Read The Innocent Man Murder and Injustice in a Small Town John Grisham 2015385340915 Books

Product details Paperback 400 pages Publisher Bantam (November 20, 2007) Language English ISBN-10 0385340915

The Innocent Man Murder and Injustice in a Small Town John Grisham 2015385340915 Books Reviews

• The Innocent Man is the true story of Ron Williamson, who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Ron was a severely troubled man, whose early dreams of playing professional baseball were trashed and he spent most of his adult life battling mental illness and addiction, as well as being behind bars for the majority of it. While I did not find this work of non-fiction nearly as riveting as Grisham's fiction novels, I think the author did a good job of not only highlighting the injustices in our so-called justice system, but also the failure in America to adequately treat mental illness and addiction, as well as calling into question the ethicality of employing capital punishment when so many wrongful convictions are given out. Generally when I read true crime, I'm there more for the details of the case than the personal story. I found it to be the opposite with this book. I don't think Grisham is quite "there" yet, with his handling of the more technical aspects of the case. At times I really had to plod through. But Ron's story hooked me from the beginning and I was compelled to finish it out for him. My only other complaint is that I personally feel the author revealed too much too soon. Going in, all I knew was that an innocent man was sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit. I did not know if he ever got out or was actually killed on death row, I didn't know if the real killer(s) was ever found or convicted. It is my opinion that Grisham could have revealed these points in a different way and at a different time, to make the book more interesting. Stay away from the pictures if you don't want spoilers! But overall this is a decent book, and Ron's story is worth knowing, so read it for that alone.
• In this book, John Grisham abandoned his usual novel-writing and focused on one unfortunate man in a small city in Oklahoma. Already stigmatized as the town "burnout," once he was accused of murder there seemed to be no getting out of it, though the evidence for the crime was sketchy at best. While this book lacks the homeric intensity of Grisham's best fictions, it has a lot to say about how law enforcement can be used -- and misused -- to indict and persecute those whose chief sin seems to have been an ability to serve as a convenient scapegoat. Those of us who have seen documentaries and news reports about Steven Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, in central Wisconsin will see the same sorry process at work in small-town Oklahoma. Now what, if anything, can be done about it?
• Reading this book has been a watershed moment for me. I knew the writings of John Grisham well, having read several of his earlier books. That this book was non-fiction I hadn't heard until I actually started reading it. All I knew when I bought it was that it concerned a criminal case that employees of my own former employer were involved in (the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, or OSBI). I felt a strong attraction to read any book that concerned the OSBI as I worked there nearly 19 years in the 1980s and 90s. I vaguely remember the criminal case in question, a the murder happened almost immediately after I began work there. Now that I have finished the book, my mind is at unrest. Every OSBI employee the book mentioned I knew, and some of them I saw on almost a daily basis. I always thought that from knowing them that way, I could guess their working style. If this book is to be believed, I didn't know them at all. The agents were all law enforcement agents through and through, but if their behavior in interrogating suspects is accurate, I am sadly disappointed in my friendships. Due to the two "main" suspects in the case who finally after many years of being locked up in prison for something it was eventually proven they didn't do (and one actually facing the death penalty) I am in the process of possibly reconsidering my views on the death penalty itself. I always approved before, what with working so long alongside law enforcement (I worked in a clerical capacity as administrative support and finally in the Human Resources Unit) but if false confessions are indeed taken as gospel and the confessor or suspect is found guilty in a death penalty case, we are knowingly leading an innocent person to die, while letting the actual perpetrator go free. During the numerous appeals that automatically come after a guilty verdict, most of the time those are sped through and none of the physical evidence is rechecked to ensure accuracy. This book is making me reconsider old friendships also, and I don't know how to ask anyone if the behavior is close to being accurate.
• The way Grisham develops each character and the raw emotion he paints these scenes with is simply mesmerizing. I literally felt like I was in the story being escorted through each scene like my own personal tour of life on death row all the way to the final moments leading to the execution. Just an awesome book. I actually felt myself grieving for this man as I read the final few chapters, praying for a miracle just like his lawyer/grandson. This is a winner that does not disappoint....enjoy!
• A non-fiction by John Grisham tells the story of Ron Williamson, a budding baseball star from the small town of Ada, Oklahoma, who was framed by the Ada police for the murder of Debbie Carter. Convicted, sentenced to death and almost executed, Ron spent close to 20 years on death row until he, and his co-accused, Fritz, were exonerated through DNA evidence.
  This is a horrific tale of wilful miscarriage of justice and the mental destruction of Ron Williamson. Grisham's deeply researched book lays bare the travesties of justice, life in death row and mental illness.
  Can this happen again, the sad answer is, most likely.
• This book, in which Grisham breaks away from fiction to write a tru
  e crime book, is too long and too complicated. I really struggled to finish it. It does reveal what can (and all too often does) go horribly wrong when the police think they have the right person (despite no evidence supporting the idea) ... but it goes on forever when you know about all you need to know very early on.
  Disappointing as I am a Grisham fan (normally).