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All the Way with JFK: An Alternate History of 1964
What if Lee Harvey Oswald’s bullet had missed on that fateful day in Dallas? What if John F. Kennedy had lived to run again in 1964? Find out the answers in All the Way with JFK, which details a history far different than the one we know. Learn what happens when an investigation into the assassination attempt uncovers a direct link between Oswald and Castro’s Cuba. A revelation that sets off an international crisis which brings the super powers to the brink of World War III yet again as American forces prepare to invade Cuba while Moscow plots a countermove Meanwhile racial tensions rise as Black Americans demand their equal rights under the Constitution and an end to segregation as those determined to forever deny them vow to fight a second Civil War. And all the while, Texas oilmen conspire to bring down John F. Kennedy before he can win a second term by exposing his most hidden secrets, including an affair with an East German spy. All the Way with JFK is alternate history at its best and a thriller filled with twists and turns, including the shocking finale where it is revealed just who was really pulling Oswald’s strings.
For those who love alternate history stories, All the Way with JFK is a must read as it lays out a counter factual 1960’s, where John F. Kennedy returned from that trip to Texas in November of 1963 alive. Told through the eyes of individuals swept up in events where the history of Vietnam, Cuba, the struggle for Civil Rights, and the Cold War itself is far different than the one we know. Go into the Oval Office and the basement of the White House, the halls of Capital Hill and DC’s finest restaurants, Dallas strip clubs and luxury hotel suites, the backrooms of the Kremlin and a Cuban sugar plantation, the Governor’s mansion in Alabama and a barbeque joint in Louisiana, where men and women of both good and very bad will make history. And all with a cast of characters straight out of the six o’clock news: Bobby Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Martin Luther King, George Wallace, Howard Hughes, Jimmy Hoffa, Chou En Lai, Nikita Khrushchev, Curtis LeMay, Robert McNamara, Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante, Jackie Kennedy, Leonid Brehznev, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, The Beatles, James Eastland, Ronald Reagan, H.L. Hunt, and a cameo by Angie Dickinson, along with appearances by John Wayne, Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah. Towering over them all is John F. Kennedy himself, a master politician and very fallible man.
Find it on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2jVkW9m
Find it on Smashwords at http://bit.ly/2kAoiAH
For those who love alternate history stories, All the Way with JFK is a must read as it lays out a counter factual 1960’s, where John F. Kennedy returned from that trip to Texas in November of 1963 alive. Told through the eyes of individuals swept up in events where the history of Vietnam, Cuba, the struggle for Civil Rights, and the Cold War itself is far different than the one we know. Go into the Oval Office and the basement of the White House, the halls of Capital Hill and DC’s finest restaurants, Dallas strip clubs and luxury hotel suites, the backrooms of the Kremlin and a Cuban sugar plantation, the Governor’s mansion in Alabama and a barbeque joint in Louisiana, where men and women of both good and very bad will make history. And all with a cast of characters straight out of the six o’clock news: Bobby Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Martin Luther King, George Wallace, Howard Hughes, Jimmy Hoffa, Chou En Lai, Nikita Khrushchev, Curtis LeMay, Robert McNamara, Carlos Marcello, Santos Trafficante, Jackie Kennedy, Leonid Brehznev, Hubert Humphrey, Richard Russell, The Beatles, James Eastland, Ronald Reagan, H.L. Hunt, and a cameo by Angie Dickinson, along with appearances by John Wayne, Stanley Kubrick and Sam Peckinpah. Towering over them all is John F. Kennedy himself, a master politician and very fallible man.
