JFK Conspiracy Thriller

[daveconifer]

Hi Folks,

I just discovered this place. It looks fun.

In the past few days I finished reworking one of my books, Man of Steel. It's about two young reporters who uncover the JFK assassination plot*.

Like all of my books, it's free on Smashwords and is available in all e-book formats:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/5991

* I don't really believe there was a plot but the Warren Report just left too many openings for a good story :-)

Here's an excerpt: Thanks!

“**** ****!” he barked as the hammer tumbled onto the counter. He grabbed his finger with his other hand and squeezed. “****!”

“Hit your finger?”

“Yeah, I hit my **** finger,” he said angrily. “Don’t worry about it, okay?”

She snapped the book closed and jumped to her feet. “Give me that hammer! I used to help my dad fixing fences. I’m pretty good with one.”

“I don’t need any help! Besides, you’re too busy with that damn Warren Report.”

She stared at him with narrowed eyes. “Don’t you dare start ******** on me,” she warned. “It’s not my fault you smashed your finger. Screw you if you’re going to turn on me. I don’t put up with **** like this. Not from anybody, even if this is the most important story I ever worked.”

“What are we doing with this story anyway, Abby? What makes you think that after twenty years, you’re the one who’s got it solved? Why--”

“I never said I had it solved! Don’t put words in my mouth! But I don’t see you doing much research! It’s all me!”

“I’m doing plenty! If you don’t like it then go find your own ******* story. But answer me this, Abby. What makes you think that after all these years, and a wall full of conspiracy theory books at every library, that we’re the only ones who were able to solve the mystery?”

“Maybe we aren’t the only ones! Maybe all the others got thrown over a cliff like Pomeroy!”

Jonas climbed back onto the counter top and finished nailing the board over the window. He already regretted how he’d treated her, all because he’d lost his temper after hammering his finger. He could hear the thump of Reno’s books as she threw them into her sack on the table. “I need a ride back to the hotel.”

[dreams]

Welcome to MR, daveconifer

Thank you for letting us know about your book on smashwords. It is always nice when author members make their work available in a variety of formats (and free too!). If you have viewed the main forum threads you may have noted that we are international with a variety of devices.

We love to support author members who participate in our forums, so pull up a chair and go exploring. Jump in and ask questions, especially if you would like to know more about other devices and formats. A friendly forum member will jump in with an answer and / or point you in the right direction.

P.S. Have you discovered our free ebooks that have been beautifully hand formatted by some very dedicated MR members?

[badgoodDeb]

Great story!! I'm sending you a private message (PM) with a coupla comments.

[daveconifer]

Deb's PM was full of some incredibly great criticism. I implemented all of her suggestions and made my story better. The availability of talented editors like Deb are a huge advantage for authors of professionally published books over hack jobs like mine (not that I'm saying Deb is a pro, but she could be).

Now that I finished she sent a few more suggestions that are equally awesome. I think I have a little more work to do.

By the way, I also added an epilogue to the story which lays out the history that's woven into the plot. It looks like this:



Epilogue



Although this story is a work of fiction, there is plenty of real history woven into the plot. The Warren Commission report really does include the testimony of a man who could be the fictitious R.J. Pomeroy (in chapter 5, page 221). This obscure police officer claimed to have watched Jack Ruby walk past a police guard post and into the basement of the Dallas police station where he subsequently murdered JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. The Warren Commission has been criticized over the past five decades for innumerable shortcomings. None are more glaring than the failure to effectively interrogate Ruby and a refusal to investigate how it was that neither Oswald nor Ruby lived long enough to explain their actions.

ERC is a fictitious steel maker modeled on a very real one. Although the company’s involvement in the assassination is merely a plot device in the story, enmity between its chairman and Kennedy was very palpable and very public. As detailed in the story, the chairman of ERC really did visit the Oval Office personally to inform Kennedy that steel prices would be increased and Kennedy didn’t hide his anger at the perceived double-cross. The banner headlines in the story really were splashed across the front page of The New York Times over a ten-day period in the spring of 1962. All the dialogue by the chairman, the president and his staff in the aftermath of the Oval Office confrontation is real and can be found exactly where Jonas and Reno found it.

PT 109, commanded by Lieutenant Kennedy, was sunk in the dark of night in August 1943 by a Japanese warship. Almost seventy years later many people share the opinion of the fictitious Clyde Gerson that Kennedy’s negligence contributed to the incident which led to the death of two crew members. Lieutenant Kennedy was awarded a Purple Heart and subsequently the the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his unquestionably heroic leadership after the boat sank.

[daveconifer]

Hey Readers,

We're talking about Man of Steel in the book club at the Nook boards. It's a novel about two reporters who uncover the plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy in November 1963.

http://www.nookboards.com/forum/index.php?board=31.0

If you want to see some interesting and odd facts surrounding the JFK assassination come on over and join the fun. Right now we're just setting up for the discussion by going over the basics about the book and, of course, what happened in Dallas.

