Customer Reviews

Someone Would Have Talked: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the Conspiracy to Mislead History

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Larry Hancock's latest book is a must-buy for anyone looking for a credible guide to the new primary source material only recently available. After searching for a used copy of the first edition of this excellent book (out of print for several years), I finally gave up. The CD provided with the initial book was a hugh bonus, because it contained a trove of hard to find primary source material that I did not have the time or resource to locate. Well, the book is now released in its second edition, and is updated with more recent material. It is impossible for most of us to read and absorb the volume of material made available. Larry Hancock has done a masterful job of sifting through this material for us, working with many of the most credible, often unsung, researchers.

Even those who have read virtually everything about the Kennedy assassination over the years will find that they have been looking at individual fragments of a complex shattered mosaic that has resisted most efforts to fit all the pieces together in a rational way. The welcome release of a blizzard of paper over the past few years has made it even more difficult for those of us who try to stay current and separate rumor from fact. In this book, Larry Hancock displays a fluency with the sources that is remarkable. He has done a remarkable job of synthesis; connecting fragments of the multitude of assassination theories and characters into a credible web of intersecting agendas and characters. This book has the flavor of James Ellroy's LA Quartet with a cast of real characters that rival LeCarre's George Smiley (Harvey and Angleton, to name just two). Fans of espionage fact and fiction, true crime, and dark noir will love this book, regardless of your interest in the assassination itself. Certainly a great gift for those 'hard to buy for' crime or history buffs.

For those of us looking for a credible weighing of new aspects of the case that have resulted from the AARB and other newly released documents, Larry does not disappoint. His chapters re-examining the little known story of John Martino in detail, the strange life and death of Richard Case Nagell, and the tragic case of Rose Cheramie are updated with much new material that will be valuable in setting the record straight. His tracing of the CIA characters intersecting careers in several excellent appendices is compelling. this book's focus on John Martino sets it apart from the rest of the canon. If you think you are well informed about the case already, this book is one of the few that holds some genuine surprises. An in-depth update of the latest twists and turns in the case we just can't forget.

Well written, literate, credible...this isn't a sensational book about "explosive new evidence", it is like having a knowledgeable guide to a strange landscape who can point out the pitfalls and challenges, give us a new map, and challenge us to follow paths that few have trod. Buy this book and watch Larry shine a light on some very dark places.

An avid reader of much relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, I recently discovered and greedily read Larry Hancock's "Someone would have talked." It provides a wealth of information, photographic material I have never before seen, and a CD filled with documentation.

The basic premise of the book is facinating. One frequently heard objection to the concept of a 'conspiracy' is that 'someone would have talked.' Hancock documents the fact that 'someone' did in fact talk - many 'someones' - and it's significant to note who it was, what was said, and in what context.

The majority of the information contained was very new to me, as Hancock takes us down a labyrinth of complex military operations, introducing character after character, their personal level of involvement, and potential roles in the events that took place on 11/22/63.

I personally found that Hancock's conclusions in regards to the conspiracy, assassination and cover-up were the most logical I have ever seen. The puzzle pieces begin to fit at last.

Furthermore, for anyone who has ever wondered as to the real depth of Lee Harvey Oswald's involvement - look no more.

I unreservedly recommend this book - to anyone who wants to have a better understanding as to the 'who, what and why' behind Kennedy's assassination; whether it be from a first time interest, or a more serious pursuit.

As an experienced author and researcher myself who has "seen it all" (so to speak), I have become somewhat jaded in terms of dealing with new books on the subject of the JFK assassination, as many promise more than they deliver or, quite frnakly, have little in the way of anything truly new and exciting to offer. To compound the matter, a number of these books are not very readable ("Oswald and The CIA" comes painfully to mind...ouch!).
Then, like a breath of fresh air, comes a truly remarkable and tenacious researcher, Larry Hancock, with "Someone Would Have Talked." Tremendous documentation, organization, and, above all, READABILITY will greet the reader in welcome fashion. Perhaps most important of all, much of the information in the book is new or, at the very least, will be new to 99% of the average citizens out there. In addition, there are many great and obscure photographs in the book, adding to the rich narrative. And, to top it all off, there is an amazing cd packed with information included.
Larry Hancock has truly hit a home run here. While I HAVE sung the praises of a few other deserving titles in recent years (albeit out of a literal mountain of prose), NO other book carries the detailed perspective on the nuts and bolts of the actual CONSPIRACY itself---apart from issues of forensics, etc.---like "Someone Would Have Talked." I am very impressed...and, at this late juncture, that is getting exceedingly harder to do. Buy it!!!!

