The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham

Ron Williamson grew up in Ada, Oklahoma, and intended to be a Major League baseball player. But when his dream fell apart, he began drinking too much, and got into drugs and women. Then one night a cocktail waitress was raped and killed not far from Williamson's home. He and a friend were arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death as the result of an aggressive and flawed investigation.

The Innocent Project got involved, and eventually, through the use of DNA, both were cleared of the murder. After eleven years on death row, at one time being five days from execution, Williamson suffered psychological damage.

Grisham details the failings of the criminal justice system.

458 pages

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

Trudy Schlemmer is a professor of German history in Minnesota. She is taking oral histories of World War II survivors. Her mother, Anna, is German, also, but has never talked about her past. Trudy knows she was three when her mother married an American soldier after the war.

The story moves back and forth from the present, starting with the funeral of Anna's husband, to Anna's story in Germany during the war. It is a story of family secrets; of the horrors of the holocaust, and a sobering portrait of life in a country at war.

Trudy has always had a million questions about her mother's past; about who her father was; about the war, and her mother's part in it. But her mother refuses to answer any questions. This is a heartbreaking story of shame and guilt that forever impacts the relationship between a mother and daughter.


496 pages

You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham

You Need a Budget: The Proven System for Breaking the Paycheck to Paycheck Cycle, Getting Out of Debt, and Living the Life You Want by Jesse Mecham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love it. I already use the YNAB app and would never go back to life without it, but just getting a refresher on all the principles and why they matter was a good reminder.

Pages: 224

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

 The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town
by John Grisham
Pages: 360
Rating: 4 out of 5

John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction is an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry.

In 1982, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.

John Grisham takes you through the suspects' previous lives, the crime and the court case as well as the fight to exonerate them.

The Confession

 The Confession
by John Grisham
Pages: 418
Rating; 4 out of 5

Travis Boyette abducts and kills a popular high school cheerleader in Sloan, Texas. He hides in body in Missouri so it will never be found. Another man is tried and convicted of the crime. With only days left before Donte Drumm is to be executed, Travis finds a minister and tells his story then leaves. The minister must decide if he should betray the confidence of confession to save an innocent man, but how can he get anyone to listen to him in time?

Grisham again brings up the flaws in our legal system, race,  and capital punishment, while crafting this legal thriller.

Sycamore Row (Jake Brigance #2)

 Sycamore Row
by John Grisham
Pages: 447
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Revisit Jake Brigance and Ford County, the setting of John Grisham's first novel, A Time to Kill. Life hasn't been kind to Jake Brigance and his family since he took and won the Hailey case. He still has police protection at night. Now, he receives a letter from a dead man. The letter's instructions may give him an even more controversial case.

A slower paced story than most of John Grisham's early novels but he continues to improve his writing style. An enjoyable tangle of a puzzle with believable characters.

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham

 Playing for Pizza
by John Grisham
Pages: 262
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

In honor of football season, I decided to start my John Grisham marathon read with his two novels about football. This one has more about the game and how football is played. The reader follows Rick, an NFL quarterback whose career is on the skids. Rick's agent talks him into going to play for the professional teams in Italy for a year to let publicity about his mistakes calm down.

Once there, Rick meets a few other Americans including the coach, Sam. In Italy, the season is 8 games long plus playoffs and only the American players are paid. The Italians all play for the love of the game and in the case of Rick's team, the Parma Panthers, all the pizza and beer they want on game nights. The different culture and values gives Rick time to examine himself and why he plays football.

Bleachers

 Bleachers
by John Grisham
Pages: 229
Rating: 4 out of 5

This is a story about a football in a small town, about how one man can affect a whole county for the better and for the worse and how in the end all that really matters isn't how you played the game, but who you are and can you forgive?

A quick read, with a deeper story than I expected from a "small town football tale." One of Grisham's strengths as a writer is challenging the reader to think about the issues in the lives of his characters and how these issues are something similar affects them. A worthwhile read even if you are not a sports fan or from a small town, though I think those from more rural areas will be able to relate more to the characters.