What do you think?
Rate this book
Kennedy Must Be Killed: A Novel
As a young CIA officer, Patrick McCarthy witnesses first-hand JFK's political immaturity and personal recklessness. When Kennedy is elected in 1960, Patrick fears that Kennedy is unprepared to lead the nation in the height of the Cold War. After the near catastrophic events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Patriots, a shadowy group of powerful men, decide to take action before Kennedy's next political blunder destroys the country. Patrick's devotion to protecting his country ensnares him in the conspiracy to assassinate the president.
After the assassination, Patrick assists in orchestrating the Warren Commission cover up. He realizes too late that he has been duped by those he trusted. Years later, the House Select Committee on Assassinations reopens the investigation and subpoenas Patrick to testify. Patrick grapples with the decision to reveal the truth-a truth which will re-write American history and destroy the reputations and fortunes of some of America's most powerful men.
KENNEDY MUST BE KILLED chronicles the life of Patrick McCarthy from the time he arrives in postwar Washington D.C. as an idealistic, patriotic young man to that fateful day on the grassy knoll when he destroys the heart of the nation. It is a story about one man's love for his country, love for his wife and family, and an act of betrayal that causes him to lose everything that he holds dear.
After the assassination, Patrick assists in orchestrating the Warren Commission cover up. He realizes too late that he has been duped by those he trusted. Years later, the House Select Committee on Assassinations reopens the investigation and subpoenas Patrick to testify. Patrick grapples with the decision to reveal the truth-a truth which will re-write American history and destroy the reputations and fortunes of some of America's most powerful men.
KENNEDY MUST BE KILLED chronicles the life of Patrick McCarthy from the time he arrives in postwar Washington D.C. as an idealistic, patriotic young man to that fateful day on the grassy knoll when he destroys the heart of the nation. It is a story about one man's love for his country, love for his wife and family, and an act of betrayal that causes him to lose everything that he holds dear.
612 pages, Paperback
First published January 26, 2010
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 9, 2012
This put it all together for me. Every question surrounding the Kennedy assassination was addressed and answered in a page turner. The author put many years of research into this book creating a fantastic drama that in my mind is 95% true. I couldn't put it down
November 29, 2017
For the most part, I thought this was a well-researched, and very plausible, account of a plot by a group of high-level "Patriots" in Washington and Texas to eliminate a President they felt was a threat to the country's national security. The writing is mostly just average, and the characters often sound too much alike. But the plot is very credible, dealing with themes that Noel Twyman explored in his non-fiction book, BLOODY TREASON. Were there just too many people in positions of power who felt that Kennedy had to be removed for the good of the country (as they envisioned it)?
*SPOILER ALERT*
Helppie uses a few fictional characters to educate the reader about the backstory (late 1940s to 1963). The main character, Patrick McCarthy, rises rapidly up the ranks of the CIA and meets just about every important person of the time (JFK, Nixon, Eisenhower, Dulles, Khrushchev, Castro, etc), as well as other figures (Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Sam Giancana, Carlos Marcello, Jack Ruby, Guy Banister, Clay Shaw, Dave Ferrie, Howard Hunt, David Atlee Phillips, Johnny Roselli, etc.). McCarthy and other characters (Grant, an LBJ crony; Chase, a journalist; Ruger, a psychotic mafia assassin) are involved in many important Cold War events - the coups in Iran and Guatemala, the Red Scare, US elections, the U-2 program, the nuclear race, assassinations, the Bay of Pigs, MK/ULTRA, and later, Operation Phoenix. McCarthy is also skilled with a sniper rifle. The story periodically flashes forward to 1978, as Patrick McCarthy hides out in New Orleans during the HSCA investigation, hoping to avoid being silence by his erstwhile colleagues.
Strangely, there is no discussion of Eisenhower's big plans for a peace summit in 1960, which failed because of the U-2 event. Helppie could have worked Fletcher Prouty's theory of the U-2 downing into the story. He doesn't talk about Eisenhower's "military industrial complex" speech, or the Pentagon's plans in the summer of 1961 for a preemptive nuclear strike on the USSR "in late 1963, preceded by a period of heightened tensions." He does, however, mention Seven Days in May and Operation Northwoods. In fact, at one point the "Patriot" plot is presented to Patrick McCarthy as an effort to stave off a more serious direct military takeover. McCarthy suspects it may have more to do with LBJ. He will eventually come to regret participating in the assassination plot. He also suspects the Patriots of later being behind the deaths of MLK and RFK.
