Monday, August 27, 2007

The Mongoose Deception-Robert Greer

The Mongoose Deception
Robert Greer
Frog, Ltd, Oct 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 9781583941928

An earthquake opens up a hole behind the catwalk of the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel enabling Cornelius McPherson to find the well preserved arm of Antoine Ducane, who disappeared several decades ago. McPherson identifies the dead man from his unique tattoo just like he still remembers the deceased telling him that he knew who killed JFK. McPherson talks about this, which leads to a Mafia Don calling for a hit.

The Don is the estranged nephew of former Don Mario Santoni, a friend of bail bondsmen and antiquities dealer CJ Floyd. Mario worries that the FBI will knock down his door because he had been irate with the organized crime efforts of the president’s brother back in the 1960s, but was not involved in the assassination. When MacPherson is murdered, the FBI and a Denver detective investigate; Mario’s nephew plants evidence to prove his uncle caused the present murder to cover up the 1963 plot. CJ refuses to allow his friend to take the fall so he vows to protect Mario and uncover the truth of who tried to kill JFK in Chicago and Tampa before succeeding in Dallas; unaware that his opposition consists of powerful elitists who rule in the shadows and want the truth to remain interred with any who try to reveal the truth buried too.

THE MONGOOSE DECEPTION is a terrific conspiracy thriller that takes the audience back to 1963 with the premise that two failed attempts to kill JFK occurred before Dallas. The story line focuses on the abuse of power, past and present, as even Mafia Dons are at times puppets to these fiercely faceless forces pulling the strings of a nation even if breaking all the rules is their acceptable norm (this pre-Neocon philosophy is the end justifies the mean). There is plenty of action and CJ is a fascinating hero although his motive to be David confronting an unknown horde of Goliaths seems unlikely, Robert Greer makes it plausible with the best conspiracy tale since THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.

Harriet Klausner

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