At the end of World War II, the looming threat of communism became the new persona non grata in the United States. Before the Cold War ramped up to full speed, the country’s first Secretary of Defense, James Forrestal, suspected that the touch of communism had spread through espionage and subterfuge throughout the bodies of government and was dedicated to stamping it out—along with his two soon-to-be-notable proteges: Senator Joseph McCarthy and future President John F. Kennedy. However, while the latter’s assassination is well-known and oft-discussed, the other two men met a similarly suspicious demise. In addition, the death and investigation of all three have a link to a single institution: The National Naval Medical Center located in Bethesda, Maryland. In this book, the author presents a thesis that aims to lay out the reach of a conspiracy that eliminated these men before they could expose communism in America.

Despite murky official evidence and multiple competing theories on the assassination of JFK, the author’s case is extremely clear due largely to his presentation of the facts and his interpretations of them. The book is presented in chronological order, first detailing the links between Forrestal, McCarthy, and Kennedy while serving in World War II before examining their mysterious deaths as they became more well-known. While most are certainly familiar with the presidential assassination and likely familiar with the works of McCarthy and Forrestal, the author provides insightful timelines and points out contradictions in the official documents and explanations given to their deaths. The suppositions that Forrestal and McCarthy were killed during benign treatments in Bethesda and that Kennedy’s autopsy was covering up crucial details in identifying his assassins will draw the reader in and force them to ask difficult questions.

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