”There are dogs and kids, great books and great paintings and good music all over the White House,” he said. “It’s human again, the way it must have been under Franklin Roosevelt.” The power of John F. Kennedy didn’t just rest in his Hollywood good looks, or his youthful vibrancy or his beautiful wife or his inspiring speeches, but that he exuded this idea that anything seemed possible. Even something as crazy as landing an American on the moon. He was tougher than he looked. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he held firm and it was Nikita Khrushchev who blinked. The war against the spread of communism was heating up in Southeast Asia and Vietnam was becoming a country that more and more Americans could find on a map. Ngo Dinh Diem, the brother with the camera ready suits.Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu are having PR problems. The country was destabilizing under their rule. They had more enemies than friends. The war against the North was going poorly. Buddhist monks were lighting themselves on fire in the street in protest against their dictatorship. These were all plenty of problems to deal with, but when the United States started to see the brothers as an impediment in the war against communism it would prove to be the final straw. The Americans gave the go ahead to a group of generals to take control of the country. A coup d’etat happened on November 2nd, 1963 when Diem and Nhu are riddled with bullets. The country celebrates. Ngo Dinh Nhu, he was the cool, badass brother.Not Paul Christopher. He is a long serving CIA operative who doesn’t have to dig too deep into the data to know the United States changed the game. Assassinations breed assassinations and Christopher fears that hearing the first shoe drop will quickly be followed the thump of the second shoe. It is even bigger than he could have expected. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. It had been 62 years since the last presidential assassination. President William McKinley was shot and killed in 1901. There was a lot of problems with the trip to Texas. First of all Dallas was a known hostile city to the president. The secret service wanted him in a closed car, but Kennedy was trying to win over voters. He wasn’t going to do that by putting his light under a bushel. The crowds of people needed to see him and be swept away by the visual promise of Camelot. In the emotion of the moment Paul Christopher discovers something about himself. ”You’re crying. Would you like to pray with me?”“No, Father. I don’t believe.”“It’s a frightful thing.”Christopher thought the priest was talking about his rejection of faith. “For some,” he said.“For all. President Kennedy was a great man. That death should come like that to him--he was like a young prince.”“Yes, it’s a great shock.”“You must have loved your President.”“I love my country,” Christopher said.“It’s the same thing, perhaps.”“Ten minutes ago I wouldn’t have said so, Father. Now I think you’re right.”I remember as a child when I was reading through the encyclopedia set that some shady salesman had sold my parents when I was still too young to read them, and had come across the entry about John F. Kennedy. I asked my mom why John F. Kennedy was assassinated. She started crying. It was as raw for her in the mid-1970s as it was the day it happened. The budding investigative reporter part of my developing personality sensed I was on to a big story. She was at Ma Bell working a switchboard when it happened. Anybody alive at the time can tell you where they were when it happened. “I don’t know why they killed him, but they took him from us.” That look on LBJ’s face gives me a chill every time I see it. As if he is calculating something nefarious. Bundy said after working for both presidents that Kennedy was most worried about looking stupid. Johnson was most worried about being looked on as a coward.We don’t know what Kennedy would have done if he had lived. McGeorge Bundy insists that Kennedy was not going to escalate the war in Vietnam. Some theorists think that may have been why he was killed. Big contractors knew that LBJ would be more amenable to getting things rocking and rolling in Vietnam. It could have been the mob after his brother Bobby had harassed them in court case after court case. It could have been Cubans who felt betrayed over the Bay of Pigs. It could have been the Russians for any number of reasons. The Vice President wasn’t particularly fond of Kennedy either. John had amassed a lot of enemies in a very short presidency.Paul Christopher thinks it has to do with the Diem and Nhu assassinations. He starts to investigate, puts together a pretty compelling case and submits it to his superior. His superior submits it to the Johnson administration. Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald. What did you know Lee?Wait. What are you doing. This Kennedy Dallas mess had been wrapped up in a big bow after Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. Christopher is told to desist, take a vacation, sort out his priorities. He quits.He keeps digging until he has all the pieces assembled. One thing I like about Charles McCarry novels is that he always works into the storyline the books that Paul Christopher is reading. ”In the darkened lobby of a hotel, Christopher drank mineral water and read the two Simenons, dirty and swollen by the rainy climate, that he had bought from a street vendor.”Lee Harvey Oswald may not have known anything, but damn I wish we’d had a chance to find out what he did know. The alarming number of people connected to the Kennedy Assassination who died shortly afterwards and under sometimes bizarre circumstances makes my conspiracy flag unfurl. The majority of Americans still believe that it was a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy. Maybe we just don’t want to believe that a lone nut job can change the world. I grabbed this off the shelf after watching the documentary style film Parkland which was excellent. I still read books about Kennedy and the assassination. I watch films. I watch clips. I read articles. I put it aside, but ever so often I unearth it like a dog’s favorite bone and gnaw on it some more. I guess I’m still the 8 year old boy wanting to know who made my momma cry.
Not just one of the many fiction books that explores a theory behind the assassination of JFK, but one of the first. The theory can be explained in one or two sentences, so this book is more about the character of spy Christopher Paul trying to connect the dots to present a case that, as any astute reader can guess, will be covered up in the end. The biggest positives of this novel are that it is very readable, the action is good and shows almost no sign of being dated, which is good for a 1974 thriller. Where the book falls short for me is that it is a series book, to be specific - the second book. With a story about one of the most famous assassinations in modern history, this needs to be told as a stand-alone book. This book spends too much filler time with protagonist Christopher Paul in a shallow way that only devoted series readers can appreciate in one book. Really, the time isn't that interesting. Though there's nothing explicit, it's funny how many sex scenes are mentioned in this 276 page novel. Thankfully, writers of spy fiction such as Tom Clancy and Daniel Silva have created much more interesting protagonists that keep the reader engaged when they're off work.
What do You think about The Tears Of Autumn (2005)?
Liam on this very site suggested this book to me. I had never heard of it but was in the mood for a spy thriller and this one fit the bill brilliantly. Based on JFK and the mystery of who shot him, we meet Paul Christopher who is an American agent who feels he has to do something to get to the bottom of this mystery as he doesn't see anyone else trying. The book is brilliantly written, you really get inside his head, see all his foibles and accompany him on his exciting travels from county to country! I won't give anything away but if you love a good Bond movie or a John Le Carre, you will love this.The book was written in '74 but isn't dated at all.. a great romp and thanks Liam for the heads up!
—Lucy
The Overlooked International Spy ThrillerIf you have an undying passion for John le Carré (think: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), run directly to the bookstore and pick up former CIA agent Charles McCarry's Tears of Autumn. Originally published in the '70s and reissued in 2005, the book follows Paul Christopher—an American spy so cool and competent he makes James Bond look like a buffoon—through Vietnam as he pursues an unauthorized investigation into JFK's assassination. McCarry's writing is so vivid and lush, you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to appreciate all the twists and turns.
—Amélie Rêverie
Good book.I'm loving McCarry's writing style; precise without being too concise and maintaining the poetry of words... but I didn't think this book was as good as The Miernik Dossier. Maybe that's because I'm not that into conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy Assassination (which is what the plot revolves around). Overall the book was good but meandered at times. The love interest was a farce and really needless. The cast of characters... was great... there is a certain believability to the wacky outlandish characters McCarry creates, characters who have ridiculous back stories (the midget spy with the link to Hitler and an ability to steal into buildings via chimneys was a nice touch). Altogether, the plot and sequential development of the story was brisk and fascinating, so while the book may have some faults, it is definitely worth reading, especially if you are into the cold-war spy thriller genre.
—Sebastien
