Accused (Kindle Single) [Kindle Edition]

Paul Alexander (Author)

Book Description

Paul Alexander, the bestselling author of the Kindle Single Murdered, introduces us to Tommy Harris, the 14-year veteran of the Houston Police force, his fight with a man outside a bar, a death, and the ensuing homicide trial. The district attorney had boasted, "Anyone can convict a guilty person, but it takes someone really good to convict an innocent one." Did Harris apply a naked choke-hold, or did the district attorney and his forensics team set up Harris?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Accused begins on the eve of the Fourth of July, 2009, when an off-duty Houston police officer, Tommy Harris, was enjoying a drink at a bar in a neighboring county. Around closing time, Harris escorted a bartender to her car. While watching her drive off, a man in the parking lot threw an unprovoked punch at him. Harris wrapped the man in a bear hug and wrestled him to the ground. The man, a 30-year-old Nigerian immigrant, died within minutes. Deeply distraught over the man’s death, Harris’s agony was just beginning. The overly zealous District Attorney of Fort Bend County, Texas, seized on the case—publicizing it and prosecuting it with the full force of his office--in an attempt to win his upcoming bid for re-election. This Kindle Single tells the story of a man caught between a bungled police investigation and a zealous District Attorney. Paul Alexander’s writing is suspenseful and wonderfully visual as he guides readers deftly through the initial altercation, the police investigation, the autopsy, cause-of-death speculation, legal wrangling, and the stunning courtroom trial. --Paul Diamond

Product Details

• File Size: 315 KB
• Print Length: 75 pages
• Publisher: RosettaBooks (July 6, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005BE3L2E
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,462 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #27 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Page-turning Narratives
  • #30 in Kindle Store > Kindle Singles > Reporting

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars He was just trying to do the right thing. July 10, 2011

By Police Supporter--Real Police supporter!

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This guy did what any good man, police officer or not, would have done. The sad thing is that from the beginning, the "professionals" were not doing a good investigation and made decisions based on their feelings instead of taking a step back and sticking to the facts. Some blame goes to the officers on the scene, some goes to the Detective Virata, a lot goes to the medical examiner, Dr Mary Anzalone(she is another story completely), and a lot goes to the Ft Bend County DA's office, including Amanda Bolin and most notably the head DA John Healey. This book does a great job of laying out the facts as presented, and it shows the holes in the prosecutions case from the very beginning.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars No Good Deed Goes Unpunished July 9, 2011

By Mayday

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

In a day and age where the news constantly barages us with stories depicting the worst evidence of man's inhumanity to man, a Good Samaritan, just trying to help and do the right thing, gets his feet held to the fire by people in power. As the saying goes, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." This is a cautionary tale of how any one of us could get swept up in the system and destroyed.

I couldn't stop reading this. I was moved to tears. I can't stop thinking about it. This story will make you think. I hope it will be a thorn in the conscience of people empowered to right wrongs where they exist.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting and timely July 11, 2011

By Martin B. Erdheim

Format:Kindle Edition

I devote a good deal of time to reading books on my kindle, yet this is only the second book about which I've written such a review.

This is non-fiction which reads as fiction. It speaks to cliche, "I couldn't put it down". Actually, I didn't until I was finished. You won't either. I hope I clicked the correct button and gave it 5 stars.

More About the Author

Paul Alexander has published eight books of nonfiction: Ariel Ascending: Writings About Sylvia Plath; Rough Magic, a biography of Plath; Boulevard of Broken Dreams: The Life, Times, and Legend of James Dean, the bestseller that has been published in 10 countries; Death and Disaster: The Rise of the Warhol Empire and the Race For Andy's Millions; Man of the People: The Life of John McCain; The Candidate, a chronicle of John Kerry's presidential campaign; and Machiavelli's Shadow: The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove. He is also the author of the bestselling Kindle Singles Murdered, Accused, and Homicidal.

A former reporter for Time, Alexander has published journalism in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, New York, The Nation, The Village Voice, Salon, Worth, The New York Observer, George, Cosmopolitan, More, Interview, ARTnews, Mirabella, Premiere, Out, The Advocate, Travel & Leisure, The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Biography, Men's Journal, Best Life, The New York Review of Books, The Daily Beast, and Rolling Stone.

Shane Salerno's forthcoming feature documentary Salinger is based on Alexander's biography of J.D. Salinger. Alexander is the author of the plays Strangers in the Land of Canaan and Edge, which he directed. Developed at The Actors Studio, Edge, the critically acclaimed one-woman play about Sylvia Plath, ran in New York, London, Los Angeles, among other cities. Edge toured Australia and New Zealand and enjoyed a second run in New York. In all, Torn performed Edge 400 times. Alexander is also the director of Brothers in Arms, a documentary film about John Kerry and Vietnam (First Run Features).

A graduate of The University of Alabama and The Writers' Workshop at The University of Iowa, Alexander is a member of the Authors Guild and PEN American Center. In the fall of 2002, he was a Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He lives in New York City.