- Hardcover: 368 pages
- Publisher: Century; First Printing edition (10 Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1844137902
- ISBN-13: 978-1844137909
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.4 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 129,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Innocent Man
and over 900,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Amazon.co.uk Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"* 'a nall biting story' The Sun 'a killer combination of sheer story-telling nous and no-nonsense prose' Independent 'Grisham hasn't lost his touch' Daily Mirror"
Product Description
John Grisham's first work of non-fiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, in his most extraordinary legal thriller yet. 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 later 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 20 hours a day on her sofa. In 1982, a 21 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, they 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 jaihouse 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.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant piece of non-fiction,
By Steveml (Lancs, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Innocent Man (Paperback)
Having approached this book with an open mind (and staying with it to the end) I found this an excellent piece of work. It is often too easy to pick a title by a well known author - and expect the book to be the same as previous offerings. This was John Grisham's first non-fiction novel, and those who may have been expecting a legal fiction thriller, and bought the book in error, shoud perhaps have read the cover before complaining within their review.
I feel that the incidents and injustices described within the book do leave you with a strong sense of how legalities, the justice system and pre-judgement can spiral to the point of no-return, purely because of the egotism and self-opinions of those we place trust in. The book was so powerful, that it compelled the prosecuting district attorney in the case, Bill Peterson, to create a website in a 'self-defence' attempt to lambaste any innacuracies within the book. This wouldn't be that funny, but all the prosecutor seems to be able to do is to pick holes in points that were not that relevant to the case, again attempting to deflect responsibility from hiself and his colleagues. The book will shock, and leave a bitter taste, especially in view of the fact that neither the prosecutor nor those involved in this harrowing case of injustice and mistrial seem to feel it necessary to apologise for their wrongdoings. As clear a case of finding a scapegoat for a crime at any price as you will ever see, in a shallow attempt to appease a small town community. Give it a try - I wish more non-fiction writers provoked such interest with their books.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Justice is worth fighting for.,
By
This review is from: The Innocent Man (Hardcover)
Anybody who has any interest in justice and fairness ought to read this book. It is a shocking revelation of a miscarriage of justice in Western civilisation. If this true story were just a one off it would be appalling, but it leaves one with the feeling that this may just be the tip of the iceberg. In certain parts of the world justice is not something that is held in high esteem, but here in the West we expect our justice system to be a foundation for our civilisation.
John Grisham has done an excellent job, both in his careful investigation and in the presentation of the facts in this book. For me it made both compelling and challenging reading. Challenging because as individuals our moral stance contributes to the fabric of society and we need to guard against a careless attitude towards matters of right and wrong. As others have pointed out, the photographs give a précis of the story and should be looked at only after reading the book otherwise it is like taking a peek at the last chapter. All in all a very worthwhile read.
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Critics.... you are kidding me.,
By KEN SCOTT author "Scotty" (Spain) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Innocent Man (Paperback)
Having read most of Grisham's fiction I approached this book with an open mind. Perhaps that's what the critics should have done. Not my normal type of book, I admit, I prefer fiction, for me Grisham along with Harlan Coben is the best there is in the modern world. But nevertheless I picked up the book, a present from Father Christmas.
The book pulled me through page my startling page. I gasped... my mouth fell open on more than one occasion. I applauded Grisham's words, his research, HIS open mind and his perseverance to bring these cases of miscarriage of justice to the world stage when he could have so easily written himself a ten million dollar cheque with another work of genius fiction. Grisham takes the reader down the road where sanity ends and insanity begins and more importantly what happens when a corrupt and lazy County judicial system opts for the easy out. The line of least resistance. The town - the county - the country - wanted a conviction. So let's try the nut! Easy peasy, Ron Williamson was so mentally imbalanced they must have thought they were on to a winner. Ron Williamson. My heart went out to him as I recalled my early twenties when a friend of mine set path on the same route when all around him could do little but proffer their support and lend an occasional ear. I sympathised with Williamson as I did with my friend. I screamed no! On more than one occasion and I'm not ashamed to say I cried at one point. This type of book is necessary to bring to the attention of the so called civilised world that injustices do occur. And shame on you to the prosecutor and the police department and to the individuals with no heart and a huge slice of apathy and sheer laziness. I just hope you continue to sleep straight in your beds at night. And my biggest criticism of all, levied for the church who preach forgiveness and compassion on a daily basis and in particular the small town church in Ada where the Williamson family including Ron attended and prayed and preached for generations ...and Ron Williamson a committed Christian during his whole life, embracing Christianity before, during and after his incarceration, shunned by the very organisation he loved and respected. Irony... his reward, God's answer to his prayers... a terminal illness just a few months after he tasted freedom after eleven years of hell on earth. To the church of Ada and to the Pastor who remains unnamed (for the best) in the book, may your Lord forgive you! And for Grisham, a brave and compelling piece of work and because of his illustriousness, one that will ultimately be read by the masses. And so it should be.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
