The Kennedy Connection by R. G. Belsky

This is a very clever murder mystery, a most interesting intersection of plot lines. Gil Malloy was a very successful and high profile journalist for the New York Daily News, but in writing a story about a legendary prostitute, he overstepped acceptable boundaries by making up conversations with the woman who he was never able to find. When he was found out, he was humiliated and knew he would never be trusted again by others in the industry. His newspaper kept him on, but relegated him to tertiary stories, not the front page stuff where his writing had lived for years. Malloy was dying for a break on a new story which would take him back to the front page – it’s how he measured the value of his life. His editor let him know no such stories would come his way.

An old police acquaintance, Roberto Santiago, a homicide detective, had asked him some years before to look into the shooting of Victor Reyes, but at the time, Malloy was riding high with more interesting stories, so he never did. The nonfatal shooting of another Hispanic gang member was just not interesting enough. Reyes lived 15 years after the shooting, but then he died. Santiago let Malloy know he was disappointed he had never pursued the matter, and two weeks later, Santiago was killed. Malloy was ready to pay a debt to his friend and look into the death of Reyes, but then he got distracted by the big story he had been waiting for.

How do three seemingly unrelated murders in New York connect to each other? Shawn Kennedy had been shot in Union Square, a rich and beautiful woman, and no one took her valuables. A homeless guy in the Bowery was stabbed to death. A 79-year-old woman was bludgeoned to death, and she was robbed. Each of the victims was found with a Kennedy half dollar, these murders happening on the 50^th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. Was is just a coincidence that the first victim’s name was Kennedy? As I write this review, the plot seems contrived, but Belsky pulled it off so it did not seem contrived at all. The story was riveting and I read this over the course of one day – could not put it down.

The idea of writing about the greatest crime of the century pulled Malloy in like a moth to a flame, but his history of having lied in a previous big story was a constant hurdle with his editor. The character development was solid and the characters with whom Malloy interacted were all believable and well fleshed out. As has been the case with so many novels, I was not happy with the portrayal of the psychiatrist and the psychotherapy process. But, I enjoyed Malloy’s look into the Kennedy assassination and some new details he unearthed. This is a good book and it gets my strong recommendation.



From East Coast Don: wanted to add my 2 cents. Just finished this book (thanks again to the good folks at Simon & Schuster). Unfortunately, I didn't have West Coast Don's free time. If I did, I too could've read this in one sitting. Belsky's history in journalism is evident in his crisp writing style that draws the reader in quickly and doesn't let go. He expertly connects seemingly distinct crimes into a cohesive plot with enough twists to keep you from putting it down. First rate stuff. Belsky has two other reporter-based books that I'm going to have to try and track down. 

The Kennedy Connection is now available in print and electronic versions.