Most helpful customer reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
' Ronald Williamson, Freed from Death Row, Dies at 51', May 18 2007
This book highlights a number of disparate points about the pursuit of justice and about lives lived on society's fringes: none of which make for comfortable reading.
It is made very clear to readers that Ron Williamson was mentally ill. It is also clear that the truth about a murder became lost and an innocent man came close to execution. In the meantime, a number of lives were destroyed while simultaneously some very admirable and decent human beings emerge.
This book raises, potentially, a number of issues about the death penalty in the USA, about the misuse of science in assessing evidence, and about accessing justice. The story I focussed on primarily was that of a mentally ill man who, because he could not work within the framework of the justice system, was denied justice during his trial for murder.
That Ron Williamson lived long enough to be exonerated is in many ways a tribute to his own inner strength, to his family and to a small group of people who believed him and supported him as best they could.
'Strong Survivor' indeed.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
We get the point, Oct 29 2006
As I eagerly began reading Grisham's first non-fiction book, I recall saying to myself that he should write more of the same. The true story of Ron Williamson clearly needed to be told, if only to expose some of the "behind the scenes" and "under the table" actions of the police investigators, prosecutors, trial lawyers and prison system that process our suspected and convicted criminals and maintain law and order.
The book reveals real-life examples of guilt by association, conviction by circumstantial evidence, the ease with which corroborating witnesses can be obtained, the unreliability of certain types of forensic evidence (regardless of what Grissom does on CSI), and how innocent men (and women) sometimes find themselves languishing on death row (or are even executed) due to shoddy practices by those who are supposed to presume them innocent. It also offers insights into the disease of mental illness, and goes into depth about what happens if the illness is not diagnosed and the person given the correct treatment.
Grisham indicates that he could have written five hundred pages on this case, and though he certainly caught my interest, I'm thanking my lucky stars that he resisted the urge. The writers on CSI or Cold Case could easily wrap this story in an hour with commercial breaks, but not Mr. Grisham. He rambles on and on, repeating the same testimony and crazy behavior of Williamson, the endless sacrifice of his family, and stressing over and over the ineffectiveness and ineptitude of the police investigation. While he hammers home the issues of negligence, I would have hoped for a little balance, maybe giving a little credit here and there to the "good" officers of Ada who I'm sure continue to keep the peace, day after day, but as it is, it seems biased against law enforcement in general, and the local police in particular.
Grisham skillfully skirts around the rights and wrongs of the death penalty, but certainly makes a point for the need for rehabilitation of the judicial system in cases of mental incapacity, and compensation for wrongful conviction. His leading man starts off life as a talented but extremely spoiled child, and ends it through illness brought about by his own demons, and although his sad story will undoubtedly leave a nasty taste in your mouth after you've turned the last page, you'll be wishing that Grisham would be more like Grissom and cut straight to the chase.
Rated: 5 stars for the story and 2 for the tedious telling, averaging out to 3.5 stars overall.
Amanda Richards
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
too much for a book, April 27 2008
Well, this story we all agree is terrible, a young man who had a single dream, failed to achieve it, and collapsed and found himself in the center of a crime he didn't commit, in a utopia were fairness is the rule it shouldn't happen, certainly the character has suffered a lot, and the book faithfully exposes the legal system in that area to an unprecedented degree, it shows how the truth can and in many times is twisted, it has happened before and keeps happening again and on a wider scale internationally as well!
It is great to have a dream to pursue, but we must face the fact and move on when we can't achieve that dream sometimes, such attitude requires a balanced strong person, a thing our main character clearly lacked.
Don't get me wrong, when a person with such a difficult personality lives such a load life style, where a good time of the day and night for all it matters is spent in the places the main character used to hang out in, with such habits as mentioned in the book and in details, well you are bound to get into a lot of trouble and it will be more and more difficult for people to help you, especially if one keeps behaving in the way described, if one keeps scaring friends away. Why was this guy out of hundreds chosen for the crime?, yes the guys in the police department were certainly not the best, but with all the issues the main character had and kept having time and time again, he became an irresistible bait.
I think the story is certainly worth telling, and every one of us will extract different lessons, it is probably not as much worth being published, but probably being presented on a TV show like 60min. I sometimes found it hard to sympathize with the main character, or to be surprised with the mishaps he faced. I was however shocked from the profound legal misconduct which was made easy by the main character himself.
We do have a big role in creating our own luck and fortune, and our guy here was asking for trouble in many times, he went into a vicious down hill spiral with more problems hitting him, and with the personality issues that were surfacing with time, and with such a fragmented heath care and such a corrupted police department it was just inevitable to end up in this situation.
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