Someone Would Have Talked is a must read for anyone with an interest in the events surrounding the murder of President Kennedy. Larry Hancock has done a remarkable job, and his efforts have resulted in a classic examination of events leading up to Kennedy's death and the ensuing coverup.

Building on the research of Russell, Fonzi, Summers, Griggs, and many many others, Mr. Hancock has masterfully synthesized their research with much of his own. The results are powerful, compelling, and represent a major step forward in our understanding of the assassination.

I've yet to finish my second reading and this is not meant as a review, but just some of my first impressions.

1) As anyone that is familiar with Larry Hancock and his research knows, his documentation is immaculate.

2) The summaries at the end of each chapter are most helpful.

3) Someone Would Have Talked is remarkably current. It contains much new information.

4) Larry Hancock is a gifted critical thinker. Fortunately, he gives the reader the benefit of his reasoned conclusions.

5) Hancock points the way for future researchers. This may be one of the most important facets of the book.

6) Someone Would Have Talked will endure as a useful reference tool for many of the perplexing events surrounding JFK's death.

7) Importantly, the book reads well. Starting with John Martino, the author weaves a fascinating and convincing account of the roles of so many others.

8) Whenever possible, the author has corroborated his evidence from multiple sources.

9) There is a lot to absorb, yet Mr. Hancock does an awesome job of tying events together into a story that is not only believable, but compelling.

Someone Would Have Talked is destined to take its place as a classic work in the research of President Kennedy's murder. In my opinion, it was well worth the wait.

'Someone Would Have Talked' ranks high on my list as one of the best books written to date on the asssassination of John F. Kennedy.
Larry clears up one of the enduring and puzzling mysteries of the asssassination - why the pre- assassination plot intending to portray Oswald as part of a larger 'communist conspiracy' and the post assasination cover up protraying Oswald as a lone assassin, don't tally up, is because the conspiracy and the coverup were two separate plots carried out by two different groups.
Using many recently available declassified Government documents, Larry explains how evidence we see today emanating from the anti castro cuban exiles intended to set Oswald up as a 'Pro- Castro' sympathiser and lay the blame for the assassination at Fidel Castro's door, but the official Government stance as propagated by the Warren Commission and President Johnson, was intended to obliterate any idea of conspiracy and portray Oswald as a 'lone assassin.'
Larry also includes in his study of the assassination information on a character not often mentioned in the hundeds of books written on the case: the specialist in covert black ops' David Morales, and adds valuable information on this man, to that written by researcher Gaeton Fonzi in 'The Last Investigation.'
I would urge any serious student of the assassination to read Larry's book as it contains a wealth of information. Larry gives a detailed insight into the anti castro cuban exile community and their activities in the run up to the assasination. He sums up very well for a reader such as myself who was not alive at the time, the ongoing atmosphere surrounding the exile community's activities to free Cuba of Castro and their hatred of Kennedy for the Bay of Pigs incident and the participation of the CIA.
Having had the opportunity to hear the author give presentations on his work in person, I can say that larry's research is outstanding and he never makes a statement he cannot back up with evidence.
As an addition to the book, the author has also made available a website which includes further information and documentation referred to in the book which the reader can access free of charge.
All in all, a book that is well worth the read!

That Mr. Hancock is a dedicated JFK researcher can not be disputed. However, John Martino, the lead character in this work, isn't the only person who had foreknowledge of the forthcoming JFK hit and some might rightfully consider it to be a 'stretch' to conclude that anti-Castro elements set up Lee Harvey Oswald as the patsy as claimed within this work.

Many in the mob knew the hit was coming. Among them was Santo Trafficante, the Tampa mob boss. Also an extreme "right-winger," Jospeh Milteer, was taped by a Miami police informant wherein he indicated JFK would be hit when he 'came south.' An FBI 'airtel' sent only days before the JFK murder indicated an attempt would be made on JFK in Dallas, ad infinitum. One has to ask how would all of the foregoing entities learn that the anti-Castro people were setting up Oswald as the patsy in a forthcoming JFK murder?

Oswald (and/or an Oswald look-alike) certainly had contacts with anti-Castro elements as evidenced by Mr. Hancock, but Oswald was under control of U.S. intelligence and it is unlikely he would have done anything without their approval including association with anti-Castro people. Evidence exists that Oswald was recruited by U.S. intelligence while in the Marines and was a fake defector to the U.S.S.R. Evidence also exists that Oswald's control while in New Orleans was Guy Banister, retired FBI and reputed ONI and CIA operative (assisted by David Ferrie also with reputed CIA affiliation).

Oswald's distribution of 'Fair Play for Cuba' literature on a New Orleans street, was a contrived event orchestrated by Banister, as the initial literature distributed by Oswald inadverdently contained Banister's office street address. This Oswald action was an effort to establish a legend for him as pro-Castro which would be the among the strongest propaganda evidence initially used against him after the hit. It is probable that Oswald was being set up as a patsy by U.S. intelligence as claimed by Jim Garrison.

With some, Martino claimed Oswald was to have met his contact at the Texas Theater, spirited out of the country and then eliminated. This doesn't make any sense for if Oswald was to be the patsy, he needed to stay in the U.S. and be eliminated.

Further, there were too many things the anti-Castro people could not have controlled, e.g., the parade route, the taking of JFK's body from Parkland at gunpoint, the autopsy, fake Secret Service men on the grassy knoll, ad infinitum, all of which contributed to Oswald being 'a lone, demented gunman.' And certainly they could not have controlled forty plus years of 'Oswald did it' propaganda by the U.S. Government and the mainline media, propaganda that has continually ignored credible evidence of a conspiracy and Oswald's innocence. There is much more to the JFK hit than anti-Castro Cubans, and to be fair, some of which Mr. Hancock reviews within his work.

Mr. Hancock's book is certainly a worthwhile read and provides much valuable information. In particular, his examination of the actions of Lyndon B. Johnson in dictating the Oswald 'lone nut' scenario is solid. Mr. Hancock is to be congratulated on this work.

Seems like all the pieces are now starting to fall into place, forty years after the fact (maybe this should be "facts", as the recently documented presence of David Morales and 2 other CIA officials at the Ambassador Hotel when RFK was assassinated indicates...)

Larry Hancock shows that, at this point in the ongoing, unofficial investigation, there is much to gain in simply reassessing the wealth of data ammassed thru the years, if you do so with a good angle and a sound mind.

Hancock 's research is based on the statements of a number of people who professed knowledge (before and after the fact)of the assassination.

Most of these statements are officially documented, some are put forward by very credible and reliable witnesses and some are harder to substantiate.

Hancock pertinent analysis shows clearly that those statements in fact can all be traced back to a group of specific individuals, all formal or informal members of the "Secret War Against Castro".If you want names, you'll find them in the book...

Hancock also shows,interestingly,that the same goup of people is also very active in the "Oswald-as-a-Communist-Assassin" disinformation campaign that took off almost immediatly.


This analysis, of course is not new in itself: I believe that most serious researchers of the case have come, separately, to the same conclusions, just like I did.

The fact, crucial in order to make sense of the ballistic and medical "evidence" (most of it self-contradictory) in the record, is also to understand that those who planned and executed the shooting did have different motives and agenda than those who initated the cover up.
Though Hancock does broach the subject,I think it can be developped further, most notably the hypothesis of a manipulation of the Exiles themselves, while they were busy manipulating Oswald to their own ends.
That will be my only, albeit very slight, critic of the book....


