Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
Before you go...
Check Out
The Bestselling Books of All Time
See the List

The Innocent Man

Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

By John Grisham

By John Grisham

By John Grisham

By John Grisham

By John Grisham

By John Grisham

By John Grisham

By John Grisham

By John Grisham
Read by Dennis Boutsikaris

By John Grisham
Read by Dennis Boutsikaris

By John Grisham
Read by Craig Wasson

By John Grisham
Read by Craig Wasson

By John Grisham
Read by Dennis Boutsikaris

By John Grisham
Read by Dennis Boutsikaris

Best Seller

Category: Nonfiction

Category: Nonfiction

Category: Nonfiction

Category: Nonfiction

Category: Audiobooks

Category: Audiobooks

Category: Audiobooks

Paperback $17.00

Nov 20, 2007 | ISBN 9780385340915

Mass Market Paperback $9.99

Mar 27, 2012 | ISBN 9780345532015 *This format is not eligible to earn points towards the Reader Rewards program

Hardcover $32.50

Oct 10, 2006 | ISBN 9780385517232

Ebook $8.99

Mar 16, 2010 | ISBN 9780307576019

CD $19.99

Apr 01, 2008 | 360 Minutes

Audiobook Download $22.50

Oct 10, 2006 | 750 Minutes

Audiobook Download $15.00

Oct 10, 2006 | 354 Minutes

All Formats
+
    The Innocent Man by John Grisham
    Paperback $17.00
    Nov 20, 2007 | ISBN 9780385340915

    Also available from:

    See All Formats (6) +

    Paperback (2)
    –

    • Paperback $17.00

      Nov 20, 2007 | ISBN 9780385340915

      Also available from:

    • Mass Market Paperback $9.99

      Mar 27, 2012 | ISBN 9780345532015

      Also available from:

      *This format is not eligible to earn points towards the Reader Rewards program

    Hardcover
    +

    • Hardcover $32.50

      Oct 10, 2006 | ISBN 9780385517232

      Also available from:

    Ebook
    +

    • Ebook

      Mar 16, 2010 | ISBN 9780307576019

      Available from:

    Audio (3)
    +

    • CD $19.99

      Apr 01, 2008 | ISBN 9780739365670

      360 Minutes

      Also available from:

    • Audiobook Download

      Oct 10, 2006 | ISBN 9780739340493

      750 Minutes

      Available from:

    • Audiobook Download

      Oct 10, 2006 | ISBN 9780739324202

      354 Minutes

      Available from:

    Buy the Audiobook Download:

    About The Innocent Man

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime story that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence.
     
    NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES
     
    “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly
     
    In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the Big Leagues, Ron stumbled, his dreams broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then, on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron’s home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evidence, it led to Ron Williamson. The washed-up small-town hero was charged, tried, and sentenced to death—in a trial littered with lying witnesses and tainted evidence that would shatter a man’s already broken life, and let a true killer go free.
     
    Impeccably researched, grippingly told, filled with eleventh-hour drama, The Innocent Man reads like a page-turning legal thriller. It is a book no American can afford to miss.
     
    Praise for The Innocent Man
     
    “Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his bestselling fiction.”—The Boston Globe
     
    “A gritty, harrowing true-crime story.”—Time
     
    “A triumph.”—The Seattle Times

    About The Innocent Man

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime story that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence.
     
    NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES
     
    “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly
     
    In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the Big Leagues, Ron stumbled, his dreams broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then, on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron’s home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evidence, it led to Ron Williamson. The washed-up small-town hero was charged, tried, and sentenced to death—in a trial littered with lying witnesses and tainted evidence that would shatter a man’s already broken life, and let a true killer go free.
     
    Impeccably researched, grippingly told, filled with eleventh-hour drama, The Innocent Man reads like a page-turning legal thriller. It is a book no American can afford to miss.
     
    Praise for The Innocent Man
     
    “Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his bestselling fiction.”—The Boston Globe
     
    “A gritty, harrowing true-crime story.”—Time
     
    “A triumph.”—The Seattle Times

    About The Innocent Man

    John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet.

    In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory.

    Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits—drinking, drugs, and women. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.