Helppie has clearly done a lot of reading about the assassination, though in my opinion he relies too much on sources like Hersh's DARK SIDE OF CAMELOT and Giancana's DOUBLE CROSS. There is too much emphasis on the tabloid trash stories of Kennedy's womanizing and drug use, and not enough about his policies. In fact, an unknowing reader might come away thinking that JFK was a spoiled, shallow, indecisive, undisciplined, selfish rich kid who needed to be taken out. The portrayal of the Cuban Missile Crisis is too one-sided, for example. I understand that McCarthy represents a particular point of view - the "super patriot" who felt that the Cold War was a titanic struggle between Good and Evil - but even there, Helppie misses the opportunity to show how Kennedy was consciously working to end the Cold War after October 1962. He also falls for the questionable claims that the Kennedy brothers were actively involved in the assassinations of foreign leaders. He doesn't mention Kennedy's back-channel talks with Castro, his shutting down of Cuban exile raids, or many other aspects of his foreign policies. Vietnam and the Steel Crisis are barely discussed. His civil rights policies are alternately portrayed as too weak and too aggressive.
Helppie works John Armstrong's research (HARVEY AND LEE) into the story by having McCarthy's character meet both "A.J. Hidell" and "Lee Harvey Oswald," and then combining their identities for a fake defector program, which McCarthy runs. He has nothing to do with (and feels betrayed by) Oswald's later use as the patsy in the JFK assassination. For the most part, the assassination scenario is pretty credible. McCarthy is the team leader for the shooters (a group of Corsicans, along with Ruger, Mac Wallace and Roscoe White), and has to fill in for one who gets sick at the last minute. He becomes the Grassy Knoll gunman. Helppie devises a clever explanation for the "pool of blood" seen by some witnesses in Dealey Plaza, and the stories of a dead Secret Service agent. The account of Oswald's escape from the Book Depository and the death of J.D. Tippit are also plausible enough. He also works the accounts of a "pre-autopsy" at Walter Reed into the plot. Unfortunately, he also adds questionable people like Gordon Arnold and Beverly Oliver, plus Jack Ruby planting the pristine bullet at Parkland (instead of it being fabricated in an FBI water tank). McCarthy is also actively involved in "guiding" the Warren Commission's botched investigation, by influencing junior counsels like Arlen Specter. The story ends in 1978 in New Orleans, when we find out what happened to the "other" Oswald.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Helppie uses a few fictional characters to educate the reader about the backstory (late 1940s to 1963). The main character, Patrick McCarthy, rises rapidly up the ranks of the CIA and meets just about every important person of the time (JFK, Nixon, Eisenhower, Dulles, Khrushchev, Castro, etc), as well as other figures (Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Sam Giancana, Carlos Marcello, Jack Ruby, Guy Banister, Clay Shaw, Dave Ferrie, Howard Hunt, David Atlee Phillips, Johnny Roselli, etc.). McCarthy and other characters (Grant, an LBJ crony; Chase, a journalist; Ruger, a psychotic mafia assassin) are involved in many important Cold War events - the coups in Iran and Guatemala, the Red Scare, US elections, the U-2 program, the nuclear race, assassinations, the Bay of Pigs, MK/ULTRA, and later, Operation Phoenix. McCarthy is also skilled with a sniper rifle. The story periodically flashes forward to 1978, as Patrick McCarthy hides out in New Orleans during the HSCA investigation, hoping to avoid being silence by his erstwhile colleagues.
Strangely, there is no discussion of Eisenhower's big plans for a peace summit in 1960, which failed because of the U-2 event. Helppie could have worked Fletcher Prouty's theory of the U-2 downing into the story. He doesn't talk about Eisenhower's "military industrial complex" speech, or the Pentagon's plans in the summer of 1961 for a preemptive nuclear strike on the USSR "in late 1963, preceded by a period of heightened tensions." He does, however, mention Seven Days in May and Operation Northwoods. In fact, at one point the "Patriot" plot is presented to Patrick McCarthy as an effort to stave off a more serious direct military takeover. McCarthy suspects it may have more to do with LBJ. He will eventually come to regret participating in the assassination plot. He also suspects the Patriots of later being behind the deaths of MLK and RFK.
