November Road : Nerdy Book Nurse

November Road by Lou Berney follows Frank Guidry, a loyal lieutenant to Carlos Marcello, The Godfather of organized crime in New Orleans. Guidry, being only one man removed from Marcello himself, considers himself untouchable. Guidry runs an errand for Marcello in Dallas, TX and thinks nothing of it. Two weeks later when JFK is assassinated, men close to Carlos start disappearing. Guidry fears he may be next as he has ties to Dallas and starts to worry about his own fate.

Guidry goes on the run, dodging and outsmarting Barone, the hitman that Carlos has sent after him. As Guidry moves across the country looking for an escape, he spots a woman and her two children on the side of the road with a broken down car. Just when Guidry fears he may be out of options, he devises a way to use them to cover his tracks and outrun Barone. What starts as a means of escape gets complicated when Guidry starts to develop feelings for Charlotte and her girls. He starts to imagine a life with them after this leaving him vulnerable and Marcello's men are ruthless in their pursuit. Everyone is expendable and they will stop at nothing to take him out.

I really liked the beginning of this book. I was drawn in fairly quickly and the tempo was great and really pulled me along through the first 150 or so pages. I felt like the second half of the book just really slowed down though and it never built to a true climax. I was hoping it was going to dig a little bit more into JFK's assassination and the mob connections but it took just a little bit of a different route. I liked the book overall and thought it was an interesting take on the suspected involvement of Marcello in JFK's assassination. I just wish the second half was as compelling as the first because the action in the beginning was fantastic. If you like historical fiction and are looking for a fresh perspective on what the story inside the mob involvement might have been when JFK was assassinated, you will enjoy this read.