Reviewed by Rita Radostitz

John Grisham is a master of suspense.  In his novels he sets the scenes, develops the characters, and then simply and methodically doles out gems of tension until the unexpected (and sometimes expected) climax. So one would imagine a work of nonfiction by him to be a brilliant narrative woven not from his imagination, but from the truth as he is able to discern it.

The story of the trial, conviction, sentence of death – and eventual exoneration – of Ron Williamson for the murder of Debbie Carter in Ada, Oklahoma is a story with all the elements of a fascinating novel.  As Grisham says in the Author’s Note: “Not in my most creative moment could I conjure up a story as rich and as layered as Ron’s.”

Unfortunately, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town reads more like a well written appellate brief rather than the ‘non-fiction novel’ that it could have been.

Grisham starts the book – perhaps attempting to emulate Capote’s classic beginning of In Cold Blood – with a walk through Ada, the small town of the book’s title.  But the description is (excuse the pun) rather pedestrian.  And then, within the first chapter Grisham introduces almost all the characters in a confusing, overly broad outline which does little to draw the reader in.

Despite the bad beginning, the story that follows is fascinating and one that must be told.  It is a tale of small town prosecutors and cops who fabricate evidence, ignore reality (and the real killer) and ruin the life of Ron Williamson – a mentally fragile ex-baseball star and former hometown hero -- and his acquaintance and co-defendant Dennis Fritz. Grisham’s descriptions of Williamson’s deteriorating mental health, the sham of his trial, the horror of living on Death Row, and the pain suffered by him and his family (who are unable to help him get the help he needs) is, unfortunately, not unique in our criminal justice system.  Williamson and Fritz were eventually exonerated and Williamson released from Death Row to join the 123 other men and women in America who have been wrongfully convicted, sentenced to death, and then exonerated since 1973.  Grisham’s outrage at the injustice of Williamson’s case shows in his many rather sarcastic asides.  But it is an outrage that is clearly genuine --  and if Grisham’s celebrity helps to ensure that more Americans learn of how innocent men end up on death row, then his failure to write a literary masterpiece can be forgiven.