Helppie has clearly done a lot of reading about the assassination, though in my opinion he relies too much on sources like Hersh's DARK SIDE OF CAMELOT and Giancana's DOUBLE CROSS. There is too much emphasis on the tabloid trash stories of Kennedy's womanizing and drug use, and not enough about his policies. In fact, an unknowing reader might come away thinking that JFK was a spoiled, shallow, indecisive, undisciplined, selfish rich kid who needed to be taken out. The portrayal of the Cuban Missile Crisis is too one-sided, for example. I understand that McCarthy represents a particular point of view - the "super patriot" who felt that the Cold War was a titanic struggle between Good and Evil - but even there, Helppie misses the opportunity to show how Kennedy was consciously working to end the Cold War after October 1962. He also falls for the questionable claims that the Kennedy brothers were actively involved in the assassinations of foreign leaders. He doesn't mention Kennedy's back-channel talks with Castro, his shutting down of Cuban exile raids, or many other aspects of his foreign policies. Vietnam and the Steel Crisis are barely discussed. His civil rights policies are alternately portrayed as too weak and too aggressive.
Helppie works John Armstrong's research (HARVEY AND LEE) into the story by having McCarthy's character meet both "A.J. Hidell" and "Lee Harvey Oswald," and then combining their identities for a fake defector program, which McCarthy runs. He has nothing to do with (and feels betrayed by) Oswald's later use as the patsy in the JFK assassination. For the most part, the assassination scenario is pretty credible. McCarthy is the team leader for the shooters (a group of Corsicans, along with Ruger, Mac Wallace and Roscoe White), and has to fill in for one who gets sick at the last minute. He becomes the Grassy Knoll gunman. Helppie devises a clever explanation for the "pool of blood" seen by some witnesses in Dealey Plaza, and the stories of a dead Secret Service agent. The account of Oswald's escape from the Book Depository and the death of J.D. Tippit are also plausible enough. He also works the accounts of a "pre-autopsy" at Walter Reed into the plot. Unfortunately, he also adds questionable people like Gordon Arnold and Beverly Oliver, plus Jack Ruby planting the pristine bullet at Parkland (instead of it being fabricated in an FBI water tank). McCarthy is also actively involved in "guiding" the Warren Commission's botched investigation, by influencing junior counsels like Arlen Specter. The story ends in 1978 in New Orleans, when we find out what happened to the "other" Oswald.
August 5, 2015
English is not my first language. My apologies for any mistakes.
If there was really a conspiracy, who kind a man a man would have to be to kill Kennedy? What would be his motivations? Who would be the players? And how they would manage to do it? Chuck Heppie tries to answer these questions writing a fictional account of said conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy.
The first thing I noticed about Patrick McCarthy, the assassin and protagonist, is that he is a stupid man. VERY stupid. Really, the man lives for almost 20 years in Washington, climbs the ranks of the CIA (God knows how) and doesn’t even acquire the necessary wisdom about the moral failings and corruption of the Washington elite (not counting Kennedy’s, of course) even when they are RIGHT IN HIS FACE? McCarthy is not only stupid but also naive and easily malleable to any kind of manipulation. However, him being naive is a character trait necessary to the plot, even though it is something really hard to buy for a high-raking CIA agent (although I’m not sure if my interpretation of Mcarthy stupidity was willingly inserted in the plot).
McCarthy is also a moral man, but at the same time, amazingly hypocrit. He loves his wife and is faithful to her, and that’s great. But why does he gives a damn about Kennedy’s sex life while Johnson, other high-ranking politicians, and even some of his buddies are doing the same? And that is way before he becomes president. I mean, who cares? And, quite frankly, if I was a CIA agent with “high moral standards” I would be more worried if my employer was managing coup-d’ etats in democratic elected countries than I would be in some Senador sexcapades. The moral outrage of McCarthy seems forced and convoluted, a way to make McCarthy seems more like a “good guy” in the unethical swamp of Washington. Apparently Kennedy was not involved in corruption plots while he was a congressman, so Heppie had to find a way to make McCarthy antagonize the man. I think the book wastes a precious time in Kennedy sexual life instead of developing McCarthy himself. The only source for emotional tumour for Patrick is his family, mostly his wife, because we don’t know much about his son and his relationship with him. What we know about McCarthy is that he is a patriot worried about the “communist threat”, but he never questions the morality of his actions, never worries about the deaths he may have caused, he never wonders about his own twisted version of patriotism. By the end , when he does that, it is way too late to give a mutli-layered facets for a character that didn’t have any.
