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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
I read all of John Grisham's books as they were released from A Time to Kill through the Runaway Jury. Then I was too busy with college and eventually work and got really far behind. In fact, I didn't even know he had a nonfiction book until I was talking to my brother and he mentioned that he had just finished reading The Innocent Man and it was his favorite Grisham book yet.
This book is about two men who are accused and convicted of a murder they did not commit. The police refused to look at evidence that would have exonerated them and based their entire case on lying witnesses and trumped up evidence. It was absolutely shocking that with DNA evidence these men even went to trial let alone were convicted.
The story reads like one of Grisham's fiction novels and I was immediately engrossed in the story. Ron Williamson was a star baseball player with hopes of playing in the major leagues. He played for several seasons in the minors, but never hit it big. He struggled with depression and bi-polar disorder and required medication and treatment to stay balanced, which he didn't always take. He also enjoyed partying and drinking, which didn't help his situation. He got into some trouble here and there, which made him an easy target for the police when their investigation came up empty. Dennis Fritz was simply guilty by association.
I couldn't help but feel sorry for these two men. They insisted they were innocent and the legal system completely failed them. The corruption in the District Attorney's office and with the investigators working the case was appalling. It is scary to think that this can really happen to innocent people.
This book is about two men who are accused and convicted of a murder they did not commit. The police refused to look at evidence that would have exonerated them and based their entire case on lying witnesses and trumped up evidence. It was absolutely shocking that with DNA evidence these men even went to trial let alone were convicted.
The story reads like one of Grisham's fiction novels and I was immediately engrossed in the story. Ron Williamson was a star baseball player with hopes of playing in the major leagues. He played for several seasons in the minors, but never hit it big. He struggled with depression and bi-polar disorder and required medication and treatment to stay balanced, which he didn't always take. He also enjoyed partying and drinking, which didn't help his situation. He got into some trouble here and there, which made him an easy target for the police when their investigation came up empty. Dennis Fritz was simply guilty by association.
I couldn't help but feel sorry for these two men. They insisted they were innocent and the legal system completely failed them. The corruption in the District Attorney's office and with the investigators working the case was appalling. It is scary to think that this can really happen to innocent people.
“If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.” Truer words were never written. This is a horrible tale of bullying and incompetence and foolhardiness of epic proportions. The main story revolves around two men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, who are accused of a crime in 1982, arrested/tried/convicted/sentenced (one of whom was sentenced to the death penalty) in 1988, and finally exonerated in 1999. These men’s lives were ruined, families were destroyed, and apparently it’s a disturbing pattern that had been going on for a while. Stories like this always upset me. I’m a firm believer in “better 10 guilty men go free than 1 innocent man go to prison”. This entire book is filled with stories of men, both guilty and not guilty who end up in prison due to miscarriages of justice. The thing that made me most irate was the fact that when faced with the DNA evidence that cleared these two men, the prosecutor still pigheadedly believed he and the police force and the judicial system were in the right. A truly sad story that may or may not have a happy ending, like most true crime stories. I’d definitely recommend.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
This is one of the most eye-opening, life changing, and relevant stories I've ever come across. While conveniently reading this during a time when "Defund the Police" is widely argued, it offers a little peak into an explanation of why most people don't trust law inforcement. The author mentioned he had to write this as a nonfiction because if he had written it as a novel, like all of his other projects, no one would have believed him. I completely agree with him because it is unbelievable how much the criminal justice system failed these men. I read this in constant disbelief at the lengths that the detectives and prosecutor were going to in order to ensure not just the conviction of innocent men, but their executions as well. When people in favor of defunding the police instruct others to do their research on the subject, this is exactly what they mean.
I also need to commend John Grisham on his amazing and thorough research. I appreciated that he cited multiple relevant court rulings. His style of writing is also very enjoyable and easy to follow.
I also need to commend John Grisham on his amazing and thorough research. I appreciated that he cited multiple relevant court rulings. His style of writing is also very enjoyable and easy to follow.
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I have always been anti-death penalty and this book proves again why it should be abolished. Until we as a society can only convict guilty people we have no business executing anyone.
Shoddy police work, zealous prosecutors, underfunded and overworked public defenders, ignoring mentail illness, the list goes on and on how we as society fail at justice.
Shoddy police work, zealous prosecutors, underfunded and overworked public defenders, ignoring mentail illness, the list goes on and on how we as society fail at justice.
This is a frightening book! That two men could be convicted of capital murder on so little evidence is mind boggling. I will say that although this book focuses on Ron Williamson as the more interesting character, Dennis Fritz was sent to life imprisonment on far less...
hopeful
informative
tense
slow-paced
It's hard to know whether to give this five stars or one. It is very well done--so well done that it had me as mad as I think I've ever been with a book. If fairness and justice are important to you, and if it is difficult to be presented with injustice, you may want to pass on this one.
I am changing my review from 4 stars to 5 stars. I did not know until the very end of this book that it was an actual true story. This is horrifying! I loved the journalistic style of the storytelling and just thought it was a new style of writing that Grisham was trying. I had no idea it was because of his reporting true events.