Remember the Babushka Lady seen on the Zapruder film that unexpectedly captured President Kennedy's assassination? The novel centers on who the Babushka Lady was, what she captured with her movie camera (was there a second shooter?), and what might have happened to her.
And not only to her, but to her daughter, who in the novel, inherits the film.
Unfortunately, the novel moved into a preachy tone with a lapsed Christian billionaire taking over the best part of the story. Jason Hammond, one of those almost perfect characters, takes the reins and pretty much loses the race for a successful novel.
Jason is still grieving the deaths of his parents and sisters and has turned away from the religion that meant everything to him. That is his flaw. I suppose the only one.
Never mind that his parents died in a plane crash over ten years ago, poor Jason's life has been fatally damaged. Never mind that he is rich beyond belief, handsome, charming, and involved in all kinds of adventures, Jason just can't recover.
Get over it.
What a great idea. What a shame that it turned into something else entirely. Oh, there is plenty of adventure, but it is kind of cheesy, and the characters are never really developed. Jason and Sheila and bad guy stay cardboard with bad dialogue.
A great opportunity wasted, but it does reactivate interest and curiosity about the JFK assassination, who the Babushka Lady was, and why she never came forward.
Oh, remember, this is just my opinion. Most reviewers really liked the novel.
NetGalley/Tyndale House.
Adventure/Christian. July 1, 2013. Print version: 448 pages.
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