Here's the brand new cover for Man of Steel, designed by women's fiction writer J.L. Penn:

[image deleted - too large - Moderator]

[daveconifer]

Some Background on the novel:

There are many books and at least one movie that details alleged JFK assassination conspiracy theories. Most of them are rather nutty.

Two books in particular got my attention and inspired me to write Man of Steel. One is the Warren Commission Report itself, which is the official rundown of the federal investigation. This panel, established by President Lyndon Baines Johnson shortly after he succeeded John F. Kennedy, was comprised of may distinguished members including (then) Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, (then) U.S. Representative Gerald Ford (future president!) and attorney Arlen Specter (current U.S. Senator!)

The other book is Rush to Judgment by Mark Lane. That one is in the “nutty” camp as far as I’m concerned but it does raise some shocking points about the assassination and subsequent investigation. My story was inspired by by Lane’s book although I don’t believe in any of his conclusions. I weaved it around facts I discovered in the report, things I learned about Lieutenant Kennedy, President Kennedy as well as some nuggets that Lane came up with.

What is Fact and What is Fiction?

I didn’t make any of the major story elements up. Everything in the story -- including JFK’s Naval career, what happened in the Oval Office, the police officer in the Dallas police department basement, the content of the Warren Commission Report, etc. -- really happened.

That the reporters in the story are doing research themselves made it easy for me to show exactly what is fact and what is fiction. When Joe and Abby find something and mention the source, readers can be sure that it’s real and can be found exactly where they found it. [There’s one exception to this rule. Near the beginning of the story there is a fake article in which the CIA denies any association with Mark McBride or his father.]

The New York Times headlines from April 1962 are real.

Any dialogue by real people (for example JFK, his staff, the ERC chairman, Warren Commission Panel members, Jack Ruby) is real. I didn't make up quotes for real people. Dialogue by fictitious characters is obviously not real. The words of the fictitious Clyde Gerson reflect the sentiment of many people even today. These opinions can easily be found with a quick Google search. They don't necessarily reflect my own opinions.

R.J. Pomeroy is based on a man that appears in the Warren Commission Report. I used artistic license in crafting his dialogue, although nothing he says or does is inconceivable or inconsistent with history. ERC chairman Kent Castle is fictitious but his activities as chairman are based closely on fact. Any dialogue attributed to him is real.

[daveconifer]

It's not too late to join the discussion! First reading assignment just went out today. Head over to the nookboards if you want to get in on it...

The link is in the first post of this thread.

[daveconifer]

I just posted some really cool stuff over at Nookboards in my Man of Steel bookclub threads. They're at the point in the story where Abby is showing Joe the articles she found documenting the animosity between the steel companies and President Kennedy. There are also some pictures of a few things in the story.

Head on over to read some real history woven into a novel!

The link is in the first post of this thread...

[dreams]

Thank you, those look interesting. I'm not going to be able to participate in the book club (I'm still reading the MR book club book), but I will probably follow the discussion. I have your book in my cart at smashwords and look forward to reading it.

[daveconifer]

Originally Posted by dreams

Thank you, those look interesting. I'm not going to be able to participate in the book club (I'm still reading the MR book club book), but I will probably follow the discussion. I have your book in my cart at smashwords and look forward to reading it.

Thanks Dreams.

Sorry, MobileReads, that I was so obnoxious about it in that post. It was late...

[daveconifer]

The review questions for chapters 1-11 have been posted, as has next week's reading assignment.

We're really going to start getting into the meat of the story now but it's not to late to catch up.

http://www.nookboards.com/forum/index.php?board=31.0

Also, check out my new Facebook Fan Page! The link is in my signature.

Thanks peeps...

[daveconifer]

Some of the answers to the review questions I've put up so far are incredibly gratifying to me as an author. People are reading this, understanding it, and catching all the nuances that I hoped they would.

And we've only read about twenty percent of it so there's plenty of time to head on over to Nookboards and catch up!

[daveconifer]

http://www.nookboards.com/forum/index.php?board=31.0

We're still talking about Man of Steel over at Nook Boards. I'm putting up a lot of relevant pictures. Believe it or not, there's a picture of a turquoise pantsuit worn by -- well, go see for yourself!

Seriously, we're just getting to the scary part. Check it out!

[daveconifer]

To mark the run-up to release of Wrecker I'm making Man of Steel free in all ebook formats (at Smashwords) for a couple of weeks.

100% off Coupon Code: XH74K

When Joe Jonas is sent to cover a press conference he figures it’s just another crackpot JFK assassination conspiracy until he stumbles across something that makes him realize this one is for real. Abby Reno, a saucy reporter from Austin, insists on working the story with him. As Jonas and Reno circle closer they learn that the secret's protectors are still around and they don't take prisoners.

[daveconifer]

Forty-seven years ago today...

Here's a new Barnes and Noble Review of Man of Steel, the story of two reporters who stumble across the secret of the conspiracy only to find out that the protectors of the secret are still on the job and aren't taking prisoners...


"i thought i knew all there was to jfk' death, all the theories; no way. this book is something else and totally probable! good read"