it was on the sale rack. 30% off. I picked it up without checking that it was non-fiction. I just wanted a page turner for the plane. This is definitely not a page turner. It reads more like a long news paper article. Filled with facts, figures, dates and lots of names of people you never get to know enough to care. Billed as an indictment of the death penalty and an expose of small town injustice and railroading, I just thought it was boring. Sure one in a thousand cases happen like this but that doesn’t mean the vast majority of people on death row don’t deserve to be there. One bad case doesn’t indict the whole system. The checks and balances worked here. The guy is free. He didn’t get electrocuted.

If you are looking for a studied argument for or against the death penalty keep looking. And Grisham, leave the true crime to people who are good at it. You are not. I rate 1 of 5 stars. Leave this one in the bargin bin.