Review: A vivid fictional portrait of real people....
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 17, 2012
...living in the 1960's. This fun, quick, absorbing read is a fictional retelling of President Kennedy, Maria Callas and Ari Onassis. Not sure how they all connect? Well they were connected thru a doctor who specialized in a cocktail to relieve pain. The cocktail was basically methamphetamine, Benzedrine and prob. some vitamin B-12. I have personal knowledge of the doctor in question. During the early 1980's I worked on Broadway and I was an assistant to a legendary film/Broadway actor/actress. On Wed. and Sat. there were matinee performances at 2pm and evening performances again at 8pm. After the matinee, while the star was asleep in their dressing room, a mysterious person with a doctor's bag would quietly creep in, remain for five minutes and sneak back out. After this visit, the actor/actress would stay up for two days straight and be almost manic in their behavior. One stage manager said they needed to peeled off the wall after their "shots". I found out that the injections were methamphetamine and speed. So Gavin Jenkins is modeled on a real doctor who worked in a Park Avenue office. The doctor in question dispensed shots to all the Broadway hot shots-composers, song writers, directors, etc. It was thru this doctor that President Kennedy was first introduced to injections of methamphetamine and speed for his chronic back pain. I don't think I'm talking out-of-school here because it's fairly well-documented that this doctor would fly down to Washington every other week and inject the President with the drugs. (Robert Evans talks about in THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE.) The famous opera singer is modeled on Maria Callas who was seeing Aristotle Onassis on and off again during her adult years. The authors use these characters to spin a serious web of intrigue. The doctor in question becomes mercenary, believing his cocktail to be the cure-all of the century. Never mind it's addictive qualities or that withdrawal from it can nearly kill a person (evidenced by the opera singer's going cold turkey at one point). It's a nasty business they are involved in and business between the President and the Greek tycoon is only one of the many sub-plots at work. This a fun, absorbing, quick read.....recommended!