this taut, brilliantly paced debut thriller, set in a vividly rendered Tokyo, the author manages an unlikely feat; he earns the reader's sympathy and concern for his protagonist, an amoral assassin who is one of most compelling characters in recent crime fiction.

The author is an ex CIA agent assigned to Japan. His charactor is a half Japanese ex CIA agent. How could an author be more accurate? It is an action packed book. I read most books secondhand but Eisler's books I buy new. They are page turners. I read them all. I am so much of a fan that I have communicated with him via email.

An old boys netw. left over from the Bay of Pigs fiasco (our own home grown freedom fighters invaded Cuba in April 1961) fantasizes on how to rekindle support for the Castro project: arrange for some non compis mentis to take a shot @the President & let the trail lead back to El Jefe. However, patsy Oswald doesn't know he's supposed to miss, & besides, he's already missed old racist Gen. Walker. Just once, he'd like to nail someone & be a hero.

Delillo's Lee Harvey Oswald is desperate for some kind of recognition; after all, even his own brother wouldn't know him. Oswald's defected to the Soviet Union & returned to the States again. Despite all the high-falutin' chatter about bourgeois oppression & Marx, all old Lee wanted was a crowd to meet him @the airport.

Even just leafing thru the single-volume compendium of the Warren Commission can prepare you for the familiar names of conspiracy here: Guy Banister, David Ferrie. Delillo also gets some extra mileage outta the grassy knoll.

In a way, Oswald & Ruby were similar characters: desperados waiting for the attention train. Come to think of it, they weren't so different from those guys cut loose by the CIA.

Delillo is the foremost poet writing in America today.

The fact he writes it in prose means nothing.

His dialogue is so brilliant it makes you think you are eavesdropping--on minds.

His descriptions of places and emotional states are breathtaking.

His relentlessness in seeing the dark side is like Dostoyevsky.

BUT!

But he wants to make BIG HISTORICAL STATEMENTS, and I am not sure fiction can quite do that. Even Dickens and Hugo have a hard time of it.

Fiction, even poetic fiction, like "Libra," deals with individuals; history deals with groups.

Groups are dull to read about; individuals interesting. Delillo tries to fuse the two (Americana, Endgame, Ratner's Star, The Names, Underworld, even White Noise--better, because less serious), by making his individuals reflect history.

But it still never quite works.

I applaud his attempt.

His writing is always worthwhile, even if his points don't always succeed.

Another problem with this particular book--wonderful as it is--is that it focuses on the death of JFK as the Defining Moment for the American Loss of Innocence.

But what really broke the back of American Innocence was Vietnam--because American Innocence was and is a self-deception for imperialism, and Vietnam is where the provinces fought back, and won. (We're seeing this all over again in Iraq.)

Still, a great book. Some of the scenes are as profound and memorable as dreams.

I've read Libra at least 30 times in the past 12 years and I'm still looking forward to reading it again.

So what is it that keeps me coming back to this book? Its the way Delillo created a virtual reality of history, character and place. As I read, I feel as if I'm inside the minds of each different character, even characters that have bit parts.

There he is, standing in the front car of the subway, peering into the tunnel as the train hurtles "on the edge of no control" through the darkness. "A tenth of a second was all it took to see a thing complete."
Sewer rats, workmen with lanterns, people standing on the local platforms. The wheels of the train howling in the curves.

Here's an example of vivid: "There was so much iron in the sound of those curves he could almost taste it, like a toy you put in your mouth when you are little."

The structure of Libra can be a bit overwhelming on the first read: a large cast of characters and multiple threads to the story. It helps to be familiar with the history of the JFK assassination too.

