Philip Kerr: The Shot (UK 2020)

From the Publisher:
Darkly imaginative alternative history thriller from the global bestseller and author of the Bernie Gunther thrillers.
America, 1960. In Washington, DC, John F Kennedy has just been elected President. In Havana, Fidel Castro has been in office for a year, and with Cold War tensions rapidly heating up and the Soviets leading the space race, the thought of a Communist leader so close to home is already raising American blood pressure.

Anti-communist fever is rampant in the USA, with a paranoid establishment seeing reds under every bed. Nevertheless, the decision to snuff out the threat of Castro by hiring Tom Jefferson, America's best assassin, to kill him comes from an unusual quarter: the Mafia.

But Jefferson's very skillset that makes him the perfect man for this job also ensures he has no qualms in double crossing his criminal paymasters. Jefferson has no issue with Castro: his preferred target is someone much closer to home...

Philip Kerr: The Shot. Quercus, ISBN: 9781529404166 (August, 2020), 540 p., £8.99.

Philip Kerr: The Shot (USA 2001)

From the Publisher:
The Communist. The Politician. The Hit Man. The Shot.
Tom Jefferson has a job he does very well. He kills for a living. Fresh off the takedown of a Nazi in Buenos Aires, Tom is poised for his next assignment -- the assassination of Fidel Castro. The mob -- led by Sam Giancana -- the CIA, and presidential candidate Jack Kennedy are all in on the plan. Together, they can take Castro out of the picture, put Jack in office, and get Giancana back in the Cuban casino business. And JFK can't say no, because Giancana possesses some very incriminating tapes documenting the politician's sexual escapades. But just as Tom sets his sights on Cuba, he is suddenly exposed to some explosive information that alters his course. Now, the perfect hit is turning into the perfect nightmare for everyone involved, because the word is out: Cool killer Tom is no longer targeting Castro... he's gunning for Kennedy.

From celebrated novelist Philip Kerr comes The Shot, a brilliant pseudo-historical what-if ride through the cultural, political, and social landscape of the 1960s.

Philip Kerr: The Shot. A Thriller. Pocket Books, ISBN: 067104141X (August, 2001), 384 p., $7.99.

Philip Kerr: The Shot (UK 2000)

From the Publisher:
As President Jack Kennedy takes power, the mob decide to succeed where the CIA has failed and take out Fidel Castro. They despatch a hit man, but it soon turns out that he has his own agenda and target - the President. But is the hitman operating alone, or does someone else want Kennedy dead?

Philip Kerr: The Shot. Orion, ISBN: 0752834487 (July, 2000), 456 p., £5.99.

Philip Kerr: The Shot (USA 2000)

From the Publisher:
The year is 1960. Psycho is playing in movie houses. Business is booming at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Club. And on black-and-white television sets, America is watching the Nixon-Kennedy debates. While the world turns, some people share a staggering secret: the Mob, the CIA, and the next president of the Unites States are all in bed together with a hit man and a plan -- to kill Fidel Castro.

Tom Jefferson kills for a living, and he's very good at his job. Fresh off a one-hundred-and-fifty yard takedown of a Nazi in Buenos Aires, Tom has now walked into a room full of wise guys and Company men in Coral Gables. The mobsters want Cuba back. Presidential candidate Jack Kennedy has promised they'll get it. Because Mob boss Sam Giancana has fixed the November election, he knows JFK will be in a position to deliver. And because the Mafia has incriminating tapes of Jack's sexual escapades, they know he'll keep his promise.

Tom is the man they all want for the shooting of Castro. And he couldn't care what his clients' motives are. Tom has a good life, a beautiful wife, and the perfect fall guy for the Castro hit. But as Tom gets ready for his trip to Cuba, a corrupt FBI acquaintance lures him to a safe house where he's exposed to explosive information. Now, the perfect hit is turning into the perfect nightmare for the Mob, the CIA, and the United States. That's because cook, murdering Tom Jefferson has gone missing -- and the word is out that he's no longer gunning for Fidel Castro, but for Jack Kennedy...

From the brilliant mind of Philip Kerr, The Shot is a wild roller-coaster ride through the cultural, political, and social landscape of the 1960s -- a mesmerizing thriller that elevates conspiracy theory into a hugely entertaining art form and sheds an eerie light on the events in 1963 Dallas. With its cast of fictional and real characters -- icons from DiMaggio to Monroe -- Kerr's masterful new novel captures a Cold War, black-and-white society on the verge of a decade of dizzying, confusing Technicolor.

Philip Kerr: The Shot. A Thriller. Atria Books, ISBN: 0671041401 (April, 2000), 374 p., $24.95.

Philip Kerr: The Shot (UK 1999)

From the Publisher:
America 1960.
President John F. Kennedy is set to take power but paranoia about Cuba is running high. Fidel Castro is causing problems for both the government and the mob.

The mob, eager to free up their operations in the Caribbean, are sure they can take out Castro and succeed where the CIA have failed and so enlist the services of Tom Jefferson, America's deadliest assassin and one time US Marine Sniper.

But when Jefferson goes rogue with $150,000 of their money the mob are very keen to track him down and whilst attempting to discover that Jefferson has his own agenda and new target - John F. Kennedy.

Where is Jefferson?
When will he hit?
Is he operating alone or is he in the pay of someone else?
Someone who wants the President dead.
Now only the mob can stop him and save the life of the President elect.

The Shot is a stunning evocation of an America riven by corruption and paranoia but it is also a nailbiting manhunt culminating in a coup de theatre that will leave the reader breathless.

Philip Kerr: The Shot. Orion, ISBN: 0752814443 (November, 1999), 370 p., £12.99.