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A Ferrie Tale
What a long, strange trip it was. Through the night after JFK was assassinated, a quirky New Orleans man named David Ferrie drove from the Big Easy, rain beating on his windshield, to a deserted ice skating rink in Houston, arriving at three fifteen in the morning. After nervously making several payphone calls then and the next day from the rink, Ferrie turned around and headed home, where he was immediately arrested for conspiring to murder the president. Why? And why, thirty-nine months later, on the verge of being rearrested for the same crime, did he suddenly and suspiciously die? A Ferrie Tale paints a picture of the life of this complex man-commercial pilot, amateur Catholic priest, weekend scientist, hypnotist, detective, pianist, practicing psychologist, criminal. Appearing throughout the mosaic of his improbable story are the likes of mobster Carlos Marcello, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, a crafty Cuban exile named Sergio Arcacha Smith, cancer researcher Dr. Mary Sherman, DA Jim Garrison. Strippers. Gamblers. Popping in and out is an unlikely trio bound together by their tangled connections to JFK-Frank Sinatra, Chicago kingpin Sam Giancana, and JFK girlfriend Judith Campbell. The seductive and decadent city of New Orleans, the most unique and operatic city in America, provides the beat to this tale. Over time New Orleans's citizens have been suffused with an amuse-yourself attitude-sometimes reasonable, sometimes not-that affected events in Ferrie's life. "In this town," as Ferrie was wont to say, "the craziest things make perfect sense." David Ferrie was a conflicted figure who would've been remarkable even had he not been involved in a plot to assassinate President Kennedy. But his long tumble into this plot made him, as Orleans Parish DA Garrison publicly announced, "one of history's most important individuals."
516 pages, Hardcover
Published April 30, 2019
56 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 29, 2019
A Ferrie Tale is a riveting, page-turning thriller—a combination of The Godfather Part 2, the Bourne Identity series, and meticulously researched history. Anyone who thought they understood the incredibly convoluted history and facts about the JFK assassination will find they have a great deal to learn.
Rarely has a book captured my attention keeping me up late into the night, on many occasions, reading until the book drops from my hands. If this book was entirely fiction, it would be spell binding, not just because of the breadth of the story but because it is written powerfully, skillfully with a gifted writer's touch for making a complex story exciting, scary pushing you to get to the next page.
The characters in David Beddow’s book are an astounding array of mobsters, political nuts, pathetic politicians, foreign governments, corrupt and inept law enforcement officials, and zany characters that nearly defy description. But none of them come close to David Ferrie, who is probably the most significant criminal of the 20th century that no one knows about. Luckily, Beddow didn’t have to make any of them up; all he had to do was capture their wide array of motivations, fears, fetishes, and desires to be important and famous, in mostly notorious ways.
This book will stick with me for a long time, not only because I am a child of the 60s who remember every minute of the day JFK was assassinated and three days later when Lee Harvey Oswald as gunned down in a Dallas police department. From that day forward there have been far more questions than answers about the assassination even though it was performed in the bright light of day in front of a large crowd.
This book connects the dots while teaching a great deal about the history of the 1960’s and the insane magic of the Big Easy. I want David Beddow to write the script for the movie. Yes, there have been movies—lots of them-about JFK and that awful day in Dallas. But this movie, like the book, would give a much more likely scenario of what really happened in Dealey Plaza.
Bravo, Mr. Beddow. I know we will be hearing from you again. This was an extraordinary first work, a historical fiction that is much more history than fiction and a good story well-told. For me, it gets no better than that.
Rarely has a book captured my attention keeping me up late into the night, on many occasions, reading until the book drops from my hands. If this book was entirely fiction, it would be spell binding, not just because of the breadth of the story but because it is written powerfully, skillfully with a gifted writer's touch for making a complex story exciting, scary pushing you to get to the next page.
The characters in David Beddow’s book are an astounding array of mobsters, political nuts, pathetic politicians, foreign governments, corrupt and inept law enforcement officials, and zany characters that nearly defy description. But none of them come close to David Ferrie, who is probably the most significant criminal of the 20th century that no one knows about. Luckily, Beddow didn’t have to make any of them up; all he had to do was capture their wide array of motivations, fears, fetishes, and desires to be important and famous, in mostly notorious ways.
This book will stick with me for a long time, not only because I am a child of the 60s who remember every minute of the day JFK was assassinated and three days later when Lee Harvey Oswald as gunned down in a Dallas police department. From that day forward there have been far more questions than answers about the assassination even though it was performed in the bright light of day in front of a large crowd.
This book connects the dots while teaching a great deal about the history of the 1960’s and the insane magic of the Big Easy. I want David Beddow to write the script for the movie. Yes, there have been movies—lots of them-about JFK and that awful day in Dallas. But this movie, like the book, would give a much more likely scenario of what really happened in Dealey Plaza.
Bravo, Mr. Beddow. I know we will be hearing from you again. This was an extraordinary first work, a historical fiction that is much more history than fiction and a good story well-told. For me, it gets no better than that.
June 4, 2019
Dave Beddow's historical fiction account of a Kennedy assassination character grabs your attention in the first chapter and does not let go until the last word on the last page. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book that does the nearly impossible, bringing new interest and new information to the topic of the Kennedy assassination that has been visited thousand of times in books and articles over the years. The level of well-researched detail in the book gives one the feel of actually being in the time and place as it weaves its tale of a host of characters tied to the assassination of JFK. Written in a clear and lucid style it is a book that I would read again. I hope Mr. Beddow takes a crack at another example of historical fiction on the basis of what he has produced in the story of David Ferrie.
