The Innocent Man
Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
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4.1 • 888 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 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
John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime masterpiece that tells the story of small town justice gone terribly awry.
In the Major League draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the state of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory. Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.
In 1982, a twenty-one-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder. With no physical evidence, the prosecution’s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.
If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.
Don’t miss Framed, John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, co-authored with Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction looks at the chilling true-crime story of two murders that rocked the sleepy town of Ada, Oklahoma in the ’80s—and examines the tragic injustice that ensued. Grisham unravels the case in methodical detail, introducing us to the two men who were wrongfully convicted while the real killer roamed free. Even with all we know about the fallibility of the criminal justice system today, The Innocent Man is still shocking. Grisham himself has said that if he had written this book as fiction, it would have seemed totally unbelievable.
Customer Reviews
The Innocent Man review
It's easy to call for the death penalty in the case of horrendous murders. This book reminded me that only God should be the judge when it comes to deciding who lives and who dies.
And if one was not aware of the time period you would think you were reading a story that took place in the 1930s. This highlights how even today justice is not always the result of our legal system.
And last, even if only half of what was written about the Oklahoma prison system is true, the state should be ashamed and embarrassed.
Honestly really good!
It had some "slow" parts in the beginning, but being has how this is a true story, you'll be hooked in no time to see just how things turned out for this innocent man. A must read in my opinion!
AMAZING
One of the best books ever love his series ..... If u like crime and detail John Grisham is the man for you :)