Find it on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2jVkW9m
Find it on Smashwords at http://bit.ly/2kAoiAH
- GenresFiction
160 pages, ebook
Published February 6, 2017
About the author
F.C. Schaefer
10 books10 followersI am a lifelong avid reader with a passionate love for a good story, be it fiction on nonfiction. As a kid, I loved genre movies-westerns, gangsters, horror-because the story was king with those kind of flicks, same with comic books, another life long passion. After years of reading, I decided to try my hand at writing the kind of fiction I enjoyed and learned there is no greater satisfaction than to labor on something you love and then discover others find pleasure in it as well.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 31, 2017
Finally! An excellent alternative fiction novel that is very plausible, and no "alien space-bats" or "time shifts". Schaefer has penned a serious, thoughtful, believable novel using the event of the Dallas JFK assassination as his vehicle. What if Oswald didn't succeed in his attempt? The author uses that assumption as his beginning. His tale involves the Kennedy's, the US Government, the Cubans, the Mafia, the Russians, the Iranians, the Vietnamese, and on and on. It is told through the viewpoints of multiple people, very effectively. I don't want to give any more away of the story, but it is fantastic. And Schaefer ends the book masterfully. I finished it feeling completely satisfied.
If you enjoy great alternative fiction, or even a great fiction/mystery/thriller, I cannot recommend this book enough!
If you enjoy great alternative fiction, or even a great fiction/mystery/thriller, I cannot recommend this book enough!
June 30, 2017
I love alternate history ! I so wanted to give this book a great review; the story is electric, very thoughtful and exciting. Unfortunately the potential is shattered simply because it was either edited so poorly as to not have been edited, or it was, in fact, not edited at all. All the Way with JFK: An Alternate History of 1964 It is riddled with grammar errors, spelling errors, missing words in a sentence, and sentences clearly partly edited, but not fixed. This leaves a tangled mess of sentences that have to be reread to understand them. And, this was published to Amazon as a polished novel. Again, the idea is wonderful, the execution severely flawed. Withdraw this from circulation and get a professional editor; you'll have something wonderful, not a missed chance.
March 5, 2023
An interesting twist on history – what if JFK was never assassinated?
I enjoyed that the tale was told from multiple perspectives. They range from an oilman to a politician, a colonel to an assistant. The author does a wonderful job bringing each character’s voice to the forefront. I only wish there were slightly less characters to follow, they got a bit confusing.
To be honest, I don’t have the firmest grasp on this period of history. I know the highlights, but other than that, I’ve got nothing. That being said, this is a well written historical novel.
History would have been very different if JFK had never been assassinated, the amount of research that was involved in this novel was staggering. Each change made in this novel was plausible and believable.
I recommend this novel to any history buff. This alternate history brings up any what-ifs you could think of from 1963 to 1999.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this novel from the author and am leaving this novel honestly and voluntarily.
I enjoyed that the tale was told from multiple perspectives. They range from an oilman to a politician, a colonel to an assistant. The author does a wonderful job bringing each character’s voice to the forefront. I only wish there were slightly less characters to follow, they got a bit confusing.
To be honest, I don’t have the firmest grasp on this period of history. I know the highlights, but other than that, I’ve got nothing. That being said, this is a well written historical novel.
History would have been very different if JFK had never been assassinated, the amount of research that was involved in this novel was staggering. Each change made in this novel was plausible and believable.
I recommend this novel to any history buff. This alternate history brings up any what-ifs you could think of from 1963 to 1999.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this novel from the author and am leaving this novel honestly and voluntarily.
December 28, 2018
This review will be in two parts. Part One examines the plot of the book. Part 2 examines the physical reality of the book.
In this alternate history, Lee Harvey Oswald shoots at John F Kennedy in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, but misses everyone in the car and only manages to shoot out the tail light of his limo. Oswald is shot to death by Dallas Police, JFK lives another day. The rest of the book is all the ramifications that flow from this.
You can't have a JFK alternate history without conspiracies. Sometimes multiple conspiracies. Sometimes conspiracies about conspiracies. As with all conspiracies, some seem plausible, some seem far-fetched. The conspiracies in this book are no different: they range from Vietnam to the mafia to the CIA to Iran, from JFK to RFK to LBJ, do Nixon, Agnew, Humphrey and Reagan, all the way to distinguished Army veteran William Jefferson Clinton.
