Jack's Widow

In this shameless thriller, British tabloid journalist Pollard, the author of the biography Jackie, presents Jackie Kennedy as na\xEFve and insecure even before she's rocked by JFK's assassination, her family's abrupt departure from the White House and the growing revelations about her late husband's dalliances. As Jackie struggles to regain her balance, the suicide of Marilyn Monroe (Pollard transposes this event to after JFK's death) sets off a new round of revelations. The CIA cynically exploits Jackie, using her as a source for intelligence gathered during her dinner parties and even encouraging her involvement with Aristotle Onassis in hopes of forwarding plans of their own. A flimsy plot develops only after the author has squeezed dry Jackie's extended period of mourning. Readers who enjoy historical personages cast in an unflattering, unsavory or unappealing light will be most rewarded.