John Grisham, The Innocent Man

From the master of the legal thriller, comes the greatest true story of crime and punishment ever written.

When John Grisham read the obituary of Ronald Williamson in the papers early last year, he realized he had come across a story even more riveting than those he had turned into 18 global bestsellers which have sold 200 million copies around the world..

It was a story of failed dreams, madness, rape and murder, a botched trial, a death sentence and a twelve-year fight to win justice for a wronged man.

Ronald Williamson was a local hero when a young man in his home town of Ada, Oklahoma. A fabulously talented baseball player, he excelled at college and was set to become a national sports star when injury wrecked his career. Mental illness and alcoholism followed his return to Ada, a burned-out shell of a man. While in prison serving a short sentence for a petty felony, a fellow prisoner alleged that he had heard Williamson confess to the unsolved rape and murder of a local bar girl.

Denied drugs to control his psychiatric problems, given a blind attorney who had never defended a criminal case, Williamson stood no chance in court and was sentenced to death.

One of the greatest mistrials in American judicial history became one of the greatest single fights for justice of any convicted man. 5 days before his execution, Williamson was given a stay and shortly after completely pardoned.

As so with the full cooperation of the Williamson family, Grisham recounts the murder, its aftermath, the trial, the imprisonment and the exoneration. With many of the same themes as his novels - legal suspence, the death penalty, wrongful conviction - The Innocent Man is the ultimate true legal thriller.

John Grisham has been consumed by the Williamson story, researching every detail of the nerve jangling drama of Williamson's trial and deathwatch. A court room drama and a race against time, John Grisham's first work of non-fiction is as compelling as any of his novels and will be compared to Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD.

If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you belive in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.

Random House Australia
Author: John Grisham
ISBN: 1844137902 / 9781844137909
RRP: $49.95

John Grisham

Long before his name became synonymous witht he modern legal thriller, John Grisham was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby - writing his first novel.

Born February 8, 1955 in Arkansas, John Grisham dreamed of being a professional baseball player but realizing he didn't have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and studied accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade, specializing in criminal defence and personal injury litigation. In 1983, he was elected tot he state House of Representatives and served until 1990.

One day at Dessoto County courhouse, John Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered the assailants. Getting up at 5 am every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, John Grisham spent three years on 'A Time to Kill' and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood press, who gave it a mosdest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.

That might have put an end to John Grisham's hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full time career - and spark one of publishing's greatest success stories. The day after John Grisham completed 'A Time to Kill', he began work on antoher novel, the story of a hotshot young attorney lured to an apparently perfect law firm that was not what it appeared. When he sold the film rights to 'The Firm' to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, John Grisham suddenly became hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on 'The New York Times' bestseller list, 'The Firm' became the bestselling novel of 1991.

The successes of 'The Pelican Brief' and 'The Client' confirmed John Grisham's reputation as the master of the legal thriller and his success renewed interest in 'A Time to Kill' which was republished in hardcover. This time around, it was a bestseller.

Since 1988, John Grisham has written one book a year including: A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, The Last Juror, Bleachers, and The Broker, all best sellers. Over 200 million John Grisham books have been sold.

When he's not writing, John Grisham keeps up his greatest passion: baseball. The man who dreamed of being a professional baseball player now serves as the local Little League commissioner. The six ballfields he built on his property have played host to over 350 kids on 26 Little League teams.