What really would have happened next if John Kennedy survived the ambush at Dealey Plaza?
That’s the intriguing premise of this ambitiously researched novel by award-winning TV writer/producer Bryce Zabel, who just happens to be the publisher of Movie Smackdown. In his new book out soon, Surrounded by Enemies: What If Kennedy Survived Dallas?, Bryce boldly reimagines a post-1963 political scenario that focuses on what we now know about the secrets of the Kennedy presidency in a way that shocks readers without resorting to sci-fi gimmicks.
To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, Surrounded by Enemies delivers a supercharged but thoroughly plausible alternative narrative of the JFK era. After the charismatic president lives through a horrifying broad daylight assassination attempt, JFK and his attorney-general brother Bobby become the first conspiracy theorists, each determined to strike back at their enemies. The provocative concept brings to life the political earthquake and Constitutional crisis that the Kennedy years could easily have turned into. After all, today’s historians seem to have reached the conclusion that JFK was skating on thin ice, thanks to his personal indiscretions, always just a headline away from disaster.
Meticulously researched, Surrounded by Enemies: What If Kennedy Survived Dallas? will be available in late July 2013 as a Publish Green eBook through Amazon, iBook, Nook and other sellers. Soon after, the book will be available as a Mill City Press trade paperback and an Audible.com audiobook narrated by Edd Hall (the Tonight Show). It is the first in a series of alternate history novels under the alt.Worlds imprint from Stellar Productions. Lynda Karr, who does all the amazing graphic design here at the Smack, has also designed the cover of the book and a series of arresting images that help create this alternate history’s feel of reality.
The book carries with it some very impressive advance reviews. They come from alternate history favorite Harry Turtledove, the creator of TV’s Lost and writer of World War Z and Star Trek Into Darkness, Damon Lindelof; the writer of all the Twilight films, Melissa Rosenberg; and the grounded, guiding light of UFOlogy, Richard Dolan:
I have always had a deep love for classic what-if stories, but the best ones are often the alternate events that probably came within a millisecond of actually happening. That is precisely what Bryce Zabel has done here, painstakingly designing JFK’s life post-1963. I have some experience with shattered timelines and altered realities, but this one kept me guessing every page.
— Damon Lindelof, writer/producer, Lost, World War Z,
Star Trek Into Darkness
Bryce Zabel and I went down the road of revising the Kennedy historical record together on the NBC series Dark Skies. This time instead of giving new meaning to the established JFK chronology, he’s created a brand new one altogether. Surrounded by Enemies is an exhilarating ride, full of twists and turns that never were, but surely could have been.
— Melissa Rosenberg, writer/producer, Twilight films, Dexter
Plausible development, building from what we know about what really did go on, and a whacking good story… Surrounded by Enemies delivers on both, big-time. So hold on to your hats, folks. You’re in for quite a ride.
— Harry Turtledove, author, How Few Remain,
World War, Guns of the South
Of all the what-if scenarios ever written about JFK, this is the one that rings true. It is an account that takes us deeper into the clandestine world that JFK himself tried, and ultimately failed, to gain control over during his life in our timeline. In the parallel history of Surrounded by Enemies, Kennedy’s struggle only intensified after Dallas, and the entire nation bore witness.
— Richard M. Dolan, author, A.D. After Disclosure,
UFOs and the National Security State
The 50th anniversary of John Kennedy’s death is November 22, 2013.
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