It Started Out Quite Simply

by David Kessler

In the wake of the Bill Cosby controversy, this book - though entirely a work of fiction -- takes on a new significance. ----------------- When 19 year old Bethel Newton accuses Elias Claymore of raping her, America is deeply divided. In his youth, Claymore was a Black Power militant and convicted rapist who fled to north Africa. But after undergoing a change of character, he came back to America to serve out his sentence, reinventing himself as a neoconservative TV talk show host. Now, accused once again, Claymore turns to his friend Alex Sedaka. But Alex is pressured by Claymore’s insurers into sharing the defense with Andromeda (“Andi”) Phoenix, whose black lover Gene works at a rape crisis center - straining Andi's loyalties to the limit. Meanwhile Alex must battle his way through DNA evidence, jury tampering and malicious computer hacking, while his girlfriend - TV reporter Martine Yin - is covering the case and putting herself in danger...

266 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 16, 2014

About the author

I was born in the UK and grew up on a council estate in central London.