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September 23, 2019Although a work of historical fiction, it is so well researched that I found myself believing in the premise that the Mafia was responsible for Kennedy's assasination. Even knowing the ultimate outcome, the author's writing style and colorful descriptions make this an enjoyable and fascinating read.
January 20, 2020
‘A Ferrie Tale’ is a fictional account of the events surrounding the death of President John F Kennedy in 1963, by lawyer-turned-author, David T Beddow. It is written in the third person and the past tense. We share the thoughts of several of the leading figures in this iconic episode in American history.
I confess that I had never previously heard of David Ferrie, the first man arrested after the President’s assassination. However, his story is told in an extraordinary way by Beddow who has clearly carried out a mountain of painstaking research into this complex and confused man’s life.
There is an extensive foreword to the book, centred on the night of the assassination itself and then an introduction to give the reader some background into the personality of Ferrie.
When writing fiction, the author can control the number of characters to keep the plot tight but when tackling real events, the cast is obviously extensive, so it makes the task much more difficult. I congratulate David Beddow on his clear explanations of each person and their relevance to the story.
By and large, the structure is tight and unfussy. The chapters are fairly even in length and the balance between dialogue and description is about right with some vivid scene-setting passages.
Readers are given a flavour of the political landscape of the time, we meet some of the key players from the world of entertainment, politics and organised crime. We gain insight into the cynical machinations involved in electing a president and the trade-offs and favours that are offered at a price which has to be repaid, one way or another.
I enjoyed finding out more about historical events of the time, from the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis, to the American civil rights movement, all of which are included in the backdrop, as the scene is set for one of the most audacious crimes ever committed in full public view.
By half way, the author has presented credible motives behind the decision to eliminate the president and also has also demonstrated why Ferrie might want to become embroiled in the plot. Beddow’s matter-of-fact style works well; he has cleverly managed to unpick the psyche of Ferrie so that he becomes a three dimensional character; highly intelligent yet a mass of contradictions. Flawed, vulnerable and in need of money, he was probably the ideal candidate for those wishing to distance themselves from a ruthless plot to kill a president.
The story didn’t end there though and we follow David Ferrie as he continues to work for his paymasters until, in the end, he becomes collateral damage. He was starting to attract too much attention from law enforcement, so ended up paying the ultimate price for his loyalty.
I’m told by those old enough, they remember exactly where they were and what they were doing, when they heard the news that President Kennedy was dead. Many tomes have been written, looking at all manner of conspiracy theories but I found the angle taken by this author to be both refreshing and intriguing. I suspect some might be put off by the length of the book but I encourage you to stick with it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this work and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in what was to become one of the most analysed crimes of the 20th century. A crime that will never have a finite explanation with which everyone will totally agree, however the scenario put forward by David Beddow, is compelling. I award five stars.
I confess that I had never previously heard of David Ferrie, the first man arrested after the President’s assassination. However, his story is told in an extraordinary way by Beddow who has clearly carried out a mountain of painstaking research into this complex and confused man’s life.
There is an extensive foreword to the book, centred on the night of the assassination itself and then an introduction to give the reader some background into the personality of Ferrie.
When writing fiction, the author can control the number of characters to keep the plot tight but when tackling real events, the cast is obviously extensive, so it makes the task much more difficult. I congratulate David Beddow on his clear explanations of each person and their relevance to the story.
By and large, the structure is tight and unfussy. The chapters are fairly even in length and the balance between dialogue and description is about right with some vivid scene-setting passages.
Readers are given a flavour of the political landscape of the time, we meet some of the key players from the world of entertainment, politics and organised crime. We gain insight into the cynical machinations involved in electing a president and the trade-offs and favours that are offered at a price which has to be repaid, one way or another.
I enjoyed finding out more about historical events of the time, from the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis, to the American civil rights movement, all of which are included in the backdrop, as the scene is set for one of the most audacious crimes ever committed in full public view.
By half way, the author has presented credible motives behind the decision to eliminate the president and also has also demonstrated why Ferrie might want to become embroiled in the plot. Beddow’s matter-of-fact style works well; he has cleverly managed to unpick the psyche of Ferrie so that he becomes a three dimensional character; highly intelligent yet a mass of contradictions. Flawed, vulnerable and in need of money, he was probably the ideal candidate for those wishing to distance themselves from a ruthless plot to kill a president.
The story didn’t end there though and we follow David Ferrie as he continues to work for his paymasters until, in the end, he becomes collateral damage. He was starting to attract too much attention from law enforcement, so ended up paying the ultimate price for his loyalty.
I’m told by those old enough, they remember exactly where they were and what they were doing, when they heard the news that President Kennedy was dead. Many tomes have been written, looking at all manner of conspiracy theories but I found the angle taken by this author to be both refreshing and intriguing. I suspect some might be put off by the length of the book but I encourage you to stick with it.
I thoroughly enjoyed this work and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in what was to become one of the most analysed crimes of the 20th century. A crime that will never have a finite explanation with which everyone will totally agree, however the scenario put forward by David Beddow, is compelling. I award five stars.
July 9, 2020
What A Tale
Though historical fiction, for those interested in the events of the early sixties, there is much
to be learned from Beddow and his depiction of the Kennedy assasination.
Though historical fiction, for those interested in the events of the early sixties, there is much
to be learned from Beddow and his depiction of the Kennedy assasination.
November 12, 2022
Excellent!
Now this all makes sense! Compact and chilling! Brings this whole plot together ! The cancer super potion reminds me of Covid being made in a lab today.
Now this all makes sense! Compact and chilling! Brings this whole plot together ! The cancer super potion reminds me of Covid being made in a lab today.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews