The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town - Softcover

Grisham, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440243831 ISBN 13: 9780440243830

Publisher: Random House LLC US, 2007

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review

"Like Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, The Innocent Man brings a novelist's eye to re-creating a complex chain of events and human reaction surrounding a crime and its aftermath. There are plenty of twists and turns in this tale, but the dominant note is one of compassion for the innocent man." (Sunday Times)

"A sincere, readable, lively book that raises important questions" (The Times)

"At times it is harrowing, but above all, it is a testament to self-belief and the enduring love of his family" (Daily Express)

"A work of art...this is a terrible and beautiful book. The terror is in the casual ease with which men, for the meanest of motives, can carelessly condemn another human being to rot from the inside out. The beauty not only lies with Ron Williamson...but also the burning care and respect for his fellow man shown by Grisham, which permeates and warms every page" (Sunday Express)

"A blistering attack on corrupt politicians, the death penalty and the failures of the judicial system" (The Daily Telegraph)

From the Publisher

Murder and injustice in a Small Town

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House LLC US
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0440243831
• ISBN 13: 9780440243830
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 435