This book is both fascinating and scary. Russell does a fabulous job interviewing everyone he can get his hands on who had any knowledge of Oswald or the assassination itself. Many of the people he interviewed feared for their own safety- some even thirty years after the event. Anyone who believes the Warren Commission's report at face value is either ignorant, blindly patriotic or simply doesn't care. Once you start asking questions, events stated as fact begin to crumble. Oswald was not a good soldier, or a good shot for that matter, and had a horrible gun which proves almost impossible to create the amount of accurate shots within the time allotted to make them (approximately 7 seconds). There were other people involved, as proven by the massive amount of stories and accounts gathered by Russell. Even if only half the people he interviewed were telling the truth, that is still a huge cause for concern. Many of the people Russell interviewed died suddenly- apparent suicide or otherwise, which should also raise some eyebrows. Russell dives into the Manchurian candidate theory as well, talking about LSD trials and hypnosis- some of which was undoubtedly used on Oswald and many others.
The last chapter was by far the best- talking about the contradictions in Kennedy's autopsy, the cover ups of the pathologists, and the inconsistencies that were both documented and from eyewitnesses. Anyone can look at the actual facts posited and smell something fishy was going on. Even the Zapruder film, doctored or not, shows clearly that the fatal shot was from the front- why else would Jackie O jump behind her husband and appear to gather pieces of his head from the back of the car? (grotesque, I know, but you see my point).
Even 50 years after the event people aren't talking and the truth isn't out. Sadly, this may mean that it never will be. Those still alive will take the truths to their graves. Whether this was an inside job and Oswald was the patsy, or it was a foreign plot that the CIA simply let happen, we'll never know. Russell did an amazing job gathering the information.
There were a few things I disliked about the book. Russell at some points was very wordy, and lost my attention to the point I had to go back and reread passages to really internalize it. He interviewed those thought to be involved in the plot or the cover up, but he didn't interview witnesses in Dealey plaza or elsewhere (perhaps he did so or will do so in another book?) There was only one chapter on actual evidence (the last one about the autopsy). I would have liked to see more of that as well. It took me awhile to get through, but it was worth the read. Every American, especially those who were alive that day in November, 1963, should read this book or another like it and start asking questions, instead of believing whatever the government would have us believe about the assassination of JFK.