The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

John Grisham

Mar 2010 · Anchor

About this ebook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime story that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence. • LOOK FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES

“Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly
 
In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the Big Leagues, Ron stumbled, his dreams broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then, on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron’s home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evidence, it led to Ron Williamson. The washed-up small-town hero was charged, tried, and sentenced to death—in a trial littered with lying witnesses and tainted evidence that would shatter a man’s already broken life, and let a true killer go free.
 
Impeccably researched, grippingly told, filled with eleventh-hour drama, The Innocent Man reads like a page-turning legal thriller. It is a book no American can afford to miss.

Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!

Ratings and reviews

Grisham explores non-fiction as he retells the tale of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz. They were wrongly convicted of murder and sent to death row, where they eventually were exonerated 16 years later. Good story but told in a boring fashion. The worst book I've reviewed on this list so far. The story is remarkable, but the way it was told was redundant and shallow. Many times too much detail was used; detail that is boring and useless to the reader. I recommend Grisham stick with fictional stories.

When I read The Innocent Man by John Grisham, I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style. It was written in the third person omniscient view. He was great at showing character development, and it was eminent throughout the whole book. The main character Ron went through a psychological downfall and spun into a mess of alcoholism and drug abuse, which supported the plot. All of the characters in the book were unique, and they all had noticeable characteristics. Ron was mentally unstable, for example. The way he developed the plot was pretty cool too. There were two separate stories which in the end fit together. Another thing I liked about his writing style is how he managed to make the dullest parts of his book into a page turning thriller, which made the book go by faster. The book took place in Asher, Oklahoma, a small suburban town home to the famous Asher A's. The A's were a baseball team where Ron learned to play the game. He was amazing at the sport, and was soon noticed by MLB recruiters. This would lead to the rest of his problems in life. The story moved so slow, but at the same time it flew right by. You can thank Grisham's writing style for that.

Grisham says he could have produced a 5000 page book from all his research. I think I am glad he did not. Yet he did an excellent job editing everything down. All the things that make Grisham such an outstanding legal fiction writer were put into play with this nonfiction book. The result is readable and engaging. A fiction book would have had a tad more punch at the climax. Still, there could not have been a more bittersweet denouement. Do I think anything has improved in the legal system in the three years since the book was written? No. Whenever time and money and sinful egos are issues, the results are likely to be no better.

About the author

John Grisham is the author of forty-seven consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Judge's List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.
 
Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
 
When he's not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.
 
John lives on a farm in central Virginia.