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carly_luce2k14's review
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
It's an interesting story, but it was hard to get through a book about lawyers
danib11's review against another edition
4.0
This is a very interesting "true crime" read. It's totally a one sided account(which I think you can gather from the description). This book enraged me at times regarding the criminal justice system in the U.S. The first chapter is a little gruesome with murder details but overall it's a good book to listen to in the car while commuting.
cr4nkyp4nts's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting and maddening. If there is a hell, I hope there's a special nook for crooked law enforcement and court officers whose desire to win or simply wrap up a case causes innocent people and their families (the accused and the victims) to suffer so much.
I did watch the Netflix special based on this book a year or so ago and am glad I read the book. Much more detail here. Although I thought there was more about Ward and Fontenot in the show compared with the book. I'll have to rewatch it.
If you're a fan of true crime books or books about miscarriages of justice, this one will likely keep you involved and interested.
I did watch the Netflix special based on this book a year or so ago and am glad I read the book. Much more detail here. Although I thought there was more about Ward and Fontenot in the show compared with the book. I'll have to rewatch it.
If you're a fan of true crime books or books about miscarriages of justice, this one will likely keep you involved and interested.
jenlp's review against another edition
It was mundane and slow. Did not keep my interest
protoman21's review
4.0
The Innocent Man is a frightening story about the injustices done in our court system and how easily one or two assumptions or false leads can snowball into a life-devastating wrongful arrest of an innocent person. I was most appalled at how it appeared that once you are in the system it is very hard to have your voice heard and escape. The story read like fiction and I wish that it was just fiction and not the sad story of innocent men who lost years of their life to our imperfect court system.
book_concierge's review
5.0
Book on CD read by Craig Wasson
In 1971 Ron Williamson was signed by the Oakland A’s and left Ada, Oklahoma to pursue his dreams of big-league glory. But an injury and bad habits (drinking, drugs and women), ended his career. Back in Ada he began to show signs of mental illness. He moved in with his mother, and slept up to 20 hours a day on the sofa. In 1982 a young woman 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. Despite a complete lack of evidence, and Ron having an alibi, the two were arrested and charged with capital murder. Relying on jail-house snitches and a “dream” confession, the prosecutors hammered at both men. Dennis was given a life sentence; Ron was sent to death row.
Grisham first heard about Ron Williamson when he happened to read the man’s obituary. The facts presented raised more questions and Grisham started researching how an innocent man could have been arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned with so little regard for his rights or for the truth. The result is a gripping tale that had me on the edge of my seat. Meticulously researched, Grisham packs the book with information that slowly but convincingly builds the case. If the reader is disturbed by reading about these events, one can only imagine the horror and despair of living such a scenario.
One of the most poignant sections comes after Ron has been released and is interviewed by a journalist. Asked about his beliefs, he answers: I hope I go to neither heaven nor hell. I wish that at the time of my death that I could go to sleep and never wake up and never have a bad dream. Eternal rest, like you’ve seen on some tombstones, that’s what I hope for. Because I don’t want to go through the Judgment. I don’t want anybody judging me again.
What begins as the story of one man’s nightmare becomes a treatise on the state of America’s Justice System, and its many flaws. From the author notes at the end of the book: The journey also exposed me to the world of wrongful convictions … This is not a problem peculiar to Oklahoma, far from it. Wrongful convictions occur every month in every state in this country, and the reasons are all varied and all the same – bad police work, junk science, faulty eyewitness identifications, bad defense lawyers, lazy prosecutors, arrogant prosecutors.
Craig Wasson does a fine job performing the audio version of this book. He has good pacing and he really brought Ron to life.
In 1971 Ron Williamson was signed by the Oakland A’s and left Ada, Oklahoma to pursue his dreams of big-league glory. But an injury and bad habits (drinking, drugs and women), ended his career. Back in Ada he began to show signs of mental illness. He moved in with his mother, and slept up to 20 hours a day on the sofa. In 1982 a young woman 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. Despite a complete lack of evidence, and Ron having an alibi, the two were arrested and charged with capital murder. Relying on jail-house snitches and a “dream” confession, the prosecutors hammered at both men. Dennis was given a life sentence; Ron was sent to death row.
Grisham first heard about Ron Williamson when he happened to read the man’s obituary. The facts presented raised more questions and Grisham started researching how an innocent man could have been arrested, charged, convicted and imprisoned with so little regard for his rights or for the truth. The result is a gripping tale that had me on the edge of my seat. Meticulously researched, Grisham packs the book with information that slowly but convincingly builds the case. If the reader is disturbed by reading about these events, one can only imagine the horror and despair of living such a scenario.
One of the most poignant sections comes after Ron has been released and is interviewed by a journalist. Asked about his beliefs, he answers: I hope I go to neither heaven nor hell. I wish that at the time of my death that I could go to sleep and never wake up and never have a bad dream. Eternal rest, like you’ve seen on some tombstones, that’s what I hope for. Because I don’t want to go through the Judgment. I don’t want anybody judging me again.
What begins as the story of one man’s nightmare becomes a treatise on the state of America’s Justice System, and its many flaws. From the author notes at the end of the book: The journey also exposed me to the world of wrongful convictions … This is not a problem peculiar to Oklahoma, far from it. Wrongful convictions occur every month in every state in this country, and the reasons are all varied and all the same – bad police work, junk science, faulty eyewitness identifications, bad defense lawyers, lazy prosecutors, arrogant prosecutors.
Craig Wasson does a fine job performing the audio version of this book. He has good pacing and he really brought Ron to life.