    In 1982, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter 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 finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder.

    With no physical evidence, the prosecution’s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.

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

    About The Innocent Man

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime story that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence.
     
    NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES
     
    “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly
     
    In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the Big Leagues, Ron stumbled, his dreams broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then, on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron’s home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evidence, it led to Ron Williamson. The washed-up small-town hero was charged, tried, and sentenced to death—in a trial littered with lying witnesses and tainted evidence that would shatter a man’s already broken life, and let a true killer go free.
     
    Impeccably researched, grippingly told, filled with eleventh-hour drama, The Innocent Man reads like a page-turning legal thriller. It is a book no American can afford to miss.
     
    Praise for The Innocent Man
     
    “Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his bestselling fiction.”—The Boston Globe
     
    “A gritty, harrowing true-crime story.”—Time
     
    “A triumph.”—The Seattle Times

    BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from John Grisham’s The Litigators.

    About The Innocent Man


    In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory.
    Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits—drinking, drugs, and women. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.
    In 1982, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter 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 finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder.
    With no physical evidence, the prosecution’s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.
    If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.

    About The Innocent Man

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime story that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence.
     
    SOON TO BE A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES
     
    “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly
     
    In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the Big Leagues, Ron stumbled, his dreams broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then, on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron’s home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evidence, it led to Ron Williamson. The washed-up small-town hero was charged, tried, and sentenced to death—in a trial littered with lying witnesses and tainted evidence that would shatter a man’s already broken life, and let a true killer go free.
     
    Impeccably researched, grippingly told, filled with eleventh-hour drama, this audio edition of The Innocent Man reads like an edge-of-your-seat legal thriller. It is a book no American can afford to miss.
     
    Praise for The Innocent Man
     
    “Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his bestselling fiction.”—The Boston Globe
     
    “A gritty, harrowing true-crime story.”—Time
     
    “A triumph.”—The Seattle Times

    About The Innocent Man

    #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime story that will terrify anyone who believes in the presumption of innocence.
     
    SOON TO BE A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES
     
    “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly
     
    In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the Big Leagues, Ron stumbled, his dreams broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then, on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron’s home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evidence, it led to Ron Williamson. The washed-up small-town hero was charged, tried, and sentenced to death—in a trial littered with lying witnesses and tainted evidence that would shatter a man’s already broken life, and let a true killer go free.
     
    Impeccably researched, grippingly told, filled with eleventh-hour drama, this audio edition of The Innocent Man reads like an edge-of-your-seat legal thriller. It is a book no American can afford to miss.
     
    Praise for The Innocent Man
     
    “Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his bestselling fiction.”—The Boston Globe
     
    “A gritty, harrowing true-crime story.”—Time
     
    “A triumph.”—The Seattle Times

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Read An Excerpt

    Reading Guide

    Listen to a sample from The Innocent Man

    Also by John Grisham

    A Time for Mercy
    The Guardians
    Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
    Camino Winds
    The Reckoning
    See all books by John Grisham

    Also by John Grisham

    A Time for Mercy
    The Guardians
    Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
    Camino Winds
    The Reckoning
    See all books by John Grisham

    Also by John Grisham

    A Time for Mercy
    The Guardians
    Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
    Camino Winds
    The Reckoning
    See all books by John Grisham

    Also by John Grisham

    A Time for Mercy
    The Guardians
    Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
    Camino Winds
    The Reckoning
    See all books by John Grisham

    Also by John Grisham

    A Time for Mercy
    The Guardians
    Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
    Camino Winds
    The Reckoning
    See all books by John Grisham

    Also by John Grisham

    A Time for Mercy
    The Guardians
    Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
    Camino Winds
    The Reckoning
    See all books by John Grisham

    Also by John Grisham

    A Time for Mercy
    The Guardians
    Theodore Boone: The Accomplice
    Camino Winds
    The Reckoning
    See all books by John Grisham

    About John Grisham

    John Grisham is the author of thirty novels, one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories, and six novels for young readers.

    About John Grisham

    John Grisham is the author of thirty novels, one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories, and six novels for young readers.

