Backed by the "Highest Authority"
within the U.S. Government, CIA agent Jim Halloway
and a group of generals within the Vietnamese Armed
Forces overthrow President Diem in a violent coup that ends with the murders of Diem and his brother.
"Hearts and Minds"
Iraq Vs. Vietnam- From regime change and the toppling of a symbolic statue to the abuse of detained insurgents, this is the story for comparison. Based on true events of Vietnam, 1963, The Messenger of Saigon is the story of a CIA agent sent to protect President Ngo Dinh Diem from dissidents within his own military. The mission dramatically changes during the summer of 1963 when Buddhist protests and riots against Diem spiral out of control and Vietnam becomes a public relations disaster for the United States.
"This thrilling, atmospheric, and historically authentic novel captures well the nature of the CIA's involvement in the 1963 crisis in Vietnam that led to the deposition and assassination of President Diem."
- Melvin Small, Distinguished Professor of History at Wayne State University and author of Johnson, Nixon, and the Doves and Antiwarriors.