But Hancock's book is precious in putting together for the first time all the information pertaining to this aspect of the case, and sheding new light on some minute, but crucial, details.

It is also well written, and hard to put down, even if you are a seasoned afficionado of the case, whom I happen to be

In the end, the case he makes is compelling.
And that's an understatement....

I very highly recommand as a companion book "JFK: The Cuba Files" by fabian Escalante.
Escalante was head of Cuban security in charge of penetrating the Exiles groups, to prevent sabotage and assassinations attempts.

The very efficient Cuban services were in fact infiltrating and spying on the same group of people that we find, coincidentally, in Hancock's research.It is a vital reference index for names and activities of Exiles in the war against Castro

I don't think it a coincidence that the Cuban security were able to collect information (including a statement by a self-admitted participant)
indicating those same people were involved in the killing of JFK...

Larry Hancock, like Dick Russell before him (in The Man Who Knew Too Much), has brought us closer to the truth about the murder of JFK. Major publishing companies should be ashamed of themselves for not clamoring to publish this book, which takes the revelations of anti-Castro activist John Martino as a starting point. Building upon an analysis of Martino's statements (as recorded in House Assassinations Committee materials), Hancock takes us step-by-step through the key events and major players (most of them anyway). Hancock provides a significant amount of important material not covered in any other book, from major points such as a possible identification of "dark complected man" to minor points such as the treatment of Jack Ruby by MKULTRA alumnus Dr. Louis West (a point I've seen at the Archives but never published to my knowledge) and the recent activities of Bernardo de Torres. In addition, Hancock provides an excellent analysis of ideas not entirely new, such as that Oswald was duped by a "false flag" operation by anti-Castro operatives. In my opinion the only major mistake that may have been made in this book is that it may underestimate the role Oswald actually played that day in Dallas (Oswald was likely a conspirator as well as the patsy and not merely a patsy). But that is a point no one can be sure about. Hancock tries to stick to the facts, and does a fantastic job in laying out what is now knowable. The final puzzle, when it is totally put together, will contain many pieces found in this book. The five star rating isn't really sufficient to state how highly I recommend this book.

Dangerously Intelligible? I mean for the people who participated in the conspiracy! There is nothing sharp-edged about the author's presentation of the facts. I have never read a book that is so calm and evenhanded in its tone and manner in which it analyzes the data. That is probably why Lone Nutters will never want to debate Larrry Hancock on radio, TV, or Gutenberg's press.

It is amazingly clear. It is probably the Tenth Book I have read on the Assassination, and I wish that I had read it first. If you are thinking of recommending a book to a novice it should be this one.

Its amazing that I could recommend it to a novice given the stunning amount of new information gleaned from the very latest research. How one can integrate this new info with the older background narrative so clearly is beyond me (as well as Joan Mellon and Lamar Waldron).

The complex interrelationships between JM-WAVE, Langley , Hoover and the local FBI offices are-- as they recommend to novelists-- shown not told. Nowhere did I get the sense from Ultimate Sacrifice of the writer protesting too much (mob did it , mob did it). Rather, Larry shows the complex interelationships between Organized Crime and CIA in a clear way that, in my reading, does not make JM-WAVE'S denial nearly as plausible as it seems in Waldrons' doorstopper.

The bulleted point-sumaries at the end of each chapter help the new reader structure the potentially mind-boggeling amount of detail. It is perhaps the one book that is at once so advanced and also so accessible to new students of the assassination. No praise can be too high.

WOW! This is a must have for anyone interested in the Kennedy assassination. The research and material presented here is just mind blowing and along with wonderful photographic pages, this book will become a necessary foundation in assassination study. Larry Hancock explores the murky world of CIA rogues and assets and tracks many suspicious Cuban exiles in the lead-up to the assassination itself. Past intrigue and government backed covert operations are supported with extensive documentation and photographic collages which are then given vital context to a President's murder. The text is easy to read and comprehend as Hancock skilfully guides us through a mire of double dealing and conspiracy. This book gets us right to the heart of what really went down that terrible day in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. Essential reading indeed.