Best seller John Grisham wrote this real legal thriller, a true story about justice gone wrong in a small town in Oklahoma. You won't like all the people in this book, but the events and injustice will tug at your heart and the tragedy will outrage you. Reading this book may get you discussing and perhaps re-evaluating your feelings about the death penalty.
These convictions were before the miracle of DNA testing. You'll be incredulous at what these convictions were based on.
The author has written a detailed, thoroughly investigated account of these tragedies which details the feelings of the convicted, their families and friends, the two murdered women, their friends and families, and the small community as a whole. It is also an indictment of the jails and prisons. One of the prisons was finally inspected and it was determined to be so inhumane, it violated international penal agreements.
This true story is shocking and sad, and an important story to be told. Baseball fans/historians will be interested to read how all this happened to Ron Williamson, who was the first player chosen in the 1971 draft from the State of Oklahoma. He signed with the Oakland A's. Six years later his big league dreams were shattered, he returned home and had no idea he would soon be "proven" guilty, although he was innocent.
How do you find hope, when you're innocent of a heinous crime and your life is destroyed by a corrupt group of people, and you are powerless to change it. No one will listen. Your loved ones can't find a way to help, despite all their attempts. Years stretch into many years. Finally, science catches up and is used to finally overturn by the Freedom Project. That is a fascinating part of the story - what it took, and how long, and the Judge and his legal staff who first recognized the injustice and were determined to come to the rescue.
John Grisham is the author of eighteen novels.
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