Collateral Damage: The Mysterious Deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Kilgallen, and the Ties that Bind Them to Robert Kennedy and the JFK Assassination

I really enjoy Mark Shaw’s research and I love the addition of Marilyn Monroe and RFK’s roles in the Kennedy/Kilgallen story. That being said, I had anticipated this book would talk more about them but most of it was a reorganized version of The Reporter Who Knew Too Much and Denial of Justice. (Not something that would be a problem for new readers, of course, and some repetition is to be expected, but it was a lot of it here.) I hope in the future Marilyn will get a book with the same attention as Dorothy has from this author. Both accounts are so intriguing and Mark Shaw’s dedication to the research and justice is admirable.

Aside from the repetition of the first two books, my other major quip is the amount of jabs taken at Trump. I’m not reading a book about him. He has no relevance to these people whatsoever. I don’t care if you like or hate the man, I just want to read the subject at hand without distracting comments that disrupt the flow of the words. Something to consider.

I am not one for conspiracy theories. Not at all. But after reading Mr. Shaw's books on the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, JFK, and Dorothy Kilgallen, I'm convinced there is a definite connection and that RFK's hatred for the Mafia, and his desire to take them down, set everything in motion.

Mr. Shaw is a very good and thorough researcher, but he's not the greatest writer in the world. (He even admits that himself.) Parts of his books can be redundant. However, if you are willing to wade through the redundancies, you'll find that his research makes sense. And, eventually, you won't mind the redundancies at all.

Mr. Shaw doesn't form opinions out of the blue in this book. He backs up his research with official documents, some of them redacted somewhat, but enough left for us to know what and who they are about. You are free to make up your own mind, of course, but my thinking, with one exception, aligns with Mr. Shaw's.

The only thing I take issue with in Mr. Shaw's books is the fact that Ron Pataky was involved in Dorothy Kilgallen's death. I don't believe he was. I know Mr. Pataky personally and have known him since I was a child. He dated my older sister, and she still considers him a great love. I don't believe he is capable of killing anyone, and even if he is, he was in Columbus, Ohio the night Dorothy died. I have proof of this. Still, I do believe Dorothy was killed, probably by those who recruited and used Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. Dorothy certainly didn't go to bed in her usual manner that night. Her death wasn't accidental. Something untoward took place. One doesn't have to be a researcher to realize that. Same with Marilyn Monroe.

These books are a little wordy. That's the only reason I've deducted one star. To those who say this information has already been presented, yes, much of it has. But Mr. Shaw is the only person whose pulled all three deaths together and connected them and gave us a very plausible reason for, especially, the death of JFK. And, to his credit, Mr. Shaw doesn't try to hide the fact that he used some other books as source material, although he tries to use primary sources all of the time.

Redundant writing aside, these books kept me spellbound once I got into them. I wish Mr. Shaw's research and books would be taken more seriously, and I hope he writes more, and more on this subject, at a later date. As I said, with the exception of Ron Pataky, Mr. Shaw has made a believer out of me, and that's something that isn't easy to do.

When you know the facts the dead can speak. knowing the truths you will know you really cannot trust government.

As I thoroughly enjoyed this author's 2 previous books on Dorothy Kilgallen, of course I wanted to read this one. Mark Shaw shows how the lives (& deaths) of these 3 very famous folks are woven together, providing a chain of evidence that proves conspiracy & coverup.