I’ve been fascinated by the JFK assassination since I was a kid. My grandmother had a book on her shelf that was called 4 Days. It had many pictures from November 22, 1963. There were plenty of photos that I had never seen before.

I spent countless hours looking at that book. When we had to write a report on a historical event for school, I naturally wrote about the assassination. My grandmother also had saved many of the local newpapers from the days that followed the assassination. I remember borrowing them for my research.

In the years following I have read many accounts on the events of that day. Most of those accounts were based on theories of who really shot the President or new “evidence” and stuff like that. But there have also been some fantastic fiction novels with the events of that day playing a major role (Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is a favorite).

I have read many of Steve Berry’s books and enjoyed most of them. This is the first book I have read where he wrote with someone else – Grant Blackwood. The books premise is based on another book (based on a theory that the shot that killed JFK may have come from a secret service agent) called Mortal Error.

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

From  New York Times  bestselling author of the Cotton Malone series comes a thrilling, action-packed historical adventure that sends Luke Daniels on an international manhunt for the truth about the assassination of President John Kennedy.

Luke Daniels is in London, between assignments with the Magellan Billet, when he receives a frantic call from an old friend.  Jillian Stein is in trouble.  She made a mistake and now her life may be in danger.  She needs Luke’s help.  Immediately.  Racing to Belgium Luke quickly finds that she was right.  A shadow team of highly-trained operatives are there on the hunt.  Intervening, he finds himself embroiled in a war between two determined sides — one seeking the truth, the other trying to escape the past — a war that has already claimed one life and is about to claim more.   

Thomas Rowland is a Washington insider, a kingmaker, problem-solver, but also a man with a past.  For him everything turns with what happened on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.  What history has recorded is wrong.  There is more to the story, much more, and Thomas Rowland is at the center of that terrible reality.  But forces are working against him, and Rowland will do anything to keep the world from learning what actually happened on that fateful day, including killing Luke, Jillian and anyone else who might be a threat. 

In a race from Belgium, to Luxembourg, to the bayous of Louisiana and the Wyoming wilderness, to a final confrontation in the Bahamas, Luke Daniels confronts a series of shocking truths which not only rewrite history but will forever change his own life — as he comes face to face with the ninth man.   

All in all, I enjoyed this one. Steve Berry rarely has disappointed me. He is so good at incorporating historical events into his stories.