Did the 9/11 Commission do a good job investigating the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01? Well, of course not, otherwise we wouldn’t even be mentioning it here. At least, that is the contention of Philip Shenon, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, who writes in his new book, The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation, that the commission failed in many ways.

That commission chairman Philip Zelikow met often with Karl Rove and took steps to shield President Bush and Condoleezza Rice from scrutiny. Few people may remember that Zelikow was part of Bush’s transition team in 2001, and also that Zelikow was the principal author of a White House strategy memo that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq.

That the commission failed to search the terrorism archives of the National Security Agency.

That the commission failed to support investigations into the connections between the terrorists and the Saudi Arabian government.

He also raises questions about a number of issues that have received little publicity, including Arab expatriates living in Southern California who helped the hijackers and what else might be in NSA archives that the commission did not research.

Also new in nonfiction is My Father’s Heart by Steve McKee, about a young man who decides he doesn’t want to die of heart disease like his father and so doesn’t do what his Dad did — no exercise, smoking and poor eating habits. Unfortunately, at 52, after years of exercise and healthy living, he discovered that he, too, has heart disease. I just scanned the book and it looks fairly heart wrenching and should affect quite a few people, as 1.2 million Americans have heart attacks every year.