"Libra", to say this book is about the assassination of JFK is to miss the point of the book. By using basically the same exact cast of characters as James Ellroy does in his The Cold Six Thousand, DeLillo comes to a likewise and evenly frightening conclusion. Unlike many novels relating to JFK assassination DeLillo's attempt details events from two unlike perspectives. The first which explores Lee Harvey Oswald's life is well accounted by the authors fulgurous creativity. The other more schematic plot construes the infamous conspiracy to assassinate the President. By the end the quality of the author's delivery and characterization, we are left with empathizing Lee Harvey Oswald, Who is known to the mass public as one of the most notorious men of the twentieth century.
Libra is a fictional novel about the history of the assassination of President John Kennedy and an insightful narrative about the man who is said to have pulled the trigger: Lee Harvey Oswald. This dead obligating novel was found to be confusing by some people, but I really enjoyed reading it. What fascinated me for the most was how DeLillo takes this historical event, tear it up, and remodels it, playing with all different types of stereotypes that were made, and fighting the challenging hypothesis. He follows Oswald life from a young boy, to manhood, and to an assassin (is he?). Don DeLillo delivers many sides of Oswald giving readers a chance to come to their own conclusion. The meaning of the title itself if given a second look, deliver multi-levels of meaning to what DeLillo is actually conveying.
The assassination scene finally hails after 400 pages of reading and is worth the waiting. Very well written, I found the events to flash in slow motion. It's gripping and intense, the examining descriptions of his time spent in USSR, his wife and his mother. Libra contains Delillo's most accomplished characterizations, especially of women - Oswald's mother and his Russian wife. The dismaying and scary Mrs. Oswald is a proof of her son's insanity. Mrs. Oswald was demented, and so was lee.
His cold and brilliant novel begins with thirteen-year-old Lee Harvey Oswald sharing oppressively close quarters with his mother. Lee was the third of three children in the family the youngest of all, the oldest boy Robert Oswald, was Marguerite's son from her previous marriage. As a single mother, Marguerite was often unable to provide for her three sons. They spent several years in and out of orphanages. Lee's childhood was marked by constant turmoil, as they had to move from one place to another. It was rare for him to attend more than one semester at any given school. His grades were poor and as he grew older, his attendance became less even. He was characterized as a lonely child. And his mother generally refused to comply with recommendations about counseling and other treatments for her son.
"If she had faced it, if she had seen to it that Lee received the help he needed," Robert Oswald would state, "I don't think the world would ever have heard of Lee Harvey Oswald."

Before reading Libra, I was curious about the title. Why Libra?

It becomes apparent (for those of us that didn't know) that Oswald is a Libra, and like the tipping scales of his astrological sign, Oswald is presented as a mass of contradictions; a confused, idealistic young man who can easily tip (or be tipped) one way or another. Delillo manages to make Oswald (somewhat) sympathetic, reminding us how young he was in 1963 and presenting him as someone prone to manipulation.

Libra is a fascinating novel that seamlessly blends fact and fiction. In Libra, the JFK assignation is not a carefully constructed, brilliantly executed conspiracy. Like the tipping scales of the title, the assassination is presented as a merging of conspiracy and chance. There are shadowy secrets and plans within plans that tip the scales one way, while spontaneity and chance tip the scales the other way. The outcome on November 22 was unpredictable; part strategy, part circumstance. In the end there is no overarching plan. Conspiracies are runaway trains that take on a life of their own, hijacked by others and affected by chance.

Libra is a brilliant novel, extraordinarily well written. The novel is not, as some might expect, Delillo's attempt to settle, once and for all, what happened on November 22, 1963. History is our collective consciousness. Our reality is what we believe is real. The truth is something else.

Okay, we can forgive Mrs.Rinaldi for giving Emily a funny last name because this was an excellant book!! Lincoln's assination, Grave Robbing, Lies and Deception and Hangings!!! And poor Emily in the midst of it all!! I highly recommend this book.

