"Top Down" is the story of newsman Jack Gilmore (who seems quite similar to a certain Mr. Lehrer), a reporter sent to cover President Kennedy's arrival in Dallas on the day of his assassination in 1963. Gilmore, chatting with Secret Service Agent Van Walters, asks whether the bubble top on the presidential limousine will be on or off for the motorcade. Agent Walters, after a check of the downtown weather, orders it taken off, as the rain has cleared. This act sets in motion a cycle of guilt-induced physical and mental illness in Agent Walters, as he believes that his order allowed the assassination of the President.
"Top Down" is the story of Agent Walters' daughter Marti engaging Gilmore to help her father. Together, they probe whether the order to remove the bubble top had a material impact on the tragic outcome that day in Dallas. Would the bubble top have prevented the assassination? Did Gilmore's question to Walters actually lead to the order? What would have happened if the top had been in place? An intriguing and important sub-thread throughout the novel is one of journalistic integrity. Gilmore struggles with his job as an up-and-coming newspaperman to tell this important story with his promise to Marti Walters to stay "off the record". Mr. Lehrer's own sense of integrity is the lifeblood of this vein of the plot.
Jim Lehrer succeeds once again in writing a very approachable and fascinating novel. He is an outstanding story teller, with comfortable phrasing and style that make the book a complete pleasure to read. Upping the ante with "Top Down"is the autobiographical aspect,which Mr. Lehrer describes in the Author's Note, in that he himself was in a similar position and asked a similar question about the bubble top to a Secret Service agent in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
"Top Down" is a very enjoyable book. If you read it and like it, and it's your first Jim Lehrer novel, I encourage you to treat yourself to his other works, especially "The Special Prisoner", "The Last Debate", "The Phony Marine", and the One-Eyed Mack series.
Amazon link for "Top Down"
This book was purchased by the reviewer.
Hi -
ReplyDeleteI just found this via your post that landed in my reader feed (I follow your xmas stuff).
I didn't know that Jim Lehrer is also an author, I have some work to do.
I am looking forward to more book reviews from you, we seem to have some common tastes.
Thanks Regularjoe - I hope you enjoy the new blog. I've read 10 or so of Jim Lehrer's novels plus "Tension City" and "A Bus of My Own", and have enjoyed every one. I've had the great opportunity to hear him speak a couple of times, and have met him for a brief chat and exchanged a few e-mails. I have one story that I'll post out here at a later time that shows what a great, standup guy he is.
Delete"The Last Debate" is one of my favorites, and Jim uses a plot device that I've never experienced before, and made it a truly amazing novel. What the novel was about was not really what the novel was about. Intrigued?