The shooting of Charlie Kirk became an unlikely trend for Amazon books on Thursday — with numerous offerings going viral within a matter of hours. A now-deleted book on the e-commerce site also sparked conspiracy theories after eagle-eyed netizens noted it was ‘published’ a day before the attack. The e-book provided a faithful recounting of the setting and attack before diverging drastically to claim Kirk had survived.
Charlie Kirk was shot dead during an event in Utah on September 10 — with no suspects or clear motives announced after two days of investigation. Authorities have so far uncovered several clues, the possible murder weapon and received thousands of leads from civilians. Federal investigators and state officials released visuals of the possible suspect on Thursday and announced a $100,000 reward for any relevant information.
What did the book say?
The now-deleted book listing claimed to provide an “in-depth, humanized account of the shooting, the immediate aftermath, and the ripple effects that reached far beyond Utah”. It also assured the inclusion of “detailed reporting, firsthand testimonies and careful analysis” of the tragedy — none of which were available at the time of publication. A somewhat more alarming detail was the rather erroneous claim that Kirk had survived the shooting and remained “stable” in the hospital.
“The sight of the conservative commentator being wheeled into an ambulance, pale but alive, became one of the most shared images of the day. Doctors later confirmed that Kirk had been struck in the neck. The injury was serious but not immediately fatal…” the book insisted.
The 69-page book was published by ‘Anastasia J Casey’ and received five one-star reviews expressing confusion before being taken down by Amazon. Reports quoting the company have since cited a technical issue for the ‘early’ publishing date.
Several users have insisted that the original published date of e-books can be changed at a later time. Others claimed that writers could also ‘hold’ a date for publication of something completely different and change it after self-publication. The assertions were hotly contested by others on social — many of whom shared personal experiences to underscore their point.
“Can’t take this off my phone. I have three number-one best-selling books that were self-published on Amazon. It takes 72 hours to review. Each takes the full 72 hours,” wrote one X user.
“Remember it needs to be submitted three to 10 days before it is approved. It was cleared on the 9th…then accessible a day before the event? Knowing that, what do you think is going on?” asked another.
Amazon Kindle policies however suggest that it would be impossible to publish a book on September 10 and then backdate it by a day. The company has cited technical issues for the bizarre detail and insisted that the book was published on the afternoon of September 10.
AI written books?
Numerous book listings had surfaced on Amazon almost immediately after the killing — prompting additional backlash over AI writing.
“This “book” is a bunch of AI slop, and if Amazon had any commitment to quality on their platform (hint: they don’t), garbage like this would never be available for unsuspecting people to waste their money on,” fumed one user.