#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. NOW A 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 … 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.
Praise for The Innocent Man
“Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his bestselling fiction.”—The Boston Globe
“A gritty, harrowing true-crime story.”—Time
“A triumph.”—The Seattle Times
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from John Grisham’s The Litigators.
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John Grisham is one of my favorite authors
Loved this story and writing style.
One of the most entertaining of John Grisham’s books, and incredibly base don a true story!
Not typical fast moveing hold your attention Grisham.
The Innocent Man details a travesty of justice that should never occur in the United States. In the little town of Ada, Oklahoma, the murder of a beautiful young woman leads corrupt police and morally reprehensible District Attorney to secure convictions for the crime at any cost. In this case, the cost was the Constitutional rights guaranteed to the defendants, both of whom were wrongly convicted. One was sentenced to die and came within 5 days of being executed. Grisham exquisitely details the grim story of how Ron Williamson, who had grown up in Ada, spent 12 years on condemned row, living in deplorable conditions and denied treatment for the mental illness about which the court and prison officials were well aware. Were it not for principled, dedicated appellate court attorneys who were determined to review the record below and ascertain whether Williamson’s Constitutional rights were violated, Williamson would have been executed. Barry Sheck and the Innocence Project also became involved and, eventually, both convictions were overturned.
The only true crime book ever drafted by Grisham is as fast-paced and spell-binding as his fictional works. Meticulously researched and told without an attempt to veil his anger and repulsion at the unethical behavior of the police and District Attorney, as well as the utter incompetence and callousness of the judge who presided over the trials, as well as Williamson’s defense counsel, Grisham tells a compelling, cautionary tale about the ways in which the justice system can be manipulated and corrupted. The story may not alter readers’ views on the death penalty but, at a minimum, it illustrates why proof beyond a reasonable doubt is the appropriate standard and any capital murder case must be subject to automatic appeal to ensure that the evidence is indisputable and no innocent person is ever executed.
This is a story of prosecutor misconduct in Oklahoma. The mistakes led to the conviction of an innocent man.
I love John Grisham…just didn’t like this book.