Washington Reads: June Edition

The Brilliant Disaster
In The Brilliant Disaster, a vivid and fleet-footed account of the fiasco, Washington native Jim Rasenberger lifts a modicum of blame from Allen Dulles’s CIA and places it on the shoulders of President John F. Kennedy, whose lowballing of Castro’s defenses, paired with a well-intentioned unwillingness to involve US forces, sabotaged the invasion.

Read a full review of The Brilliant Disaster.

Mrs. Mattingly’s Miracle
Nancy Lusignan Schultz’s recounting of the "miraculous" recovery of Ann Carbery Mattingly's advanced breast cancer and of the anti-fanatical sentiment it exacerbated on the East Coast feels flimsy and scattershot in places but succeeds at infusing Washington’s ragtag days with an aura of supernatural intrigue and makes for a fine field guide to local Catholic lore.

Read a full review of Mrs. Mattingly’s Miracle.

The President’s Vampire
Christopher Farnsworth’s follow-up to last year’s Blood Oath opens with Nathaniel Cade—the patriotic vampire charged with guarding every president since Abraham Lincoln—duking it out with Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. No, this book won’t raise your IQ or provide much food for thought, but it's penned by an author who clearly had a blast writing it. For readers, that makes for a treat.

Read a full review of The President’s Vampire.

These reviews appear in the June 2011 issue of The Washingtonian.

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Drew Bratcher