'The mess.
That's what he was to them.
Not Jack Kennedy, failed choirboy; not the Black Sheep, or the kid lost in his brother Joe's light; not the best friend Kick would ever have; not the wiry skeleton incandescent with energy, or the crack sailor tipping his keel in Nantucket Sound; not Roosevelt's man with his own reckless brand of guts. Just the mess.'

I had no idea what to expect from a novel pitching a young JFK as a pre-war spy for FDR in Europe, but I was thoroughly entertained throughout! For a start, the fiction, dramatic and completely implausible in places, is supported by fact - Jack really did travel through Europe in 1939, while his family were still in London. Who knows what he really did while he was there?

Okay, so we all know that he was never a junior James Bond, but Francine Mathews is very convincing! And she seems to have a small crush on JFK too, which helps. The plot is a rollicking undercover adventure, complete with femme fatales, murder and secret coding machines, but I loved reading about Jack's home life more, and his close bond with sister Kick. We get a good sense of the real Jack, sickly and scruffy, jealous of his brother Joe, but also wonderfully charming and ever curious. He might just have made a great spy at that, recklessly courting danger while dodging the 'curtain of Boredom or Death'.

Good fun, and a chance to learn more about JFK's early years without reading yet another biography (which I also like to do!) ( )

It was difficult to wrap my head around this. I love historical fiction, but fiction set in a real historical situation... this took a leap of faith (although I'd believe SOME of it if you told me it was true). ( )

This book was weird for me. I loved the historical fiction aspects of it but at times it also got boring. It was also hard for me to picture JFK as a spy for some reason. But it was actually a good book, the plot just got a little confusing sometimes. ( )

Fairly fast-paced if far-fetched spy novel. ( )

This book was excellent! A plausible look into JFK's younger years. It's odd to think of former presidents when they were around my age, but it offered a really interesting glimpse into the life of the "second son".

It had a little bit of espionage... well, ok. A lot of espionage, but not James Bond type stuff. It was all within the realm of plausibility. There was a lot of history, which was one of my favorite things. The romance aspect really tied up some loose ends, although at times, I felt it was a bit too convenient of timing, especially for a book.

I never really knew a lot about JFK to begin with. We didn't really cover him in history class and, even if we did, it would not have been this time in his life. I never would have expected him to be someone with mommy and daddy issues as well as an acute touch phobia. I also underestimated the strength of some of his friendships with his siblings as well as the sibling rivalry with the others. It really is quite a fascinating story. I'm not really one for non-fiction, but this book has inspired me to read JFK's senior thesis if I can get my hands on it.

Definitely a must read for JFK fans and history buffs alike! ( )