| This story not only depicts a faulty justice system, | | | | book neglected to say that this is a non-fiction book, |
| but also, a failing mental health care for criminals or | | | | only after reading through to the middle of the third |
| the indigent alike. Unless the death penalty is free | | | | chapter, I realized the style of writing lacked the |
| from abuse and criminal justice is evenly and justly | | | | passionate expression of the usual Grisham work. |
| administered, many innocent people and our justice | | | | With the exception of the first chapter, which reads |
| system will suffer. | | | | like any other Grisham novel, the rest of the text is |
| Accordingly, for those who defend the death | | | | full of narratives, a long explanation of Williamson's |
| penalty, The Innocent Man is the book to read, for it | | | | backstory, definitions of the judicial terms, and highly |
| is the true account of several innocent men wrongly | | | | detailed discourses of the way the law works; |
| accused in a small town where the justice system | | | | therefore, at times, the story sounded only a step |
| and the police work depend on personal beliefs and | | | | away from a law journal. Even so, the author |
| prejudices. The narrative, however, centers around | | | | deserves a very high praise for the way he took an |
| one man, Ron Williamson, who was picked by the | | | | objective look at the troubled justice and mental |
| Oakland A's of 1971 in a major league draft from | | | | health systems. |
| Ada, Oklahoma. | | | | As it is in his fictional work, Grisham makes the |
| While the hero is the pride of his town and his father, | | | | reader empathize with the main character, even if |
| his brash and overconfident demeanor and his heavy | | | | sometimes Williamson does not act like a lovable |
| drinking interferes with his becoming a big star, and | | | | character. He is, however, mentally ill, with little or no |
| for several years, he suffers, going from one minor | | | | means, and he always tells the truth, even though |
| league to another. After he loses his pitching arm, | | | | the way he tells it arouses more suspicion. At the |
| Williamson returns to Ada with several bad habits like | | | | end, it is impossible not to feel sympathy for him |
| drinking, drugs, and women. His irresponsible lifestyle, | | | | because the reader has discovered that he is, in his |
| brashness, and probably underlying mental illness | | | | core, a good, decent man. |
| stops him from keeping a job or settling down. | | | | John Grisham, the author, was born in 1955 in |
| When a 21-year-old waitress is raped and murdered, | | | | Jonesboro, Arkansas. After majoring in accounting at |
| Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz are suspected | | | | Mississippi State University, he graduated from law |
| by the police, specifically by the district attorney. | | | | school and specialized in criminal defense. From 1983 |
| After five years of so-called police work, they are | | | | to 1990, he served as a state representative. When |
| arrested and charged with the murder of the | | | | his first novel A Time to Kill became a success, he |
| waitress. As the result of botched-up evidence, | | | | turned to writing. Some of his novels eventually were |
| wrong interpretation of the scientific data, and | | | | made into movies. |
| deficient public defenders, the trials resemble a circus | | | | His books are: The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, |
| and Williamson ends up getting the death penalty. | | | | The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Brethren, The |
| After a long time on death row, he is cleared and set | | | | Summons, A Painted House, The Innocent Man, and |
| free, but Ron Williamson is a broken man. | | | | Playing for Pizza. |
| Due to lack of attention and since the cover of the | | | | |