Another thing that bothered me is the way Heppie writes about the social movements regarding the civil rights in the 50’s and 60’s. I mean, he doesn’t. Wait a minute, he does, by the end. Even though Patrick McCarthy is a CIA agent, the civil rights movement, one of the most importants politicals movements in America’s history, is hardly regarded in the book . Throughout the whole book McCarhty never gave a damn about the civil rights (there is not one black man in the entire book) and by the end he suddenly becomes this fantastic guy, worrid about the fate of black people in America while he never gave a second thought about them in whole story? I mean, come on.
About Kennedy as character, regardless of his promiscuity, he seems to be the “only sane man” in a room full of warmongers and paranoid anticommunists. Jesus, thank God he was in the office when the Cuban Missile Crisis happened. As much as he tries, Kennedy is far from being the worst presidente in the US History as McCarthy (and maybe the author) seems to believe. CIA seems to me the main guilty party in the Bay of Pigs fiasco and while Heppie portrait Kennedy tries to portrait Kennedy like this unpreapered and uncompetent guy for the office, he doesn manage to do it. At least for me. And I really REALLY doubt Kennedy ever lamented taking out of the office someone like Allen Dulles (who does seem a piece of work, even though McCarthy does the best to make him a “great patriot”).
Heppies tries too hard to make McCarthy an hounourable man full of good intentions, but weak and blind in his patriotism, but I’m not sure he was right in this approach. In the end, McCarthy is not complex, not multidimensional. He is only a stupid man who was used by people not much smarter than him. I’m not a fan of JFK (but I like his brother) but by the end I was feeling very sorry for him. An above average president, surrounded by greedy people and warmongers, trying to do his best in a place full of stupidy and paranoia.Just take a look at the Joint Chiefs of Staff at that time. What a “colourful’ bunch! The whole conspirancy doesn’t feel like the work of masterminds in intelligensia, but of bunch of a stupid and pathetic people. And you know what, Kudos for Heppie in portraiting them in that way, if there was a conspiracy, these would be the people who would do it.
I must say that one positive aspect of Heppies development of the story is that McCarthy doesn’t hate Kennedy. He doesn’t like him, but not to the point of hatred. I woud expect that in any book written about the point of view of the “killers”, but he doesn’t do that. One of the things I enjoyed was final straw that led McCarthy to kill Kennedy. Very original and fits the McCarthy character and his crescent paranoia perfectly . The final part of the book is great in a whole and this is the part where Patrick McCarthy is the best developed.
While Heppie surely did his homework regarding the conspiracy bit, the only biographies he seems to have had read about Kennedy and his presidency seems to be “A Question of Character” and “The Dark Side of Camelot” , IMO, both biographies are alright, but he it would have been better if he had read more unbiased sources. These biographies are way too negative and don’t give a balanced view of the man and his term as president.
If there was really a conspiracy, who kind a man a man would have to be to kill Kennedy? What would be his motivations? Who would be the players? And how they would manage to do it? Chuck Heppie tries to answer these questions writing a fictional account of said conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy.
The first thing I noticed about Patrick McCarthy, the assassin and protagonist, is that he is a stupid man. VERY stupid. Really, the man lives for almost 20 years in Washington, climbs the ranks of the CIA (God knows how) and doesn’t even acquire the necessary wisdom about the moral failings and corruption of the Washington elite (not counting Kennedy’s, of course) even when they are RIGHT IN HIS FACE? McCarthy is not only stupid but also naive and easily malleable to any kind of manipulation. However, him being naive is a character trait necessary to the plot, even though it is something really hard to buy for a high-raking CIA agent (although I’m not sure if my interpretation of Mcarthy stupidity was willingly inserted in the plot).
