{"product_id":"the-innocent-hour-nancy-hughes-9781644372098","title":"The Innocent Hour: A Mystery Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e Vietnam veteran Charlie Alderfer, having defied the odds and regained his health in the VA's hospice, goes home to resume his well-earned retirement. He hires Ben, an 18-year-old high school senior, to help with heavier chores. The poor, shy kid is a hard-working athlete whom teachers, coaches, classmates, and their parents adore.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Until--Ben's adoptive parents accuse him of assaulting their ten-year-old bio-daughter. The police and DA, pressured to close 90% of their cases without a trial, lie and terrorize Ben to plead guilty \u003cem\u003eto something\u003c\/em\u003e. In return, they'll \u003cem\u003emake the charges go away\u003c\/em\u003e. Otherwise, he'd go to a super-max prison, labeled a sexual predator. Honest Ben believes them and makes something up about his early childhood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Charlie, shocked to read the guilty plea in the newspaper, extracts the story from Ben, who has no idea why his parents, and the police, would do this to him. Outraged, Charlie takes Ben to a leading polygraph expert who verifies what Charlie knows of his character. But his family, police and DA refuse to back down. And the test isn't admissible in court.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Charlie hires a criminal lawyer who withdraws the guilty plea. But Ben's only defense is his word against a sweet little girl's, which no jury would buy. Outraged by the impending miscarriage of justice, Charlie digs into the case, researching the players, their motives, and holes in the prosecution's case. He's appalled that everyone lies--except Ben. Charlie could not anticipate that his digging would expose Ben and himself to mortal danger from a much larger criminal enterprise in progress. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Nancy Hughes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1644372096\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781644372098\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Black Opal Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/14\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 306\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.25w x 0.64d","brand":"Nancy Hughes","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43942473171199,"sku":"9781644372098","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_48fd0f68-d0c2-4164-9c71-eb34b08e2460.jpg?v=1681492581","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-innocent-hour-nancy-hughes-9781644372098","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}