Chris Hauty has rapidly gained a reputation as an author of high-octane thrillers. With his latest, DEAD RINGER, he takes on a mystery that has confounded the world for over six decades.

The event in question is the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The history books initially laid all the responsibility on Lee Harvey Oswald, who was widely seen as a Communist sympathizer. With Oswald himself being killed well before any public questioning could take place, this tragedy has continued to yield various conspiracy theories, as well as commissions dedicated to re-examining the events of that terrible day to finally produce some real answers.

"DEAD RINGER deftly combines very real history with speculative fiction that feels both unbelievable and eye-opening, resulting in a highly entertaining read."

Hauty proposes a new theory and does so in such a fashion that brings about a supreme element of danger that still exists for anyone seeking to reveal it. He provides plenty of historical context mixed with fictional elements, beginning with Oswald’s famous quote that he was “just a patsy,” along with the findings of the US House of Representatives Select Commission on Assassinations, which concluded in 1978 that two different gunmen fired at JFK. The larger mystery that is suggested here involves the body of the President, a claim that I will not disclose here.

Joe Mingus, a disgraced former Secret Service officer, is startled to be awakened in the early morning hours by two detectives who have questions about his whereabouts the previous night. His ex-girlfriend, Olivia Heller, a researcher for the National Archives in Washington, DC, has been found murdered.

We are then introduced to a separate storyline featuring the wealthiest man in the world. Mark Cristanti is involved with a sinister and powerful cabal akin to a modern-day Illuminati that has a vested interest in keeping the truth about the assassination a secret and is in the process of funding the campaign for a right-wing presidential candidate.

Mingus begins his own investigation into Olivia’s murder, and it is not long before he finds out the information that she may have been silenced over. His path crosses with that of a Jesuit professor, Juan Verdugo, who was close to Olivia and holds top-secret information about the assassination and the very real conspiracy that has kept the truth from coming out. More specifically, the findings of the Warren Commission have been thwarted by rumors, new conspiracies and, in this case, an alleged piece of evidence to which Olivia and Verdugo were privy.

Cristanti and his group will do whatever it takes to prevent anyone from revealing what actually happened. Among other methods, there is a deadly killer who will stop at nothing to see this mission done and is on the trail of Mingus and Verdugo. The action is very much non-stop and at such a frenetic pace that it’s impossible to stop the pages from turning as new characters, plot lines and revelations drive this story to a fiery conclusion.

DEAD RINGER deftly combines very real history with speculative fiction that feels both unbelievable and eye-opening, resulting in a highly entertaining read.