When I heard James Swanson was writing a book about the Kennedy assassination, I was excited. I had read Manhunt (Swanson's book on Abraham Lincoln's assassination) and got totally sucked in to his minute-by-minute "you are there" writing style. Everyone knows how the Kennedy and Lincoln assassinations end - but Swanson is a master at injecting tension into the stories that we already know.

If only I hadn't read Manhunt first.

End of Days feels rushed, and in fact it likely was, being released just barely in time for the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination (along with a host of other books about the topic). In truth the book skips around a bit too much and could've benefited from some more editing. This is most evident in the beginning and end of the book. The middle, depicting the killing, feels like it was written first and had the most care and attention given to it.

That said, I learned a lot that I didn't know about the assassination. I also liked that Swanson didn't go into detail on any of the conspiracy theories, but makes the - very logical! - point that what these theories fail to account for is the interference of pure chance. Every anomaly is accounted for in these theories, and wrapped up in a nice, tight bow. I loved that.

Worth a read? Yes, especially if you want to know more about the assassination without feeling like you're reading a research paper.