The Legacy
The central feature of this Stephen Frey novel is a  fascination with the Kennedy assassination and the answer that conspiracy junkies have  long believed: that the United States government has been involved in  covering up the existence of a second gunman ever since that fateful day in November 1963. In Frey's world, while the government was not  responsible for the assassination, the belief that evidence of a conspiracy  would have pushed the Cold War into a hot one "forced" those at the top to  keep that evidence to themselves.The novel's prologue sets the stage as a struggling actress goes  to Dallas and films the motorcade on a whim. Before she has even digested  that she has captured one of the most memorable moments in American  history, her camera is ripped from her grasp by a mysterious man. The chapter  that follows jumps to 1998 as New York bonds trader Cole Egan  receives a phone call telling him of his estranged father's death and of a package  that awaits him in a safety deposit box. The package, of course,  contains a video of the film stolen from the actress, and Cole realizes he is  sitting on a gold mine: from the other side of Dealey Plaza, the tape shows the  firing rifle denied by the Warren Commission.Of course, the U.S. government has not gone to all the trouble of  keeping such information secure for over 30 years just to let some upstart  indebted bonds trader make a fortune selling the truth to the  highest bidder. The novel takes flight as the dashing and resourceful Cole begins his quest to receive the benefits of his legacy while competently evading the knives, guns, and explosives of a super  secret government agency. Not only is the government (portrayed as a  surprisingly well-organized structure) intent on controlling the truth, so are  those who might be accused of the assassination. Although Cole is initially  confident about who the bad guys are, the suspense builds as the line separating  allies and enemies dissolves, and our hero finds out quite a lot about  himself, his father, and the lengths to which the government will go to keep  its secrets.--Kimberly Crouch--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.