Having read his latest, I found this story to be unique in many ways. Enlightening us with facts from other assassinations, he provides insights from a father's perspective whose son he's lost connection in spite of all his efforts. The son has lost connection with his purpose and soul and over time becomes very conflicted. It's a 'sad but true' scenario that am sure has impacted countless families. Well written and paced with characters that we can relate with.

An introspective look at a father trying to find out the truth behind his sons arrest for assassinating a beloved presidential candidate. Denial gives way to guilt as the father searches for truth. Could the son he knows also be the man portrayed on the media? A medium paced novel; weaved in are interesting facts about the people who perpetrated other well known assassinations and mass shootings, and their thoughts and actions leading up to those events. Haunting and devastating.

The author is deeply prejudiced toward the news media, depicting them as talking heads with spray-on tans. He repeatedly puts the mass shooting, resulting in several deaths and injuries including the permanent maiming of congress member Gabrielle Giffords as having taken place in Phoenix. It actually happed in Tucson. He names news outlets such as CNN and MSNBC, well accepted left-leaning organizations, not once mentioning Fox News, the more conservative channel which has far more adherents than the other two combined. Easy to see where the author's head is. I am sorry I ever got involved with this lofty tome. I managed to drag my way half-way thru it, suddenly realizing it's nothing but a propaganda piece, aimed at engendering collective guilt on the part of the reader. C'mon people it's fiction. Do we have to put up with this self-aggrandizing exercise on the part of the author? I think not.

I really enjoyed this book and was disappointed when it ended. Hawley intersperced actual historical assassination events with the story about his son. I definitely will read other books by this author.

Worth reading if you can stand the heartbreak....

A good and fast read. I think it gives a fair perspective on what it must feel like to have a child who commits a terrible crime.

I hope to read this book soon

A good read. As it went along I began to feel sorry for the father. He just could not accept his son's confession and kept chasing shadows all the way through the book. He also felt so much guilt because he had not been a big part of his son's life because of divorce. I could feel the father's agony about what was happening to his son and he felt powerless to do anything.

This book started well, and I couldn't put it down. A good book, very moving in parts.

I read this book in a day and a half. It was gripping and yet not forceful in its grip. I was hugely drawn to the author's writing style; over and over his sentences were ones that I had to reread allowing them to roll over my tongue in their perfection. The story line speaks of the loss of connection between child and parent when a marriage dissolves that can occur, especially when distance also is involved. It also starkly reminds us how life can change on a dime and how a seemingly normal person can descend into their own reality with just a few changes in their life. This book makes me want to seek out Noah Hawley's other books.