    About John Grisham

    John Grisham is the author of thirty novels, one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories, and six novels for young readers.

    About John Grisham

    John Grisham is the author of thirty novels, one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories, and six novels for young readers.

    About John Grisham

    John Grisham is the author of thirty novels, one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories, and six novels for young readers.

    About John Grisham

    John Grisham is the author of thirty novels, one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories, and six novels for young readers.

    About John Grisham

    John Grisham is the author of thirty novels, one work of nonfiction, a collection of stories, and six novels for young readers.

    Product Details

    Category: Nonfiction

    Paperback | $17.00
    Published by Bantam
    Nov 20, 2007 | 400 Pages | 5-1/4 x 8 | ISBN 9780385340915

    Category: Nonfiction

    Mass Market Paperback | $9.99
    Published by Dell
    Mar 27, 2012 | 448 Pages | 4-3/16 x 7-1/2 | ISBN 9780345532015

    Category: Nonfiction

    Hardcover | $32.50
    Published by Doubleday
    Oct 10, 2006 | 368 Pages | 6-1/8 x 9-1/4 | ISBN 9780385517232

    Category: Nonfiction

    Ebook | $8.99
    Published by Dell
    Mar 16, 2010 | 448 Pages | ISBN 9780307576019

    Category: Audiobooks

    CD | $19.99
    Published by Random House Audio
    Apr 01, 2008 | 360 Minutes | ISBN 9780739365670

    Category: Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $22.50
    Published by Random House Audio
    Oct 10, 2006 | 750 Minutes | ISBN 9780739340493

    Category: Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $15.00
    Published by Random House Audio
    Oct 10, 2006 | 354 Minutes | ISBN 9780739324202

    Inspired by Your Browsing History

    Also in

    ‹ ›
    The Partner
    The Partner
    John Grisham
    The Confession
    The Confession
    John Grisham
    The Testament
    The Testament
    John Grisham
    A Time to Kill
    A Time to Kill
    John Grisham
    Partners
    Partners
    John Grisham
    The Last Juror
    The Last Juror
    John Grisham
    The Street Lawyer
    The Street Lawyer
    John Grisham
    The Summons
    The Summons
    John Grisham
    The Broker
    The Broker
    John Grisham
    The Brethren
    The Brethren
    John Grisham
    Fetching Raymond: A Story from the Ford County Collection
    Fetching Raymond: A Story from the Ford County Collection
    John Grisham
    The Chamber
    The Chamber
    John Grisham
    A Painted House
    A Painted House
    John Grisham
    The Associate
    The Associate
    John Grisham
    Witness to a Trial
    Witness to a Trial
    John Grisham
    The Rainmaker
    The Rainmaker
    John Grisham
    The Appeal
    The Appeal
    John Grisham
    The Runaway Jury
    The Runaway Jury
    John Grisham
    The King of Torts
    The King of Torts
    John Grisham
    The Firm
    The Firm
    John Grisham
    The Pelican Brief
    The Pelican Brief
    John Grisham
    The Goodbye Man
    The Goodbye Man
    Jeffery Deaver
    The Color of Law
    The Color of Law
    Mark Gimenez
    Robert B. Parker's Blood Feud
    Robert B. Parker’s Blood Feud
    Mike Lupica
    Manhattan Is My Beat
    Manhattan Is My Beat
    Jeffery Deaver
    A Time for Mercy
    A Time for Mercy
    John Grisham
    Judgment
    Judgment
    Joseph Finder
    A Plague of Secrets
    A Plague of Secrets
    John Lescroart
    The Motive
    The Motive
    John Lescroart
    The Client
    The Client
    John Grisham
    Black Cross
    Black Cross
    Greg Iles
    Bleachers
    Bleachers
    John Grisham

    Praise

    “A gritty, harrowing true-crime story.” —Time

    “A triumph.” —Seattle Times

    “Grisham has crafted a legal thriller every bit as suspenseful and fast-paced as his best-selling fiction.” —Boston Globe

    Back to Top

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read
    An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook
    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices

    LitFlash

    The eBooks you want at the lowest prices
    Read it first. Pass it on!

    Read it Forward

    Read it first. Pass it on!