A Cruel and Shocking Act

The Secret History of the Kennedy Assassination

By: Philip Shenon

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff, Philip Shenon (prologue)

Length: 23 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

A groundbreaking, explosive account of the Kennedy assassination that will rewrite the history of the 20th century's most controversial murder investigation. The questions have haunted our nation for half a century: Was the President killed by a single gunman? Was Lee Harvey Oswald part of a conspiracy? Did the Warren Commission discover the whole truth of what happened on November 22, 1963?

Philip Shenon, a veteran investigative journalist who spent most of his career at The New York Times, finally provides many of the answers. Though A Cruel and Shocking Act began as Shenon's attempt to write the first insider's history of the Warren Commission, it quickly became something much larger and more important when he discovered startling information that was withheld from the Warren Commission by the CIA, FBI, and others in power in Washington. Shenon shows how the commission's 10-month investigation was doomed to fail because the man leading it - Chief Justice Earl Warren - was more committed to protecting the Kennedy family than getting to the full truth about what happened on that tragic day.

A taut, narrative, Shenon's audiobook features some of the most compelling figures of the 20th century: Bobby Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, Chief Justice Warren, CIA spymasters Allen Dulles and Richard Helms, as well as the CIA's treacherous "molehunter", James Jesus Angleton.

Based on hundreds of interviews and unprecedented access to the surviving commission staffers and many other key players, Philip Shenon's authoritative, scrupulously researched book will forever change the way we think about the Kennedy assassination and about the deeply flawed investigation that followed.

Includes a prologue read by the author.

©2013 Philip Shenon (P)2013 Macmillan Audio

Lots of interesting information

This book brings an interesting perspective on the Warren Commission's work and on many of the historical figures who were involved in investigating the assassination of President Kennedy.

For the Warren Commission apologists,...

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

This story was told from the point of view of those who worked on the commission. It was interesting to hear how some of the members changed their views as the investigation progressed and how some stuck with their initial impressions no matter what evidence they came across. At first they decried the conspiracy theorists, but later understood why people still questioned who was actually involved in this henious crime. Everyone comes in for their share of criticism but in the end, the CIA, the Hoover era FBI and the Secret Service all still need to account for their lapses in sharing information before and after the assassination. Is it any wonder that conspiracy theories thrive when so many questions remain unanswered?

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator was good.

Could you see A Cruel and Shocking Act being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Not really. If Hollywood got hold of this, a lot of the historical facts would probably be lost in favor of more drama.

Major journalistic achievement

From the first words to the last this book never ceases to surprise and alarm. It’s an exhaustive distillation of a mountain of internal documents enhanced by interviews with Warren Commission insiders and related persons. This investigation confirms in detail what is obvious in retrospect, that the investigation was botched and the the CIA and FBI stonewalled the commission at every turn to throw them off the trail of possible Oswald connections to Soviet and Cuban intelligence and to cover up their agency’s culpability in an assassination that could have been prevented. They did such an effective job that we can’t ever know for sure whether or not a conspiracy existed. I recommend without reservation.

Unbelievably rich in research

A deep thorough dive into the events, people, evidence and assumptions surrounded the 1963 assassination of JFK.

A compelling and thoroughly researched book.

First may I say that Robert Petkoff did an amazing job reading this book. Well paced, he has made this one of those audiobooks that you just can't walk away from until the very end. 5 BIG BRIGHT stars to the narrator!

Philip Shenon has done a fantastic job describing in exquisite detail the inner workings of the Warren Commission and the revelations of coverups by the FBI and CIA. John Lennon summed it up well when he wrote that "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey". Shenon perfectly explains how simple flawed human nature (misguided sentimentality by Earl Warren, a pervasive attitude of secrecy by the CIA, incompetence and laziness on the part of the Secret Service and Dallas PD and the arrogance of Hoover's FBI) muddied the already murky waters of the JFK assassination.

The author is to be commended for his reasonable explanations and conclusions regarding the true "crime of the century". A must read book expertly narrated.

The best book I have read in a while.

Very good. I learned a lot. I already knew quite a bit. This guy did a lot of research....and he did it well.

Every other conspiracy is false except mine

An interesting account of those who did most of the work for what has become known as the Warren Commission.

I did a 180!

Would you listen to A Cruel and Shocking Act again? Why?

Yes, there are so many details and historically accurate facts to be heard, reheard, and written down... This is the kind of book you takes notes about. This is a SERIOUS history, not a silly conspiracy book.

What other book might you compare A Cruel and Shocking Act to and why?

Hear No Evil: Social Constructivism and the Forensic Evidence in the Kennedy Assassination

What does Robert Petkoff and Philip Shenon (prologue) bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

They bring to us the story of WHY the book was written...

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No... I needed time to take a breath, take some notes, and rethink a lot of things that I had previously believed it...

Any additional comments?

This is NOT a typical book...

Interesting material, boring presentation.

It was not unlike having a textbook read to you. Interesting material, but boring presentation.

Young Warren Commission Staffers Speak At Last

Whether you’re a serious JFK conspiracy student of any age, perhaps in your 20’s and just curious, a Warren Commission Fan, or you’re somewhere in between, this credible and magnificently researched work will give you tons of information which has never been assembled before in one place. Credible, because it’s the first examination of the Warren Commission’s inconsistent and behind-the-scenes investigative and analytical processes, based largely from interviews with original commission staffers and others now willing to talk, and talk truthfully and in detail. Now that decades have passed and the fear of retribution is gone, much of what was hidden is now coming out and many of the puzzle pieces can be fitted together, thanks to the author, one of the last remaining investigative journalists, who leaves you to make your own conclusions…. not his. As they say in the book world, the truth is much more entertaining than fiction. No one could write a fictional story like this and be believed!