This book was good. I have been reading it for a few days and I have not been able to put it down. It is a bit long though. It is about a girl named Emily whose mother is very sick. Well she finally dies and so the girl goes to live with her uncle eventually where she learns a horrible secret about the man who has always been there for her and has given her a home. Finally, Emily must make a decision that will have a very big impact on her life

This book was an awesome book by Ann Rinaldi. This story takes place during the time right after Lincoln was assinated. A girl named Emily has a mother who is deadly ill. Her mother knew that she was about to die and she told Emily that she needed to live wih someone. Emily wants to live wiht her aunt in Philidelphia, but her om wants her to live with her good friend next door. Emily's uncle Valintine comes into town to see Emily's mother. Valintine tries to tell Emily that she needs to come live with him. emily's mother doesn't want Emily to go live with him. Emily decides to go visit her uncle. While she is there she meets an old crazy black lady that lives upstairs. She tells Emily that her uncle has a big secert and that Emily needs to help get the old lady out. Emily is told that the big seceret is in her uncle's shed where NO ONE is allowed. To find out the secert you have to read this awesome book!!!

I love all of Ann Rinaldi's books, but this is surely one of my favorite. It has a very interesting plot that moves along at a good pace, and many characters that bring a lot to the story. The main character, Emily, sees things in an interesting and informative perspective, as many of Rinaldi's narrators do. Due to her circumstances, she is living with her Uncle Valentine and learning for herself what all his medical practice consists of. She is witnessing what happened to Washington upon Lincoln's assasination, and she conveys this all to the reader very well. Rinaldi works in a love story, making Emily's interest one of the main characters, as she normally does, without taking away the true meaning and grit of the story, as many other authors do. The book also has a lot of action and a lot of facts. Though I don't normally read historical fiction, Ann Rinaldi writes so well that she has become my favorite author. I would recommend this along with all of her other books to anyone who asked.

Emily Pigbush is an orphan. In the first few chapters of the book, she loses her mother, and her father is long gone from the war.She is left to live with her best friend Annie, the daughter of Mary Surratt.That night, there is a great outcry in the city of Washington, where Emily lives. Mr. Lincoln, the president, has been shot dead. Emily is even more stunned when she hears who had done it-- the man who had been staying with the Surratt's, John Wilkes Booth. The Surratts are thrust into investigation for connection to the murder. Emily is sent to stay with her rich uncle instead, Valentine. She gets along well there, until she uncovers a sinister secret from a woman staying in the house -- her uncle could be a bodysnatcher. She pursues the idea, quietly, until she is confronted at school by a reporter's daughter. Her fears are confirmed when she sees the proof with her own eyes. She loses herself in her own emotions; love for Robert, a man Valentine saved, hate for all of them.
A very good illustration of the Civil War and the unjustly accused.

Brian Haig is a genius. The President's Assassin was a fast paced book that was very hard to put down. I read it cover to cover in two days. I need some sleep.....

I stumbled upon this book, having never read anything from Brian Haig before. What a find. It was a can't-put-it-down type of book. Well written. Nice fleshed-out characters.

It was fun.

Now I'm off to find another book by this author.

I love his sense of humor and his writing style. I have yet to read a book of his that I didn't love.

Brian Haig is a new author I just tried and I love him, his style and the character of Sean Drummond. I look forward to reading all of you books.

Master of the political thriller, Brian Haig, again mobilizes his acerbic, sarcastic, yet inevitably efficient U.S. Army JAG lawyer with a special forces background, Major Sean Drummond in the stirring "The President's Assassin". Drummond, on loan to the CIA is tagging along with FBI agents investigating a professionally accomplished massacre scene is the posh Washington D.C. suburbs. He is partnered with the attractive, tightly wrapped FBI special agent Jennifer Margold, Phd. in psychology and superstar of the Quantico Behavioral Sciences Unit.

Upon entering a McLean, Virginia mansion they discover a bloody scene already crawling with agents. Six corpses including the White House Chief of Staff, his wife and a four person Secret Service detail have all been dipatched in execution style. The murder scene also contained a note presumably from the perpetrators threatening the demise of the President within 48 hours. They also learn that a website had been created promising a payoff of $100 million to kill the President.

Drummond proves to be instrumental in analyzing the murder scene making Agent Margold look good to her boss Assistant Director George Meany, who happened to have been a rival for the affections for Drummond's main squeeze. The threat to the president heightens the response in every government agency.

