What I'm Reading - The Bookmaker

I just finished reading a book called, "The Bookmaker" last night.  It has left me thinking quite a bit which, to me, is a sign of a good book.

Before I get into my thoughts on the book, I want to give you what Amazon says:

You were right to be suspicious…
It wasn’t Oswald in the book depository. It wasn’t Sirhan Sirhan in the Ambassador kitchen. It wasn’t a massive conspiracy or government cover-up. It was one man with one agenda. For small-time Huntington Beach bookmaker and wanna-be writer Trent Oster, it all started with a chance to collect a debt. Instead he’s offered an opportunity of a lifetime. Days later he finds himself on a sprawling southern estate in Oxford Mississippi, balancing the roles of houseguest and biographer for town legend Preston Walker—the man responsible for the most controversial murders in American history; and he’s finally ready to talk. 

Anything that has to do with the Kennedy assassination always catches my attention.  This promised to be an interesting look at that, another take on what "might" have happened.  So I snatched it up.

Let me start by saying that this book deals with a lot of moral issues.  You have our hero who is a bookmaker and goes into detail on the sports booking world.  His roommate and best friend sells pot.  And then you have our antagonist, Preston Walker, who claims to be a serial killer.  I was almost put off on the book when I ran into the first two; the last thing I wanted to do was read a book about a couple of guys who make their living outside of the law.  But the promised plot had me pushing on and I'm pretty glad I did.

I don't want to give much away, however, the entire book, from the first to the last page, is all about moral issues and how you would handle them.  If you're okay with sports betting and pot, how many laws would you be willing to overlook?  Is murder okay if there was a good reason behind it?  Would you overlook a murder to keep your happiness, to maintain the status quo? 

I finished this book late last night and have been thinking about it ever since.  The Bookmaker is really a good book.  You have to be ready to deal with issues that most of us aren't comfortable with, however, the glimpses into the history of the Kennedy family and the overall theme of the book make it worthwhile to me.  If you decide to give it a try, I'd love to hear your thoughts.