Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy

Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy

by Jim Marrs

-This book was the basis of the Oliver Stone film "J.F.K".

"The big daddy of the conspiracy books on the JFK assassination, and one that can't be taken lightly. A sheer tour de force that may be the final word until 2039--when government files on the case can be unlocked."--Kirkus Reviews.

From Library Journal
We have witnessed the publication of myriad works which purport to explain the events surrounding the assassination of President Kennedy, such as Anthony Summers's Conspiracy (LJ 6/15/80). Although most of these accounts suggest that Kennedy's death was the product of a conspiracy, they offer different interpretations as to who conceived and perpetrated this heinous crime. Dallas journalist Marrs brings together under one cover diverse theories and facts advanced in many of these works. He points to the inconsistencies and unexplained elements embodied in the official versions as to what transpired in Dallas before, during, and after the President's death. He does not, however, provide a novel theory that would answer some of the vexing questions raised in a reconsideration of the assassination. Appropriate for those with a special interest in the topic.-- Gary L. Malecha, Weber State Coll., Ogden, Ut.

From Publisher's Weekly
Twenty-five years after the event, assassination books continue to appear. Marrs, a Dallas-area journalist who teaches a college course on the event, has, however, produced a special one. Its nearly 600 pages are jammed with detail on every aspect of the shooting, the investigations, the suspicions that fell on the Mafia, the FBI, the CIA, anti-Castro Cubans--all the usual suspects. For its comprehensiveness alone, this would be the one book for anyone seeking a really thorough examination of the assassination (but it sorely needs an index). Marrs is sensible and straightforward, giving every side of disputed questions, though it is clear that for him, as for most thoughtful people, the Warren Commission's picture of Oswald as a lone assassin doesn't work. The author talked to witnesses never officially interviewed, even offers never-before-seen pictures (though these contain nothing very startling). His conclusion: Kennedy made so many enemies in business, the military, the right wing, the mob, that his death became inevitable. He sees no Washington-based assassination plot, simply a willingness at the highest level (specifically Lyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover) to relax protective vigilance enough to allow the deed to be done. (Dec.)