Title: Spy on a Little Black Dress
Review: Spy
in a Little Black Dress is a fun take on history. Jacqueline Bouvier at the age of 21 wrote a
letter that is now in the Kennedy Library and it mentions that she was unable
to accept a job offer with Vogue because she had already accepted a job with
the newly formed CIA. From this letter
Maxine Kenneth has created a spy adventure novel that has Jackie Kennedy as the
star. The book creates a tale of what
could have happened to Jackie Bouvier while she was working for the CIA and
before marrying the handsome Senator Jack Kennedy. The book is delightful with its different
twist and turns and when she meets up with Jack Kennedy, in the most unlikely
places.
The author takes a
little known piece of history and creates a world of international espionage
using one of the most famous first ladies of our time. It’s a very cute and fun tale with moments of
that could have happened and while reading the book I found myself giggling
knowing I would have made the same mistakes she made on her second assignment
working for the CIA.
Spy in a little
black dress is the second book and second assignment for Jackie Bouvier. She is assigned to go to The Havana Cuba and
meet with a revolutionary solider name Fidel Castro. Before she is even able to meet with Castro
she is being chased by East Germans because of a treasure map she is looking
into.
In Washington DC
Jackie meets up with a young actress Grace Kelly who helps her out of a tight
squeeze with the East Germans Jackie has labeled as the three stooges. Once
Jackie arrives in Cuba she is kidnapped by the same men and almost feed to some
nasty alligators, but it is only her quick thinking and her endless training
that keeps Jackie from becoming dinner. All the while Jackie has many dress
changes one more beautiful than the next.
While in Cuba she is assigned to meet Castro
but when the first meeting doesn't go to plan Jackie soon finds herself dancing
with Frank Sinatra and almost runs into Jack Kennedy, all in a small country
that is ready to rebel against the tyrant governor of the land.
The author keeps
the story light and fun with adding bits of history in with all the fiction.
The endless twist and turns make for a fun pool side read but in the end the
book had me wishing I didn't know so much about this time in history and only
wish the story Spy in a Little Black Dress was the true story of Jackie
Kennedy.
I would love to
know what she did when she worked for the CIA. Was she an agent or a
secretary? I guess that part of history we
will never know the truth.
This book is a
clean read and something I would allow my teenager to read.
Thank Heidi for
this review.
Publisher: Published October 2nd 2012 by Grand CentralPublishing
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 352
ISBN: 9780446567428
Quick Review: 4 out of 5 stars
Synopsis: Inspired by an actual
letter in the John F. Kennedy Library written by Jackie and revealing her job
offer from the newly formed CIA
When young Jackie Bouvier receives her second assignment
from the CIA, she knows it will go better than her first. She managed to
survive the Paris job-while looking her best in Givenchy, no less-but now she's
completed her official CIA training. So she's excited to show her boss exactly
what she can do for her country.
Her new mission: Go undercover in sultry Havana and
investigate a young revolutionary named Fidel Castro. But before Jackie can
infiltrate the communist cabal, she's in past her hemline in danger. In another
exciting adventure, she colludes with Grace Kelly, dances with Frank Sinatra,
and flirts with an up-and-coming congressman from Massachusetts.
As the international intrigue escalates, Jackie must use all
her finely honed skills to stay ahead of her enemies . . . and make sure spying
never goes out of fashion.
Author Biography: Maxine Kenneth is the writing team of Maxine Schnall and Ken
Salikof
Ken says:
I am an award-winning screenwriter (for
Ernest Hemingway Slept Here) turned novelist. I am also a special contributor
to the New York Daily News, write book reviews and articles for Publishers
Weekly, am a judge for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition, and
have worked as a studio reader, manuscript editor for bestselling authors and
screenwriting consultant. Along with a collaborator, I have embarked on a
series of novels about the young Jackie Bouvier, long before she was Mrs. JFK
and the First Lady of the Country. Based on a 1951 letter in the JFK Library
revealing her possible employment with the newly formed Central Intelligence
Agency, I have imagined Jackie as a neophyte CIA agent in the early fifties,
having glamorous, dangerous adventures in Paris, Havana and other exciting
locations. The next book in the series, Spy in a Little Black Dress will be
published by Grand Central Publishing on October 2nd (with a really spectacular
cover), and the first one, Paris to Die For, can still be found on bookstore
shelves. Both, of course, are available as ebooks. The novels have been an
absolute joy to write and I hope the reader will have a similar experience
reading about Jackie at a pivotal but little written about moment in her life.
Maxine says:
I started writing back in the 60s with
my first book, MY HUSBAND THE DOCTOR, chronicling the funny side of being
married to an ob-gyn. Next came THE BROADBELTERS, my racy novel about the soft
porn book biz, optioned for films by Stanley Kubrick. After my marriage broke
up and I founded a hotline called Wives Self Help, my book based on the hotline
calls, YOUR MARRIAGE, was published. Excerpts printed in Woman's Day led to my
becoming a contributing editor with the magazine and the host of my own CBS
daily radio show. In 1982, Clarkson Potter published my book LIMITS: A SEARCH
FOR NEW VALUES, a study of the cultural effects of the sexual revolution, which
was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. After I remarried, my book, EVERY WOMAN CAN
BE ADORED established my reputation as a relationship guru and led to six appearances
on Oprah. In 1985, my younger daughter Rona, a beautiful, gifted, award-winning
journalist was seriously brain-injured in a car accident caused by a drunk
driver. Her courageous battle to reestablish her life after this tragedy and
hundreds of stories of other people who came back from losses large and small
inspired my book WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER (Perseus, 2002;
United Kingdom, Spain, Taiwan, Korea, and Lebanon).
After answering Ken Salikof's ad in
Craig's List seeking a collaborator, I teamed up with him to write PARIS TO DIE
FOR, the first in a series of spy novels with Jackie Kennedy as an unofficial
CIA agent. The idea was inspired by an authentic letter written by 21-year-old
Jacqueline Bouvier in the JFK Library stating that the CIA had offered her a
job and she was going to take it. From there, our imaginations were off and
running--and so was a whole new Jackie to 1950s Paris for an adventure filled
with death-defying exploits, foreign intrigue, romance, and hobnobbing with
famous celebrities. Grand Central published the book on July 28, Jackie's
birthday. HAVANA TO DIE FOR is slated for 2012.
Other Reviews: Criminal Element, NY Daily News, Booking Mama
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