McCarthy is also a moral man, but at the same time, amazingly hypocrit. He loves his wife and is faithful to her, and that’s great. But why does he gives a damn about Kennedy’s sex life while Johnson, other high-ranking politicians, and even some of his buddies are doing the same? And that is way before he becomes president. I mean, who cares? And, quite frankly, if I was a CIA agent with “high moral standards” I would be more worried if my employer was managing coup-d’ etats in democratic elected countries than I would be in some Senador sexcapades. The moral outrage of McCarthy seems forced and convoluted, a way to make McCarthy seems more like a “good guy” in the unethical swamp of Washington. Apparently Kennedy was not involved in corruption plots while he was a congressman, so Heppie had to find a way to make McCarthy antagonize the man. I think the book wastes a precious time in Kennedy sexual life instead of developing McCarthy himself. The only source for emotional tumour for Patrick is his family, mostly his wife, because we don’t know much about his son and his relationship with him. What we know about McCarthy is that he is a patriot worried about the “communist threat”, but he never questions the morality of his actions, never worries about the deaths he may have caused, he never wonders about his own twisted version of patriotism. By the end , when he does that, it is way too late to give a mutli-layered facets for a character that didn’t have any.
Another thing that bothered me is the way Heppie writes about the social movements regarding the civil rights in the 50’s and 60’s. I mean, he doesn’t. Wait a minute, he does, by the end. Even though Patrick McCarthy is a CIA agent, the civil rights movement, one of the most importants politicals movements in America’s history, is hardly regarded in the book . Throughout the whole book McCarhty never gave a damn about the civil rights (there is not one black man in the entire book) and by the end he suddenly becomes this fantastic guy, worrid about the fate of black people in America while he never gave a second thought about them in whole story? I mean, come on.
About Kennedy as character, regardless of his promiscuity, he seems to be the “only sane man” in a room full of warmongers and paranoid anticommunists. Jesus, thank God he was in the office when the Cuban Missile Crisis happened. As much as he tries, Kennedy is far from being the worst presidente in the US History as McCarthy (and maybe the author) seems to believe. CIA seems to me the main guilty party in the Bay of Pigs fiasco and while Heppie portrait Kennedy tries to portrait Kennedy like this unpreapered and uncompetent guy for the office, he doesn manage to do it. At least for me. And I really REALLY doubt Kennedy ever lamented taking out of the office someone like Allen Dulles (who does seem a piece of work, even though McCarthy does the best to make him a “great patriot”).
Heppies tries too hard to make McCarthy an hounourable man full of good intentions, but weak and blind in his patriotism, but I’m not sure he was right in this approach. In the end, McCarthy is not complex, not multidimensional. He is only a stupid man who was used by people not much smarter than him. I’m not a fan of JFK (but I like his brother) but by the end I was feeling very sorry for him. An above average president, surrounded by greedy people and warmongers, trying to do his best in a place full of stupidy and paranoia.Just take a look at the Joint Chiefs of Staff at that time. What a “colourful’ bunch! The whole conspirancy doesn’t feel like the work of masterminds in intelligensia, but of bunch of a stupid and pathetic people. And you know what, Kudos for Heppie in portraiting them in that way, if there was a conspiracy, these would be the people who would do it.
I must say that one positive aspect of Heppies development of the story is that McCarthy doesn’t hate Kennedy. He doesn’t like him, but not to the point of hatred. I woud expect that in any book written about the point of view of the “killers”, but he doesn’t do that. One of the things I enjoyed was final straw that led McCarthy to kill Kennedy. Very original and fits the McCarthy character and his crescent paranoia perfectly . The final part of the book is great in a whole and this is the part where Patrick McCarthy is the best developed.
While Heppie surely did his homework regarding the conspiracy bit, the only biographies he seems to have had read about Kennedy and his presidency seems to be “A Question of Character” and “The Dark Side of Camelot” , IMO, both biographies are alright, but he it would have been better if he had read more unbiased sources. These biographies are way too negative and don’t give a balanced view of the man and his term as president.
July 18, 2011
An amazing journey through American history showing a perspective of the early days in the rise and fall of JFK. The story centers on the fictional Patrick McCarthy, who as we see in the first few pages, was the shooter on the grassy knoll. The story gets into the hows and whys of Kennedy assassination. Patrick, a CIA agent, develops as a dynamic, sympathetic character who was lead to believe that he was doing a great service to protect the country he loves from a reckless, self-indulgent leader. Throughout the novel, Patrick encounters all key political figures of the time and all of the people who were connected to Kennedy, including Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. The end will leave you breathless.
May 13, 2012
A great, factually-based novel, for both assassination buffs and JFK haters.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews