Who Killed President Kennedy? I No Longer Believe a Theory...But My Novel is Still in Print!

November 22, 1963, a day that changed America forever. Who killed President Kennedy?

 I've been a HUGE Kennedy assassination buff since that very day. Everyone who was alive on November 22, 1963 knew exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. I was in my first grade classroom. The teacher got a call on the classroom phone and told us ‘the president was shot.’ A collective gasp went around the room. I was 6 years old and in first grade. It was ten years before I saw the footage of Ruby shooting Oswald, on an anniversary documentary.

But it was my grandmother who got me interested in the biggest mystery since 'who killed the princes in the Tower?' (I'm a Ricardian; that's for another post).  She got me embroiled right along with her.

She listened to all the radio talk shows (those who lived in the New York area might remember Long John Nebel, on AM radio (FM was really 'out there' at that time).

She recorded all the radio talk shows. She bought whatever books came out over the years, along with the Warren Commission Report, which I couldn't lift at the time, it was so heavy. But my interest never waned in the 51 years that followed.

     In 2000, I began the third book of my New York Saga, set in 1963. The heroine is Vikki McGlory Ward, daughter of Billy McGlory, hero of the second book, BOOTLEG BROADWAY, set during Prohibition. This was my opportunity to write a novel showcasing all my current theories, and continue the saga. It took a minimum of research, since I remember all the 60's brands, (Bosco, Yum Berry, Mr. Bubble...), the fashions, the songs, and I even included a scene set on that unforgettable night when the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, February 9, 1964.

I NO LONGER BELIEVE THE CONSPIRACY THEORIES

Oliver Stone's 'back and to the left' theory is classic Hollywood but didn't convince me of another assassin on the grassy knoll. 

For 50 years I believed the Mafia were intent on taking him out, and set LHO (Lee Harvey Oswald) up. As he said 'I'm just a patsy' I always believed that, I didn't even believe he was on the 6th floor of the Book Depository Building at that time. BUT...on the 50th anniversary I watched a few new shows, and now do firmly believe LHO acted alone.

For one thing, regarding my mob theory: I now know the mob doesn't do hits, especially high profile ones, in public, and they wouldn't have trusted that cheap old rifle LHO used. I read all the mob books where they brag about taking JFK out -- 'set up a nut to take the blame', etc... and I fell for it hook line & sinker.

Mainly cause I knew the mob had it in for the Kennedys, especially Bobby. Too bad the father never sat his sons down & said 'don't mess with these guys!'

But now I do believe LHO acted alone; his motive, twisted as it was, was to be a hero in Cuba & get into their good graces. He thought Fidel Castro would welcome him with open arms. 

Also, If he was set up and a patsy, why did he kill Officer Tippit on the street? That was completely unnecessary. He was just a cold blooded killer.

I don't believe the 2nd (or 3rd) assassin theory either. No ballistics to show anything except from LHO's rifle.

I have a theory I NEVER heard anyone mention--what if there WERE two assassins (LHO and another on the knoll or in the the Dal Tex Bldg or the sewer) and neither knew the other existed? They just both decided to take JFK out that day & time. But obviously one of them missed. :)

About THE END OF CAMELOT 

    

The third in the New York Saga, The End of Camelot centers on Billy McGlory’s daughter Vikki, whose husband is murdered trying to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Vikki uses her detective skills to trace the conspiracy, from New York to New Orleans to Dallas, and at the same time, tricks her husband’s murderer into a confession. A romance with her bodyguard makes her life complete.

November 22, 1963: The assassination of a president devastates America. But a phone call brings even more tragic news to Vikki Ward—her TV reporter husband was found dead in his Dallas hotel room that morning.

Finding his notes, Vikki realizes her husband was embroiled in the plot to kill JFK—but his mission was to prevent it. When the Dallas police rule his death accidental, Vikki vows to find out who was behind the murders of JFK and her husband. With the help of her father and godfather, she sets out to uncover the truth.

Aldobrandi Po , the bodyguard hired to protect Vikki, falls in love with her almost as soon as he sets eyes on her. But he's engaged to be married, and she’s still mourning her husband. Can they ever hope to find happiness in the wake of all this tragedy?

Purchase THE END OF CAMELOT on Amazon

 

Excerpt:

It was New Year’s Eve, they were alone, and he was harmless. So far. So she took the necessary two paces over to him and placed the honey ball between his custom-made choppers.

He closed his eyes, and she watched him savoring the sweetness. She didn’t dare say another word as she ran her index finger over a glob of cream on the cannoli plate, raised it to her lips and licked. “Mmmm,” she voiced, wishing she hadn’t.

Their eyes met and locked. Faster than lightning, they came together like magnets. Their lips met, sweet and sticky and hot. She didn’t want him to stop, but her inner voice screamed how wrong it was—It’s forbidden!—echoing the nuns in Saint Gustina’s. She shooed it away like an annoying fly. Leave me alone, I’m not a kid anymore. Her arms circled his neck, and his hands slid down to the curve of her back. Dare she move in closer, pelvis to pelvis, an unthinkable act three seconds ago? Her body was betraying her, betraying Jack, taking on a will of its own as she crushed herself to him. The kiss intensified. She tasted cannoli, and her fogged mind told her he’d been sampling them all day. She breathed in his cologne, so foreign it repelled her, so new it aroused her even further. Her tiara slipped off her head. She caught it just as he pulled away.

