Deadly Force

A Police Shooting and My Family's Search for the Truth

By: Lawrence O'Donnell

Narrated by: Lawrence O'Donnell

Featuring a new preface and afterword by the author.

From the host of MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, the riveting story of a 1975 police shooting of an unarmed black man in Boston—one of the first to draw national headlines—and the dramatic investigation and court case that followed.

On a rainy winter night, James Bowden, Jr. left his mother’s house in Roxbury after a visit. As he guided his Buick out of his parking spot, an unmarked police car suddenly blocked his path. Two undercover officers sprang out, running toward his car. Shots were fired, and Bowden slumped over the wheel. Moments later, he was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital. The police argued that they had fired in self-defense, claiming that Bowden was an armed robbery suspect and that after they had ordered him to stop, he had fired a shot at one of them. And multiple internal investigations by the Boston Police Department exonerated the officers involved.

But Patricia Bowden, James’s widow, knew better. “The truth will come out,” she said at her husband’s funeral. She sought a lawyer willing to take on the Boston Police Department and finally found one in Lawrence F. O’Donnell, the author’s father, a man whose past, unbeknownst to Patricia Bowden, made him the only man in town who could not refuse her case. O’Donnell embarked on a highly contentious three-year battle with the Boston Police Department to win justice for James Bowden.

More timely now than ever, Deadly Force is a powerful indictment of police misconduct, a reminder of this issue’s long, tortured history and of how far we still have to go.

Wow. I couldn’t put this down awesome book

Reads
Like an amazing fiction thriller
this book is not to be missed

Very much enjoyed having it read by the author

I didnt know what to expect

this is a pretty insightful perspective into the racial conflict in the mid-70s in Boston really enjoyed that angle from the lawyer's perspective

Larry O'Donnell! At his best, as always.

Love everything this man does and says. He doesn't disappoint. I love his openess about the racism in his home town. I was raised Catholic in an Irish Catholic neighborhood in Chicago, IL's south side. I was always amazed at how racist our extended family and friends were. Thank God for my mom and dad who absolutely refused to hear any tinges of racism in us, their five children. My mom went the extra mile and would invite people she knew we would not meet in our regular lives. They were tradespeople, teachers, musicians, writers and we had them for Sunday dinner. Mostly, they were people of color. We were so lucky that our mom taught us to see the people, not the color.

When will the killing and lying end?

George Floyd's story 40+ years ago. Almost nothing has changed. Heartbreaking. This is the story of James Bowden who was murdered by the Boston police. Highly recommend, especially the audiobook read by the author and member of the legal team who obtained justice for Patricia Bowden and her 2 children.

Meticulous analysis of. A coverup

Superb narration: clear, engagingly varied inflection, rhythm, and pace.

Exhaustively detailed story about a civil rights law suit against Boston Police Department.