The Innocent Man | 
 enlarge | Author: John Grisham
Publisher: Dell
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  82 reviews
Sales Rank: 980
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 0440243831
Dewey Decimal Number: 345.76602523
EAN: 9780440243830
ASIN: 0440243831
Publication Date: November 20, 2007
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Product Description
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, John Grisham’s 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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 Book Review: The Innocent Man by John Grisham August 19, 2008
The Innocent Man 428pgs. (Author's Note: 429-435)
by John Grisham
Review by SpeekNDaTruuf
Before 1982, very few had heard of Ada, Oklahoma. It was a small familial town; there were no strangers because everyone knew everyone else. On December 8, 1982, however, that all changed. Debra Sue Carter, a bartender at the local nightclub, The Coachlight, was raped and brutally murdered in her apartment. Scrawled on the wall in red fingernail polish were the words: Jim Smith next will die. On a small table in the kitchen were the words, written in ketchup: Don't look fore us or ealse. On Debra's back, smeared in dried ketchup: Duke Gram. Inside Debra's mouth was a green washcloth. Two men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, would sit in prison for 11 years, wrongly convicted of murdering Debra Sue Carter in 1988, until exoneration on April 15, 1999. This is the story of The Innocent Man, brilliantly authored by John Grisham.
As with most Grisham novels (i.e. The Client, A Painted House, The Pelican Brief, etc.), I originally thought this was a fictictious account of two men wrongly accused and convicted of murder. I grabbed a bottle of water and my fresh pack of Newports, and sat down to enjoy a fictictious novel. Yet, within the first few pages, something was bothering me. I know good authors when I read one, and I know that Grisham is an astounding author. The praise he receives is a testament to that very fact.
Yet, The Innocent Man seemed... too good. It was a bit too real for me, and oddly enough, I noticed a difference in writing. It seemed as if someone was narrating a story as opposed to a first person account that I'd noticed before from Grisham. The writing was... stilted, but not in the sense that it was a hard read. It was just different. It reminded me of those docu-dramas on A&E. I could easily hear Bill Kurtis from American Justice speaking these words. I thought to my Self, Wow, this man's imagination is amazing! So, I kept reading, amazed at Grisham's talent to concoct such a story. But, it kept nagging me and nagging me, and eventually, I decided to do some research on my own.
I found out that The Innocent Man was, in fact, based on a true story! Two real, living and breathing men were wrongly convicted for a murder that they did NOT commit! Suffice it to say, I finished this book in approximately 3 days. It was that good! Sad, but very well-written. Now, I could tell you all about Mr. Williamson and his mental issues, and I could tell you about the separation between Mr. Fritz and his daughter, Elizabeth, but I'm sure I wouldn't do this any justice. I would strongly suggest you read this book for your Selves.
Out of all of the novels that I've read by John Grisham, The Innocent Man, by far, is my favorite. Though it is a long and sad account of a failed justice system, and though I was often frustrated because of that, it's still a great read. FIVE STARS.
An American Tragedy August 11, 2008
The Innocent Man by John Grisham is his first true crime novel, about a miscarriage of justice in Ada, Oklahoma, wherein several innocent men who were sent to death row. They spent eleven years on death row until freed by DNA evidence. With the number of people being freed in recent years due to DNA evidence, it becomes clear that all too often, people are convicted and sentenced to death more because they have lost the game than because they are actually guilty. The police are under pressure to make a quick arrest, the DA is under pressure to get a conviction, the judge is under pressure to be hard on crime- and so on.
In Grisham's book, Ron Williamson is a mentally disturbed pro-baseball wash-out who becomes a subject of interest after the actual killer suggests to police that the victim was scared of Ron and asked him for protection. Dennis Fritz, a middle school science teacher, attracts the attention of the police simply by virtue of being Ron's friend. Despite the lack of eyewitnesses or physical evidence, the two men are convicted.
The book also details the cases of Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, two other young men from Ada who were convicted of murder despite a lack of evidence. Unfortunately for these two young men, there is no DNA evidence available in their case to help exonerate them.
No matter what one's stance on crime and capital punishment, I don't think anyone can read this book and not be dismayed at the gross negligence exhibited by the police and prosecutors or at the how close Williamson and Fritz came to execution by the system that was supposed to provide justice for them and for the victim. With John Grisham's stature and following, it is to be hoped that by his interest in this case adn others, more people's attention will be focused on the Criminal INjustice System in our country.
Amazing read! August 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I could not put this book down, it was an amazing read. I'm not usually a John Grishsm fan but this one kept me on the edge of my seat all the way until the end.
 Not a Grisham fan . . . July 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am not a fan of Mr. Grisham's fiction, but he writes about real life quite well. I'd like to see him write more non-fiction.
'One' of the most `known' incompetence and dishonesty prosecution in history. July 29, 2008
Making insignificant bad choices during young age can sometimes lead to extreme hardship in the future. I have friends who are behind bars for crimes they never committed, or simply because they were at the wrong place in the wrong time. After all, the sloppiness of the justice system makes it even harder for such mistakes to be avoided.
John Grisham's book `The Innocent Man; Murder and Injustice in a Small Town' talks about a true story murder and rape of Debra Sue Carter in Ada, Oklahoma, which lead to one of the wrongful convictions throughout the United States, the conviction of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz; creating `one' of the most `known' incompetence and dishonesty prosecution in history.
If you haven't yet read this book, then take this chance because the movie-making process is in the oven, ticking for some-weekend in 2009.
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