He held her at arm’s length as in a tango. “Oh, cara mia,” he growled—and if he said another word in Italian, she knew she’d explode. A passion long dormant stirred inside her.

My favorite passage from the book:

Billy came down the stairs for a nightcap and glanced into the living room. He noticed the glow in the fireplace, Vikki’s eyeglasses and the anisette bottle on the table. The couch faced the other way, but nobody was sitting on it. “Where’d they go?” Then he realized they hadn’t gone anywhere—and they were on the couch, but not sitting. Before he got out of their way, he placed a long-playing record on the phonograph. Jackie Gleason’s “For Lovers Only.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet My Fellow Wild Rose Press Author Jill Piscitello and Read About Her Beach Mystery, Released Today

I read the review of A SOUR NOTE, (a Music Box Mystery) Jill's newest title, in the Hippo, a New Hampshire newspaper. I didn't yet know her, and was pleasantly surprised to see that she's another author at my publisher The Wild Rose Press. I contacted her, and she is my guest today, release day!

About Jill

Jill is a teacher, author, and an avid fan of multiple literary genres. Although she divides her reading hours among several books at a time, a lighthearted story offering an escape from the real world can always be found on her nightstand. 

A native of New England, Jill lives with her family and three well-loved cats. When not planning lessons or reading and writing, she can be found spending time with her family, trying out new restaurants, traveling, and going on light hikes.

Q&A With Jill

When you get an idea for a book, what comes first usually? Dialogue, the characters, a specific scene? Or do you plot it out before you write?

The overall theme for a book usually presents itself first, and characters soon follow. For the first few chapters, I just write. But at some point, I crave more organization and draft an outline. 

So, what do you have planned next?  Or is that a secret? 

I’m currently writing the second book in the Music Box Mystery series.

Any advice for new writers?

My advice to new writers is to do something, anything, toward your writing goals at least five days per week. This might entail writing 200 words or 2,000 words. But even a quick skim of your outline, or twenty minutes of research, or fifteen minutes reviewing a writing resource is something.

Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and how do you like it? 

I am also a teacher and love my day job.

What do you love that most people don't like and wouldn't understand why you do? 

I enjoy washing and folding laundry set to the tune of a Hallmark movie or HGTV. Why I find this chore relaxing is anyone’s guess.

What do you dislike that most people wouldn't understand?

I despise having my fingernails or toenails filed. No manicures or pedicures for me!

What's the main thing that you could get rid of that would give you more writing time?

The internet is a huge, but necessary, distraction. It’s so easy to get lost in a black hole of research on a particular time period or other topic related to your book that writing doesn’t happen.

What's your favorite book of all time and why? What's your favorite childhood book? 

As an adult, I have so many favorite books from a variety of genres. Choosing only one is impossible. But Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren was 110% my favorite book as a child. I couldn’t get enough of her hilarious antics. Pippi’s unpredictability and all-consuming joy for adventure was the antithesis to my rule following nature.

What is your favorite quote? 

I have a long list of favorite quotes and share one every Monday on social media. “You’ll never do a whole lot unless you’re brave enough to try” by Dolly Parton is at the top of my list. This quote is relevant to anyone trying something new. 

Connect With Jill

Website

Twitter

FB

Instagram

Amazon Page

Good Reads

BookBub

About A SOUR NOTE

When murder provides a welcome distraction…

On the heels of a public, broken engagement, Maeve Cleary returns to her

childhood home in Hampton Beach, NH. When a dead body turns up behind her

mother’s music school, three old friends land on the suspect list. Licking her

wounds soon takes a back seat to outrunning the paparazzi who spin into a frenzy,

casting her in a cloud of suspicion. Maeve juggles her high school sweetheart, a

cousin with a touch of clairvoyance, a no-nonsense detective, and an apologetic,

two-timing ex-fiancé. Will the negative publicity impact business at the Music Box—

the very place she’d hoped to make a fresh start?

 

Excerpt

With his mouth set in a grim line, he waited.

If anyone else had enough nerve to presume she owed them an explanation, she would respond with a solid mind your own business. Instead, the seventeen-year-old still inside her refused to tell him to get lost. “He was hiding money in his office.” This was one of those times when learning how to wait a few beats before blurting out inflammatory information would come in handy. Each second of passing silence decreased her ability to breathe in the confined space. She turned the ignition and switched on the air conditioner.

“How do you know?” His volume just above a whisper, each dragged-out word hung in the air.

“I found it.”

“When were you in his office?” He swiped at a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face, then positioned a vent toward him.

“Last night.” When would she learn to bite her tongue? Finn’s switch from rapid-fire scolding to slow, deliberate questioning left her unable to swallow over the sandpaper lump in her throat.

“Where was Vic?”

She stared at the back of the building, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “He’d left for the night.” If she averted her gaze, she could pretend his eyeballs weren’t bugging out of his head, and his jaw didn’t need a crane to haul it off his chest.

“You were at the town hall after hours? Did anyone see you?”

“A custodian opened his door for me.” She snuck a glance. Sure enough, features contorted in shock and horror replaced his boy-next-door good looks.

Purchase A SOUR NOTE 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble