Search - The Innocent Man

I'm glad I read this book, but it is not your typical John Grisham. At times I felt detached, as if reading a blow by blow account, when I wanted to read a story instead. In the authors notes he states that he could have written 5,000 pages. I think he had a hard time deciding what to put in and what to cut and it seemed a little fragmented. BUT, it is a good story and will make you think about the justice system and how sometimes instead of being blind, it has on blinders.

The book was about the wrongful convictions of several men in the small community of Ada, Oklahoma. It focuses for the most part on Ron Williamson, a former hometown hero because of his athletic ability who had descended into alcoholism and mental illness. From the beginning and without any real evidence the police focused on him as the main suspect in the murder of a young woman. The police, the prosecutor, and the judge all ignored the evidence pointing to other suspects and his shaky mental stability. Grisham examines the injustices committed by those responsible for ensuring that defendants received a fair trial.
Sadly this story lacks coherence and effective pacing. What exactly did it matter that Ron Williams was a selfish kid interested in nothing but himself and his baseball career, and it certainly wasn't relevant that he was a baseball talent. Sections that didn't seem to have ANYTHING to do with the case were included in the middle of everything.

There's no real suspense as we know from the beginning that Ron was wrongfully convicted and even who did it. There was a long section about other wrongfully convicted defendants who didn't really feature into the actual story.

That was the real problem. There WAS no real story. It was a bunch of facts strung together in true crime fashion, but there was no sense of narrative or really even investment with the people involved. The story was tragic, and made more so because it's true, but it was NOT made very interesting or very dramatic.

You would never know this is Grisham's first attempt at non-fiction. This is a different type of true crime book. This book focuses more on the life of one man wrongly accused, basically framed by the police and prosecutors. A man who suffered greatly. The crime was never investigated properly. The victim deserved justice and it took too long for that to come.

This book reminded me more of a legal textbook than a John Grisham novel. It was something that I had to make myself read, instead of the usual stay-up-all-night, can't-put-it-down page-turner that he usually publishes.

As the book flap says: 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.

This is John Grisham's first book of nonfiction. At first it drove me crazy that he was telling about each persons past I guess I wanted him to get to the dirt. But it was gripping and oh yes it will infuriate you how these men were treated like yesterdays trash.

I lived in OKC during this time and was completely unaware that it was happening in a small town southeast of me. Grisham writes the non-fiction as well as fiction, maybe even better. This one will definately open your eyes to the ways our justice system has effected peoples life. It also will show you how important DNA testing has become to our justice system. A great book, but beware, it will make you upset.

Not one of his best efforts. More like a newspaper account of a terrible crime.

I only read half of this book. To me it got more boring with each page.
I'm a Grisham fan, but didn't care for this one.

I loved this book. I'm against the death penalty and this book is a wonderful illustration of a corrupt criminal justice system. I considered keeping this book for myself, however I think that everyone needs to have their eyes opened to this injustice. This book hits close to home due to the fact that I live about 40 miles away from the town in which it occured and John Grisham gets the feel of small town Oklahoma just right.

Ron Williamson started a promising career as a pro baseball player. But an injury and his drug and drinking habits unraveled his life. When a local coctail waitress is murdered, it went unsolved for five years, until Williamson and a friend were arrested. With no physical evidence, the case was built on air. Williamson was convicted and sentenced to death row in 1988. He was exonerated in 1999.

A lot of background information supplied, that for me got tedious and lengthy.

As with most of John Grisham's books, this one is a good read.

In Grisham's first foray into non-fiction, he has done a great job. It is truly amazing the corruption, laziness, and outright stupidity that can happen in the real law and order world - with a man's *real* life *really* at stake. This book will make you shudder - even though the main character is not necessarily a sympathetic one, you cannot help but feel his horror and bewilderment at his situation. I hope Grisham writes more non-fiction.

From the cover:

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 were 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 first work of nonfiction reads like a page-turning legal thriller. It is a bok that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence 0 a book no American can afford to miss.

I could not put this book down! What an amazing story!

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 laater he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits - drinking, drugs, and women. 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, the 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.

An excellent true story of a great miscarriage of justice in a small Oklahoma town. Well written and gripping. A must read.

Very Good Book.

Whether you agree with the death penalty or not, this book will probably infuriate you. It's hard to believe something like this can happen. It was a quick read for me. I thought it was well written and very easy to follow the story.

Non-fiction legal thriller! Really proves a lot about America and the criminal justice system. A book that's hard to put down!

"The Innocent Man" shows you how ordinary people can have their lives ruined by a miscarriage of justice. This is a major page turner and Grisham's deep feelings of disdain toward the criminal justice system are very apparent. Extremely well researched, well written book that is worth reading...