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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 345.76602523
EAN num: 9780440243830
ISBN number: 0440243831
Label: Dell
Manufacturer: Dell
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 448
Printing Date: November 20, 2007
Publishing house: Dell
Release Date: November 20, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 689
Studio: Dell
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Product Description:
In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the subsequent 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, John Grisham’s very first work of nonfiction reads like a page-turning legal thriller. It is a book that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence—a book no American can afford to miss.
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Rated by buyers 
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John Grisham has written masterful novels in the past, but this surely is not one of them. I looked forward to reading this, being it was a Grisham story, but was sorely disappointed. Don't believe all the hype on the cover, it's an utterly boring read. Half-way through, I skipped to the end. This will definitely be one for the used bookstore pile....
Rated by buyers 
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Someone suggested I read this book because of my strong opinions about the criminal justice system. She felt that I'd like it, but I browsed through the book, and although sometimes the language is repetitive, I bought my very first audio book hoping it would be more exciting to read this way. Indeed, it was. While I'm reading the reviews that say this book is "boring," the criminal justice system locking people up from big words and blood tests that I'm not convinced are 100%; the government not giving any money or even an apology to those who were wrongly convicted; and the way prisoners are treated in the prison system makes this book relevant and interesting. I didn't even need to hear the author's note to know this book was based on a true story. I hear stories such as this one time and time again, and I'm glad that Grisham pointed out within this read how rare it is to find White men who are accused incorrectly of crimes such as this, but how typical it is for minorities or the poor to constantly be accused and convicted with little or no sympathy for those who really are innocent. I read reviews saying they were bored with Ronnie's depression and alcoholism, but imagine giving up 12 years of your life for a crime you did not commit, being bipolar, and prison guards making fun of you through the night in addition to the government not letting you have the correct medication.
While I do wish there was a cleaner conclusion, the truth of the matter is that many crimes like this remain unresolved, and this is why the government is so set on pinning the very first person that looks a little funky. I enjoyed this book a lot. Thanks John!
Rated by buyers -
This is not a real book. It is a long detailed story about something that happened. Very boring. It is not a typical Grishem book. It is more like a long exhausting magazin artical. You will find an everage of 15 names in each page. In some, I was counting 28. Now think about it, a page full of names. It get realy confusing some times.
I hardly made it to page 200, and from then on, just flip quickly through the pages, to get the general Idea of what will happen.
Sham... Sham.. Sham. Glad to see that 17 other people gave only a single point to the book.
I have the feeling that the book was Co-Writen, by others for Grishem. Co-Writers, that made the veriuos investigation, and their reports, were added to the book, almost as is.
Rated by buyers -
After lying unread on my bookshelf for over 9 months, I finally got around to reading John Grisham's latest offering and very first work of non-fiction - "The Innocent Man".
Growing up on a steady diet of Erle Stanley Gardner and in love with Perry Mason, it was but natural that I become a fan of John Grisham's legal works of fiction. But other than "Skipping Christmas" which was moderately interesting, his non-legal fiction did not excite me at all. So I wasn't sure what to expect with his work of legal non-fiction.
Fortunately it was interesting reading for the most part except the botched trial that got really slow and repetitive. Since this was a true story and Grisham was using actual court transcripts, he had to keep it so, but could have edited it a bit to make it crisper. Maybe all the legal serials we watch - The Practice, Law & Order, Boston Legal and others of their ilk have gotten me to expect snappy, sharp detective work, logical but persuasive arguments by counsel and crisp closing statements. The way the case was handled was completely slip shod and pathetic and makes you wonder at the possibility of truly getting justice unless you are in a TV serial.
Little wonder that a libel suit was filed against John Grisham on 28, September 2007, by Pontotoc County - Oklahoma, District Attorney Bill Peterson and Gary Rogers, a former Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent.
This true story, is remarkable for the fact that the main accused Ron Williamson who was framed by the law enforcement team of Pontotoc County was not just a "white" man, he was a semi-FAMOUS "white" man.
Ron Williamson was a local hero on the baseball field and was also the 41st pick in baseball's 1971 amateur draft, a second-round selection by the Oakland Athletics. Due to poor performance, he did not hit the big time but he was still quite a local celebrity when he was accused as the murderer of cocktail waitress Debra Carter.
His co-accused Dennis Fritz had nothing to implicate him except that he and Williamson were occasional "drinking buddies". Ironically Fritz's own wife had been murdered 7 years ago.
The police used forced dream confessions, convicted felons as snitches and witnesses, junk science and other dubious means to get them both convicted. Williamson got the death penalty which automatically set a series of appeals in motion while Fritz got a life sentence.
Through his incarceration, Williamson deteriorated physically and mentally despite the efforts of some good hearted souls until the Innocence Project - (basis for the serial In Justice) helped get them both acquitted after 12 years on the basis of the new technology - DNA testing.
Grisham read Williamson's obituary when he died (5 years after being released) and was inspired to research and write this book.
I started out reading the book, knowing that the main accused was innocent (could the title have been more descriptive?). Grisham wrote the book, knowing that Williamson was innocent. But even someone who didn't know some of the data presented here in hindsight, could have seen that this was a wrongful conviction. And it appalls you that even though the case came up for appeal multiple times, each person upheld the original wrongful conviction.
Hence Grisham seems to have achieved his major goal in writing this novel.
"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"
Rated by buyers -
I was disgusted with the poor writing, awkward telling of the 'story', and just about everything else. I literally threw it in the trash.
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