Review of 'Bombshell:The Night Bobby Kennedy Killed Marilyn Monroe' - Mike Rothmiller and Douglas Thompson

Like many people, I am fascinated by the glamour and mystique of Marilyn Monroe. I love her films, her comedic charm and her sex appeal. But actually, what I have always admired about her was her ability to project that confidence when it was often far from how she felt. This book doesn't delve too much into that aspect of her life, though the events in the weekend before her death, if true, are very telling.

I remember on first learning about Monroe's affair with JFK, that it sounded terribly glamorous, if a little clichéd - the actress and the President - but if all the claims in this book are true, it goes far beyond cliché and into the realms of a fictional thriller novel. The more I read about the Kennedys, the more I realise quite how ruthless the family was in its pursuit of political fame and glory and the less I buy into the legacy of JFK. As a child, I thought he was one of the good guys - helping move American along the road to de-segregation and into a more modern, tolerant society. Actually, this couldn't be further from the truth. Again assuming the claims in the book are accurate, JFK's main priority wasn't what he could do for his country, but rather what other people could do for him. And if, like Marilyn, anyone got in the way, they could easily be got rid of one way or another.

The other thing that really strikes me about this book is quite how corrupt the LAPD was. The idea that there was a whole section of secret files and a branch of the law enforcement which wasn't bound by any of the normal rules is, quite frankly, terrifying. The only thing scarier is how believeable this book is. I went into it a little bit sceptical, thinking it was going to be a conspiracy theory type read. However, even though there were points where I thought there were other possible explanations for events, overall, this has an all too-familiar ring of truth to it. Now, it may be because it ties in with both the conspiracy theories and my own desire for Monroe's death to have been something more than simply a tragic accident. Nevertheless, it's a good read and certainly provides a lot of food for thought.