The Innocent Man - John Grisham

"The Innocent Man" is the first nonfiction work by John Grisham. Grisham takes a close look at the story of Ron Williamson, who went from the high school baseball hero hailed as the next Mickey Mantle to being a pro ball washout, wandering the streets homeless and mentally ill. Williamson, along with his friend Dennis Fritz, were convicted of a heinous rape/murder in his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma, and Williamson spent years on death row before his innocence was proven through the use of DNA. Grisham's book details prosecution deceit and a use of false testimony (including testimony from the actual killer) that would be almost unbelievable in a novel, presenting the facts in straightforward, journalistic manner.