Within short order White House spokesperson Merrill Benedict and Supreme Court justice Fineberg are killed in spectacular fashion using U.S. military issued weapons. Investigations conducted by Margold, ably aided by Drummond seem to point to young Secret Service agent Jason Barnes, presently unaccounted for. Barnes' father Richmond federal judge Calhoun Barnes, recently considered for a seat on the Supreme Court had shamefully been disgraced as they combed through his past. A motive had been established.

Drummond and Margold proceed to locate and thwart Barnes before his plans can come to fruition using psychological profiling to move in the right direction.

Haig, a talented writer falls a little short in presenting a convincing enough argument in identifying the bad guys in his novel. He is quite obviously setting us up for a twist as the novel concludes. The interplay between Drummond and Margold, which teems with both psychological and sexual conflict was very effectively portrayed.

So much more than a "Who Shot Kennedy" book, this dissects the legend of JFK from the perspective of the dangers he faced politically and personally in leading the country out of the shadow of McCarthyism and steering it away from nuclear holocaust. It also explores the more enigmatic character of RFK and the reasons he never fought openly to have his brother's assassination re-investigated. One of the best books on recent American history I've read.

This was an important book which brought to light many things about the JFK assassination. Talbot makes a good case in describing how much Kennedy was hated, and why. It made me believe that there really was something to admire about Kennedy ( after reading The Dark Side of Camelot, I hadn't thought so)... and this something had to do with his attraction to peace. Talbot also does a good job in describing why the assassin could've come from the CIA-Mafia connection. His comments on David Phillis, Angleton, Morales and Hunt etc. (all CIA men) made me believe that these people should've definitely been seriously investigated. Where the book got a bit weak was on two fronts: 1. Talbot didn't do a good job on describing the Bobby Kennedy efforts against Castro. He mentioned that Bobby ran a variety of anti-Castro ops, that he rode hard the CIA for results, but Talbot's descriptions are rather impressionistic as opposed to revealing: what exactly was Bobby telling the CIA? when he was yelling at them for doing to little about Castro... to me it was all rather confusing, this whole description that Kennedy was running backchannels to Castro, while his brother Bobby was directing covert ops against Castro. I don't disbelieve it, I just wish that Talbot had a more hard-nosed approach to it - more of a hard description of events. Most importantly, I'd like to know in more detail the nature of Bobby's anti-Castro's ops. The second thing has to do with the Kennedys failure to investigate JFK's death as attorney general. Now, I do understand what Talbot says, that Kennedy felt powerless and maybe even guilty... but still... something seems missing here. Why not get the Justice Department into the investigation? Why not get Sheridan on it? I mean it's difficult to believe that the assassins would've gone after Bobby so soon after killing JFK... nobody would've believed that it was just a coincidence...

All in all, though, a fascinating story... and the sub-story of Mary Meyer is really stunning...

this was a good choice for my Kennedy library and it was sent very quickly and efficiently...

If you're interested in conspiracy theories for the Kennedy assassination, this is probably not the book to read. However, if you're interested in the Kennedy administration itself, its key players and the various issues it dealt with, this is a must-read. Well written and entertaining to read, BROTHERS gives a historical yet personal and enjoyable description of John & Bobby Kennedy's time in the White House. President Kennedy is generally defined by the Cuban Missile Crisis and his assassination, but this book explores several other issues that are less publicized but no less significant, as well as the role his brother played in the administration. I highly recommend this book; it was extremely enjoyable and informative!

This is a unique look at the Kennedys from within the Kennedy camp. We witness the major events of our era through the eyes of Robert Kennedy and the close-knit "band of brothers."

While this book doesn't settle the issue of the John Kennedy Assassination, it establishes who the Kennedy clan and its allies felt was responsible. RFK firmly believed "they" killed his brother. Whatever the reader's opinion of the event, it is interesting to view RFK's life and career as products of that belief.

I was impressed both with the level of research and with the writing style. Though a great deal of information was presented, Brothers moved along very quickly