Based on imaginative, meticulous, and dense research, A Cruel and Shocking Act reads like a novel. A genuine page-turner, this deeply detailed narrative history combines a commitment to the bounty of the archives with the literary flair of a great story. Shenon takes an event that has riveted the nation for the past half century and leads us through it and its aftermath like no one else had ever done, uncovering fresh evidence along the way. It will be impossible to think of the assassination itself and the activities of the supposedly authoritative Warren Commission in the same way again. Shenon, who spent more than twenty years reporting on the Pentagon, the Justice Department, the State Department, and foreign affairs for the New York Times, is the bestselling author of The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation.