The Innocent Man (John Grisham)

You probably recognize the title from the true crime docuseries on Netflix. That production was based on this book, John Grisham's only non-fiction piece. For those who haven't seen the show yet, I'm not going to give anything away, but I'll provide some context into what the book is about. In the 1980s, Debbie Carter was tragically murdered in Ada, Oklahoma, and prosecutors sent the wrong man, Ron Williamson, to prison for it. Several assumptions surrounding the case led them to "believe" he was the perpetrator, but other severe miscarriages of justice ultimately lead to the wrongful conviction. He spent a long time on Death Row for something he didn't do and Grisham explains how that happened. It is an extremely frustrating account.

I'll say first that the Author's Note at the end of the book is very insightful, because Grisham mentions aspects of wrongful conviction cases that one might not even consider — how much money it costs to house someone in prison, if they have mental health issues and need special treatment or medication, and so forth. It's worth reading the bit at the close to gain a little more understanding of the whole problem that is wrongful conviction. It also makes the story you just read even more infuriating. Despite the nature of the content, Grisham presents it in a very understandable way. The sentences are short, and the writing it very story-like, which sounds silly because it's obviously a story that you're reading, but it doesn't come across as a legal case study, which is kind of what it is. There's character development, positioning, setting description, and lots of detail, including pictures from the investigation and some memorabilia from the Williamson family. Grisham explains at the end how long it took to write the book, and how much time he spent traveling to interview key members of Ron Williamson's story. I respected the story that much more after reviewing those last few pages. It's a testament to how much the families went through, and how willing they were in laying it all out to educate readers on what sometimes happens. I was most inclined to read this book because of how renowned John Grisham is, and I haven't read anything by him before. But, I was also attracted to it because of what he said in the documentary, that even if this was a fictitious story of his own creation, it wouldn't have been as insane as the series of events that actually occurred. In the literary sense, I guess he means to say that you can't make this stuff up. That's pretty gripping.

It's a very good book, and I plan on rewatching the docuseries again to see how well they match up. I also plan on reading many more of Grisham's works, because even though this story was horrible, the words were captivating.

8.5/10