And by that, I mean, for a limited time only (I assume) you can get the book Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK* by Gerald Posner for $1.99 in Kindle form, probably just from the US.

Many years ago, when I was Junior High age, there was this older kid who was convinced that JFK was still alive, and being kept on life support in Dallas. He was convinced Lee Harvey Oswald had been a patsy, and JFK was killed by the Mob, the Russians, the Cubans, and LBJ. In some combination. The grassy knoll. All of it. The moment he graduated from school he disappeared to Texas to run down his suspicions.

I was sufficiently impressed that I went out and got a JFK conspiracy book and read it. I was shocked as to how many different ways this conspiracy could have played out. At first, anyway. But by the time I was done with the book I realized that the author had no theory, just a lot of little pieces of theories that contradicted each other.

So, I read The Warren Report: The Official Report on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy*, which I think I still have on my shelf somewhere. It was also confusing and somewhat contradictory, but there was a clear effort to make a fulsome statement about the evidence, and it was hard to contradict the conclusion that Oswald acted alone. But, the argument, while the only argument one could come up with, was not compelling. It was just there as a likely conclusion.

Then I forgot about it and didn’t care for a while. Then, I ran into Case Closed, read it, and realized how simple the argument is. There is a small number of key facts that really focus the mind with respect to this event.

For example, Oswald had attempted to assassinate a person earlier on, and that attempt explained why he had the rifle, why he had the ammo, and why he was practicing. It also explained why he was in possession of fewer bullets than the rifle would actually hold at the time the opportunity to kill JFK presented itself. Those two facts together jive with the number of shots fired, the number of shell casings that the people downstairs from the sniper’s nest heard hit the floor, and the number of bullets accounted for.

And of course there is other evidence.

If you think JFK was killed by someone other than Oswald acting alone, you must read this book so you can disabuse yourself of whatever misconception you labor under at present. If you understand that Oswald killed JFK but are annoyed at the occasional conspiracy theory that pops up, get this book and read it, and you can snap back clear and irrefutable refutations at such arguments. If you find conspiracy ideation interesting, get this book because it is a key argument regarding what we generally see as the first in a diverse family of modern conspiracy theories.

Have you read the breakthrough novel of the year? When you are done with that, try:

In Search of Sungudogo by Greg Laden, now in Kindle or Paperback
*Please note:
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