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The Innocent Man
Murder And Injustice In A Small Town
by John Grisham


7.4

based on 12 reviews
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based on 28 votes
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Official Author Site

While this tale about a wrongly-accused murderer in a small town may seem like a typical John Grisham crime thriller, it differs in one crucial aspect: it is a work of nonfiction.

Doubleday, 368 pages
10/10/2006
$28.95

ISBN: 0385517238

Nonfiction
True Crime

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Boston Globe Chuck Leddy

A legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his best - selling fiction.

Entertainment Weekly Jennifer Reese

Grisham has written both an American tragedy and his strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.

Daily Telegraph Raymond Seitz

Grisham lets this gripping story tell itself. Without directly attacking capital punishment, he demonstrates the gross fallibilities of the system, exposing here not merely a 'miscarriage of justice' but its utter collapse.

Chicago Sun-Times Steve Weinberg

It is not a feel-good book despite the exonerations of Williamson and Fritz. It is an important book, however. Maybe with Grisham shouting out the causes and frequency of wrongful convictions, reform will occur in every jurisdiction, rather than only a few.

Sydney Morning Herald Bruce Elder

He doesn't degenerate into cliches and he has a natural sense of dramatic structure that ensures the book has a compelling forward momentum.

The Onion A.V. Club Noel Murray

Grisham overdoes it a little. He states and re-states each malfeasance, and writes in exhausting detail about Williamson's untreated mental illness. But when Grisham gets into what happened to Williamson and company during their prison stay, The Innocent Man finds its purpose.

Washington Post Jonathan Yardley

His prose here isn't as good as it is in his novels -- he too often misuses "like" for "as," and the exclamation points he inserts as ironic asides are clumsy -- but his reasoning is sound and his passion is contagious.

The New York Times Janet Maslin

Compared with other works in its genre, The Innocent Man is less spectacular than sturdy. It is a reminder not only of how propulsively Mr. Grisham’s fiction is constructed but of how difficult it is to make messy reality behave in clear, streamlined fashion.

Chicago Tribune Steve Mills

Grisham writes the story with such restraint that, at times, he fails to arouse sufficient anger at the miscarriage Williamson and Fritz suffered.

Los Angeles Times Michael Harris

But isn't there more to it than that? From a nonfiction book, we expect a diagnosis as well as a story....Grisham skimps on historical context.

Wall Street Journal Joshua Marquis

Thanks to his abundant storytelling skills, the author delivers an account that is as vivid as the Grisham fictional fare sold at airport kiosks -- but it is also, alas, just as oversimplified as his novels, and it distorts the justice system in the same way.

The New York Times Book Review Edward Lewine

In The Innocent Man, however, he has shackled himself to facts that are less intriguing than he imagines, and he fails to use his creative gifts to help matters along.

The average user rating for this book is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 28 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tom H gave it a9:
D.A. Peterson, Gary Rogers and friends seem to be a dim-witted,sadistic bunch. If these guys still hold positions of authority, I think I'll give Ada, Ok. a pass on my next vacation.

Zoe J gave it a10:
This book made me think and although it was depressing I felt compelled to finish it.

Elvira H gave it a10:
I am a big John Grishm fan, and to see him write a non-fiction book was great. It shows that he can still do it. I've already read the book twice!!!!!!!!!!!

Ws Rad gave it a10:
Disturbing. Message to everyone, avoid the very appearance of evil. You will notice that none of the characters thrown into jail were saints, so they were convenient scapegoats. You could be next. Stay at home and out of strip clubs and bars and away from drugs and alcohol. Is is hard to imagine that no one in authority cried foul while it was going on.

Ken gave it an8:
Excellent book! It is nice to know that someone will write about the troubles happening within some segments of our legal system. Critics may say what they want but the content is still there!

R LeBlanc gave it a3:
The book is boring. Grisham needs to go back to fiction. This is certainly not in the same league as other good true crime books such as - In Cold Blood

Ann G gave it a9:
Excellent book but at times got bogged down on details of Ron's mental illness. A bit too much repetition. It did though make the reader think about capital punishment and the errors in our system.

The Innocent Man Murder And Injustice In A Small Town by John Grisham

The Innocent Man
Murder And Injustice In A Small Town
by John Grisham