return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
Follow Us: 
   Reader reviews of The Innocent Man

Read what people think about The Innocent Man by John Grisham, and write your own review.

The Innocent Man

The Innocent Man
Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
by John Grisham
Hardcover: Oct 2006,
368 pages.
Paperback: Nov 2007,
448 pages.

Publication information
Author Information
Critics' Opinion:   
Readers' Rating:  
About BookBrowse Rankings
Share: 
Buy This Book
Page 1 of 1 There are currently 6 reviews
for The Innocent Man
Select your view:
Order Reviews by:
Click Here To Write Your Own Review
Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Concerned Citizen
Eye Opener
First, I would like to say that after reading all of the other comments made here, it appears that everyone seemed to miss the the point that this was not a book of fiction a la Mr. Grishman's other "tales". This is a true story of injustice in our Judaical system. If you are looking for a fast page turner of a "whodoneit" then stick to the crime/mystery fiction books!

That said, I am appalled, disappointed, disgusted, angry, ashamed, and generally speaking upset that something like this could happen! The people roaming the halls of justice in Ada, OK were driven by power, greed, stupidity and lame duck justice. God help them. God help the poor people who rely on them for justice. Doesn't exist!

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Bill
Better than fiction
I just finished "The Innocent Man" yesterday. I was completely absorbed by the story from beginning to end. I've only read a few Grisham books and this was my favorite. I tend to prefer modern stories when they are true, but I'm a big fan of the "classics" also.

I thought this story was along the lines of "In Cold Blood," except the cops were the bad guys. After reading what happened to Ron Williamson, Dennis Fritz, and the others, I'll never cooperate with police without consulting a good lawyer.

I only have one slight criticism. Grisham seemed determined to sell Ron's side of the story and made frequent sarcastic unsubstantiated comments against the OK authorities. The comments may have been deserved, but they seemed out of place coming from the teller of this true story. I suppose this was done to create more emotion and interest for the reader, which it does, but it made me feel kind of dirty.

Great book, though. I'd like to see more like this from Grisham.

Rated 1 of 5 of 5 by Sunshine
honest
Usually I am a big fan of John Grisham, I have read every book he has ever written and enjoyed every single one. I could hardly wait until this book came out in paperback so I could read it as well. What a disappointment - it is so boring and uninteresting and it puts the reader to sleep. I could not even finish this book I only got about 3/4 way through and just could not stand it anymore. It is just dreadful,

Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by SharonA
An Innocent Man
Dear Mr. Grisham,
I patiently wait for your books to come out on paperback before I buy and then devour! I love them all except for this one. I didn't realize it was your first non-fiction. It was way too long. I ended up skimming through when I realized I wasn't getting a story.

If you wanted to anger readers in regards to the judicial system, you most certainly achieved that. I am appalled at the lack of interest in the police at catching the "real" criminals. Why are they just interested in putting someone anyone behind bars? Don't they want to catch the bad guys?

I couldn't even read the last 1/4 of the book, I was so annoyed that it kept going and going. I hope your next books are back to stories with more dialogue etc.

Rated 2 of 5 of 5 by Cally
The Innocent Man
I have read many of John Grisham's books, and I typically enjoy them very much--they are the type of books that I don't want to put down! However, I did not feel this way about The Innocent Man; it's the first John Grisham book that I did not like. I kept waiting for the story to get better. I could not attach myself to Ron Williamson because he absolutely wasted his life away, and although he was wrongly accused, it was basically of his own doing because of the lifestyle he choose to live.

The book had some interesting aspects, but it was full of too many boring details and too many dysfunctional people. I compare it to a piece of artwork--just because the artwork may have a couple of interesting aspects to it, doesn't mean I want to really look at it, have it in my home, or like it! The Innocent Man was much the same way! Who wants to read about a man who pretty much wasted his life away, innocent or not!

I will continue to read John Grisham's book though! I really enjoy them, and I guess after an author has written so many, one is bound not to be so good.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Paulette
First Rate
Another well-written book from Grisham.

I loved the way Grisham put together voluminous facts and made it into one coherent and moving tale.

I was appalled by the fact that "competent" people can overlook so many important things that even I, an average citizen, can easily see. Either that, or these people just didnt give a sh** about the future of a human being they treated as a nuisance anyway.

I am happy though that in the end Ron was vindicated. If I were to decide the fate of these "competent" people, I'd give them 12 years imprisonment so they'll know better than to just solve the case even if it meant throwing the wrong guy into jail.
  1

Lists of books with similar themes


Read-Alikes


Other books by John Grisham
Buy This Book:

Become a Member
Golden Boy
Editor's Choice
  •  May 23 
  •  May 21 
  •  May 20 
And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed Jacket

Khaled Hosseini has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations
Helga's Diary
Helga Weiss

Helga's Diary Jacket

The remarkable diary of a young girl who survived the Holocaust—appearing in English for the first time.
Fever
Mary Beth Keane

Fever Jacket

A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Movies Based on Books: Summer 2013 (May - August)
Jewish Young Adult Books That Are Not About The Holocaust
Books to Give This Mother's Day
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
Recent Reader Reviews
Two Lives by Vikram Seth
Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great... read more
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight... read more
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on... read more
RSS RSS feed More...  
Most Viewed This Week
1. Sold
Patricia McCormick
2. Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand
3. And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini
4. A Child Called It
Dave Pelzer
5. Tethered
Amy Mackinnon
More...
Book Club Recommendations
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
by Jeanette Winterson
Paperback (Mar/13)
Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell
Hardback (Feb/13)
The House Girl
by Tara Conklin
Paperback (Oct/13)
The Painted Girls
by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Hardback (Jan/13)
More...
First Impressions
Members read and review books often months before they're published. See what they think in First Impressions!
The Sisterhood
by Helen Bryan
Four Stars            (Apr/13)
Golden Boy
by Abigail Tarttelin
4.5 Stars            (May/13)
The Caretaker
by A .X. Ahmad
Four Stars            (May/13)
The Last Girl
by Jane Casey
Four Stars            (May/13)
More...
  Latest BookBrowse News
Judge rules unused Borders gift cards to be worthless (May 23 2013)
Borders owes nothing to holders of roughly $210.5 million of gift cards that had not been used by the time the bookstore chain shut down, a Manhattan federal... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
 
BookBrowse Poll
Q: Which of these Summer movies based on books would you like to see? (Info on each movie here)
The Great Gatsby
Epic
Man of Steel
World War Z
The Lone Ranger
The Wolverine
R.I.P.D.
Percy Jackson
Paranoia
The Mortal Instruments
Select Any That Apply
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters
The Light Between Oceans

Online Book Club
More about
The Comfort of Lies
Join the discussion!


Win This Book!
On Sal Mal Lane


"Piercingly intelligent and shatter-your-heart profound."

Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"I Y N P O T Solution, Y P O T P"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Menna van Praag
Erica Brown
Helga Weiss
Kate Morton
frame bottom
HOME Book Submissions | Advertising | Library Subscriptions | Reviewing for BookBrowse | Contact Us