Publication Date: March 18, 2025
As we approach the 50th anniversary of Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance on that sultry afternoon in July 1975, Lew Paper has crafted a fast-paced historical thriller which raises new questions about the reasons for the abduction.
A former FBI Special Agent-turned-private investigator is asked by a Mafia contact to follow Hoffa in the weeks before his disappearance. Eleven years later the investigator’s son embarks on a terrifying odyssey to determine whether the investigator’s untimely death on a sailboat ten years earlier was, as the coroner determined, an accident or whether it reflected the Mafia’s long-time practice of eliminating witnesses to its crimes. In a story filled with unexpected twists and turns, the book focuses on the many forces involved in Hoffa’s disappearance – Bobby Kennedy’s vendetta against Hoffa when he was Attorney General, President Richard Nixon’s bid for re-election in 1972, and, last but not least, the Mafia.
One of the questions that has stumped the United States for almost half a century pertains to the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the former Teamsters president.
Author Lew Paper tests an innovative theory in Legacy of Lies, an historical thriller that raises new questions about Hoffa’s abduction. He takes readers back to 1975 to lay the groundwork before fast-forwarding 11 years.
While the author uses a fictional character named Sam Silver in the role of the former FBI agent turned private investigator, the premise of Silver witnessing Hoffa get into a car with three men, all of whom Silver knew from his work at the FBI, is intriguing. It takes on more structure when Silver opts against contacting the FBI because of the possible Mafia retribution.
To support this framework, the author then moves to 1986 and focuses on Max Silver, Sam’s son. It’s not until he receives a letter that he understands his father’s investigation and begins questioning whether Sam’s boating death was an accident.
The author incorporates plenty of historical documentation to support the storyline, but it can be challenging to wade through all of it. However, the political aspect adds to the complexity. Ultimately, the story provides ample documentation to support the “what if” concept.
Legacy of Lies tackles one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century and illuminates the facts for a new generation of readers.
Lew Paper is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the author of six previous books, including In the Cauldron: Terror, Tension, and the American Ambassador’s Struggle to Avoid Pearl Harbor and Perfect: Don Larsen’s Miraculous World Series Game and the Men Who Made It Happen. His articles and book reviews have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic and other periodicals.
