The US government killed a bunch of pop stars because they were afraid of the influence these people wielded over their fans. Those targeted include Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Michael Hutchence.

That’s the central premise of this book. It’s remarkably unconvincing. I don’t even want to get into the reasons not to believe this crap. Were there curious aspects to the deaths of these musicians? Yeah. Is it possible that the “offical” accounts don’t paint an accurate picture of what happened? Of course! But that doesn’t mean the government killed them. They were drug-addled degenerates for goodness’ sake! Morrison was past the peak of his fame when he died and had been using hard drugs for years. Brian Jones had been kicked out the Rolling Stones when he died. Michael Hutchence was never popular or powerful enough to warrant a government assassination. I’d wager that more people think of him as the hanging wank guy than anything else these days. I really don’t think the government gave a shit about any of these artists.

For the record, I’m not saying I don’t think the government would kill an irritating public figure. (They obviously murdered Charlie Kirk…) It’s just that the reasons presented in this book don’t convince me that they killed any of these lads.

Aside from being unconvincing, this book is also painfully boring. There’s very little context given to many of the events described here, and the author seems to think that lists of facts will be sufficient to engage the reader. There are parts in the book where he goes off on tangents portaying minor characters as shady inviduals, but these tangents do little more than make it more difficult to follow the narrative he’s trying to sell. There are so many names in here that it’s genuinely quite tricky to remember who is who.

Books about conspiracies can be worth reading even if they are boring. If the material is convincing, then the facts speak for themselves. On the other hand, a book of easily dismissed conspiracy theories could still be very enjoyable if it was well written. Unfortunately, The Covert War Against Rock is both boring and unconvincing, and this is an unforgivable combination. Reading this drivel was a waste of my time.