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A Novel of the Kennedy Assassination
Random House
October 2013
On Sale: October 8, 2013
208 pages
ISBN: 1400069165
EAN: 9781400069163
Kindle: B00CCPIJDG
Hardcover / e-Book
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Thriller | Mystery
In a riveting novel rooted in one of American historyβs great βwhat ifs,β Jim Lehrer tells the story of two men haunted by the events leading up to John F. Kennedyβs assassination. November 22, 1963. As Air Force One touches down in Dallas, ambitious young newspaper reporter Jack Gilmore races to get the scoop on preparations for President Kennedyβs motorcade. Will the bubble top on the presidential limousine be up or down? Down, according to veteran Secret Service agent Van Walters. The decision to leave the top down and expose JFK to fire from above will weigh on Vanβs conscience for decades. But will it also change the course of history? Five years after the assassination, Jack gets an anguished phone call from Vanβs daughter Marti. Van Walters is ravaged by guilt, so convinced that his actions led to JFKβs death that he has lost the will to live. In a desperate bid to deliver her father from his demons, Marti enlists Jackβs help in a risky reenactment designed to prove once and for all what would have happened had the bubble top stayed in place on that grim November day. For Jack, itβs a chance to break a once-in-a-lifetime story that could make his career. But for Van the stakes are even higher. The outcome of a ballistics test conducted on the grounds of a secluded estate in upstate New York might just save his lifeβor push him over the edge. A page-turning historical novel with the beating heart of a thriller, Top Down could only have sprung from the fertile imagination of Jim Lehrer. Drawing on his own experience as an eyewitness to the events described, one of Americaβs most respected journalists has crafted an engrossing story out of the emotional aftershocks of a national tragedy.
 Media BuzzDiane Rehm Show - NPR - October 7, 2013
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