Personally, I found some of the conspiracies a little too ridiculous to be plausible, but hey, it's not my book. On the whole, this book is a fine, exciting tale of what might have been.
Now for part 2: the analysis of the physical presentation of the book. This is probably the shoddiest put together book I have ever seen in all my years of being able to read. I understand that in a 400-page book, one or two typos are going to sneak through. That's the way it is. What I don't understand is how several hundred typos could "sneak" through. On too many pages, words are typed incorrectly, words are misspelled, and the punctuation is more suited to an EE Cummings poem then to written English prose. One unfortunate truth of the world is that, sad to say, you are judged by the presentation you make. And the presentation of This Book Is So atrocious, it reaches the level of disrespect for the audience. And that can't be ignored.
I understand, better than most, that writers are generally as poor as Church mice. I understand if a writer can't afford to hire a separate editor for their book. I really, really do understand that. But an e-book is ipso facto produced on a computer, and I don't know of a single word processing system on a computer that does not offer spell check. Or grammar check. Those little wavy red and blue lines, if obeyed, can mean the difference between the two star book, and a 4-star book.
In this alternate history, Lee Harvey Oswald shoots at John F Kennedy in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, but misses everyone in the car and only manages to shoot out the tail light of his limo. Oswald is shot to death by Dallas Police, JFK lives another day. The rest of the book is all the ramifications that flow from this.
You can't have a JFK alternate history without conspiracies. Sometimes multiple conspiracies. Sometimes conspiracies about conspiracies. As with all conspiracies, some seem plausible, some seem far-fetched. The conspiracies in this book are no different: they range from Vietnam to the mafia to the CIA to Iran, from JFK to RFK to LBJ, do Nixon, Agnew, Humphrey and Reagan, all the way to distinguished Army veteran William Jefferson Clinton.
Personally, I found some of the conspiracies a little too ridiculous to be plausible, but hey, it's not my book. On the whole, this book is a fine, exciting tale of what might have been.
Now for part 2: the analysis of the physical presentation of the book. This is probably the shoddiest put together book I have ever seen in all my years of being able to read. I understand that in a 400-page book, one or two typos are going to sneak through. That's the way it is. What I don't understand is how several hundred typos could "sneak" through. On too many pages, words are typed incorrectly, words are misspelled, and the punctuation is more suited to an EE Cummings poem then to written English prose. One unfortunate truth of the world is that, sad to say, you are judged by the presentation you make. And the presentation of This Book Is So atrocious, it reaches the level of disrespect for the audience. And that can't be ignored.
I understand, better than most, that writers are generally as poor as Church mice. I understand if a writer can't afford to hire a separate editor for their book. I really, really do understand that. But an e-book is ipso facto produced on a computer, and I don't know of a single word processing system on a computer that does not offer spell check. Or grammar check. Those little wavy red and blue lines, if obeyed, can mean the difference between the two star book, and a 4-star book.
November 14, 2018
What if a tip to the Secret Service made Oswald’s bullet miss by inches? How would Kennedy have dealt with Castro in the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs? Would Johnson have ever been president? Could we have been spared the ‘Great Society’? These musings are adroitly explored in this intelligent and well-researched alternative history that covers the period from 1963 to 1999. What would the world look like today?
All the Way with JFK is written in first person from the viewpoints of several fictional players. A Marine colonel advises Kennedy on how to deal with Castro. A Texas oilman promotes Barry Goldwater for president. A lobbyist tries to push the Civil Rights Act through Congress. A young Republican woman works on the Goldwater campaign. Each tells a piece of the story in his or her own voice. This is an interesting approach that Mr. Schaefer has made to work very well even though this reader thought the book would have been improved with a few less voices. I found that it took a few paragraphs to remember who was telling the story when a new chapter began. However, it’s the plausibility of the ‘what if’ is what makes this a great read.
