Publishers Weekly
04/12/2021
Abrams and Fisher follow John Adams Under Fire with a disappointing rehash of the case against nightclub owner Jack Ruby for the killing of JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Since Ruby’s attack on Oswald in a Dallas police station was broadcast on live TV, the major issue at the 1964 trial was Ruby’s state of mind. The prosecution charged him with premeditated homicide, while his defense team, led by flamboyant celebrity defense lawyer Melvin Belli, attempted to convince the jury that Ruby “suffered from a rare form of epilepsy” and had been in a “fugue state” when he shot Oswald. Ruby’s conviction was overturned on appeal, and he died of cancer in 1967 before he could be retried. Despite the subtitle, Abrams and Fisher downplay any evidence contrary to the Warren Commission’s conclusion that both Oswald and Ruby acted alone, and the duelling testimony by expert witnesses over Ruby’s mental state fails to captivate. Tortured prose and awkward embellishments of the trial record don’t help the authors’ cause (“As if he had been hit on the head with his own nonexistent gavel, Judge Brown finally got it”). Readers will consider this a missed opportunity. (June)
From the Publisher
"A fascinating blend of courtroom drama and legal analysis." -The Wall Street Journal
"Clear, straightforward writing and superb research that pays attention to tension as well as humor make this riveting courtroom drama that feels as alive as it did it 1963." -NPR
"Abrams and Fisher mine transcripts and news coverage to dramatize the trial as it unfolded... a bright spotlight on well-worn ground." -Kirkus Reviews
"“An engrossing, lively and expertly crafted courtroom drama filled with colorful characters and having significant resonance for the present.” -The Washington Post
“A fresh, detailed look at Jack Ruby and his trial…. Followers of all things regarding the JFK assassination will be fascinated by this account of one of the most unique trials of the twentieth century.” –Booklist
“Dan Abrams is a favorite author of mine because of his storytelling ability and how he makes history come alive. His latest book recounts the trial of Jack Ruby, who shot Lee Harvey Oswald in cold blood. The trial adds color and texture to the lawyers, courtroom, and historical events.” –Forbes
“Abrams and Fisher’s narrative is crisp and clear, yet able to deliver a riveting courtroom drama for their readers.” –Virginia Gazette
“The book will fascinate nonfiction courtroom drama readers and JFK assassination buffs still looking for a conspiracy link between Oswald and Ruby.” –Library Journal
Praise for Dan Abrams and David Fisher
"Dan Abrams and David Fisher write the heart-pounding pulse of history.”—Diane Sawyer on Lincoln’s Last Trial “Abrams and Fisher do a superb job of clearly presenting the issues in this remarkable and intensely dramatic trial.”—Scott Turow on Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense “Abrams and Fisher are gifted writers, and their prose is neither overly spare nor showy; they're clearly fascinated by the trial, and their enthusiasm for their subject matter shows.”—NPR on Theodore Roosevelt for the Defense "The authors do a remarkable job of spinning the court transcripts into a fascinating tale of intrigue and underscoring the men and the issues at play."—Fredericksburg Book Review on John Adams Under Fire
Library Journal
05/14/2021
On November 24, 1963, two days after Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly assassinated President John F. Kennedy, Jack Ruby, an owner of seedy Dallas night clubs, shot and killed Oswald in front of 10 million stunned TV viewers. ABC News chief legal affairs correspondent Abrams and best-selling author Fisher team up for their fourth book about a forgotten trial (after John Adams Under Fire). The authors pursue the complexities of Ruby's murder trial as tenaciously as did Melvin Belli, the superstar lawyer for Ruby's defense, and Henry Wade, Dallas district attorney and prosecutor. Abrams and Fisher unravel this emotionally charged 14-day trial, in which the eight men and four women of an all-white jury found Ruby guilty. He was given a death sentence by Judge Joseph Brown Sr. An outraged Belli, who had tried to have Ruby found not guilty by reason of insanity, was fired from the case by Ruby's family. On appeal, the VERDICT was overturned, but a new trial scheduled for 1967 was never held because Ruby had died from cancer. VERDICT This account makes the trial accessible and presents Ruby sympathetically, as a man victimized by lawyerly theatrics, a media hungry for a verdict, and a nation grieving over the loss of Kennedy. The book will fascinate nonfiction courtroom drama readers and JFK assassination buffs still looking for a conspiracy link between Oswald and Ruby.—Karl Helicher, formerly with Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, PA
Kirkus Reviews
2021-03-24
Why did Jack Ruby kill Lee Harvey Oswald?
Abrams, chief legal analyst for ABC News, and journalist Fisher team up for their latest investigation, this time focused on the trial of Ruby, accused of killing JFK assassin Oswald. With the shooting broadly televised, Ruby’s defense lawyers—headed by “square-jawed, silver-maned, impeccably groomed Californian Melvin Belli, arguably the most famous lawyer in the country”—hoped to spare Ruby from the death penalty by conjuring an innovative defense. Ruby, Belli asserted, suffered from a rare mental illness—psychomotor variant epilepsy—that resulted in a fugue state, during which he had no control over what he was doing. The authors offer an animated, overwhelmingly detailed examination of the trial, from the family’s decision to hire a high-powered “superstar” lawyer, whose $50,000 fee, the family believed, could be raised by selling Ruby’s story; to the verdict, when jurors unanimously found Ruby guilty and sentenced him to death. Jury selection was predictably contentious. Of 900 people called to serve, 500 showed up, and after 14 days of lawyerly wrangling, a jury consisting of eight men and four women, all White Protestants, was finally seated. Abrams and Fisher mine transcripts and news coverage to dramatize the trial as it unfolded, including witness testimony, lawyers’ objections, the judge’s rulings, and Belli’s repeated calls for a mistrial. Medical experts for the defense and the prosecution offered contradictory theories about Ruby’s mind. The verdict “was simply the end of the beginning”; Belli won an appeal, citing more than 200 errors by the judge. An increasingly paranoid Ruby testified before the Warren Commission about his motivation, denying a prior connection to Oswald. Suffering from cancer, he died in prison, awaiting a new trial. Did Oswald act alone? Did Ruby? Hints of a conspiracy, left unquestioned by the authors, feed into what they contend “a majority of Americans” suspect.
A bright spotlight on well-worn ground.