All the Way with JFK is written in first person from the viewpoints of several fictional players. A Marine colonel advises Kennedy on how to deal with Castro. A Texas oilman promotes Barry Goldwater for president. A lobbyist tries to push the Civil Rights Act through Congress. A young Republican woman works on the Goldwater campaign. Each tells a piece of the story in his or her own voice. This is an interesting approach that Mr. Schaefer has made to work very well even though this reader thought the book would have been improved with a few less voices. I found that it took a few paragraphs to remember who was telling the story when a new chapter began. However, it’s the plausibility of the ‘what if’ is what makes this a great read.
January 5, 2019
Compelling, hard to stop reading!
We picked this book up after seeing it on Amazon as a recommendation after we'd finished a Turtledove book.
Frankly, we did not expect much because we'd never heard of the author, but the book turned out to be excellently plotted (with all sorts of recognizable major and minor characters), and almost impossible to put down.
We lived through these events, and the book rings remarkably true and very well researched and, most important, scarily believable.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
We picked this book up after seeing it on Amazon as a recommendation after we'd finished a Turtledove book.
Frankly, we did not expect much because we'd never heard of the author, but the book turned out to be excellently plotted (with all sorts of recognizable major and minor characters), and almost impossible to put down.
We lived through these events, and the book rings remarkably true and very well researched and, most important, scarily believable.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
May 10, 2017
Interesting alternatives
Love alternative history, this has it all, as well as a twist. Interesting concept on how to tell the story alternating between characters to cover the events from different viewpoints. Not to far fetched. However there are many typos and words that have been omitted, you can fill them in, because it is the only way the sentence will correctly read. These errors detract from an otherwise well conceived story.
Love alternative history, this has it all, as well as a twist. Interesting concept on how to tell the story alternating between characters to cover the events from different viewpoints. Not to far fetched. However there are many typos and words that have been omitted, you can fill them in, because it is the only way the sentence will correctly read. These errors detract from an otherwise well conceived story.
May 18, 2017
Wow
Superb book all the way through but the ending floored me to the point of having to read it a second time
Superb book all the way through but the ending floored me to the point of having to read it a second time
April 13, 2017
Not Kindle Unlimited, received it through the writer, via smashwords, which was via librarything, which was sort of different for me {Smashwords review, not getting them that way though, have couple in the past}, though not the receive free in hopes of a review, though do remember asking for this one, as an alternate history of one of this country's major changes and turning points was this one among a few others.
This particular story had certain key people of that time not dying, and certain other ones dying in different places or at different times, and of course a lot of historical people and events turning out different, somewhat like a book version of Quantum Leap television show in a way. It was interesting, although found it hard to follow in places, so much so that it did cause enough attention on that to take away a star of the rating; some was the lack of decent line breaks/paragraphs and some was the general confusion caused. Having said that, would also like to point out again, though, the 'what if' nature of the book was intriguing. The writer also did Beating Plowshares into Swords: An Alternate History of the Vietnam War and definitely has a bit of knack for this type story. It was worth the read.
note, on amazon it was a 4 star so figured about the same for goodreads
This particular story had certain key people of that time not dying, and certain other ones dying in different places or at different times, and of course a lot of historical people and events turning out different, somewhat like a book version of Quantum Leap television show in a way. It was interesting, although found it hard to follow in places, so much so that it did cause enough attention on that to take away a star of the rating; some was the lack of decent line breaks/paragraphs and some was the general confusion caused. Having said that, would also like to point out again, though, the 'what if' nature of the book was intriguing. The writer also did Beating Plowshares into Swords: An Alternate History of the Vietnam War and definitely has a bit of knack for this type story. It was worth the read.
note, on amazon it was a 4 star so figured about the same for goodreads
April 28, 2017
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was sort of expecting a conspiracy theory book mashed with some massive creative liberties. Instead I was given a rather wonderful adventure of what could have been. It sort of reminded me of a Quantum leap or 11.22.63 idea, but I would say, with a better story. This is a concept that has been beat to death with books, movies, and tv shows. However this book seems like a genuine fresh take on the whole story. It was a really fun read and I applaud the author for taking on such a task and succeeding so well.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews