The Innocent Man

As a fan of John Grisham I bought this book without reading the blurb on the back, I hadn't realised it was actually a true story and not a work of fiction.

~The Story~

The book for the most part follows the lives of Ron Williamson and his family, although through association with Ron it also encompasses the life of Dennis Fritz. There are also substantial mentions for Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot.

The book is basically about the inadequacies and the injustices in the US justice system. The malicious prosecution of a man and his friend because he is different, because he doesn't fit in with societies ideals, because his physical appearance scares people and because his mental illnesses make his an ideal scapegoat.

~The Men and Women Involved~

Ron Williamson

Ron was a high school college star, destined for the big leagues, his temper and injuries combined to stop Ron making the most of the natural talent he had for sports. Ron is also blessed with a talent for the guitar, which leads him to spend hours and hours alone playing and drinking. Eventually he succumbs to alcoholism, and begins crawling the bars of his home town of Ada, Oklahoma. His temper continues to get him into trouble, eventually he has some psychological testing (over many years) and is found to suffer from bi-polar and schizophrenia. During his time drifting from bar to bar and drinking, he runs into Dennis Fritz.

Dennis Fritz

Dennis was a father and a teacher, separated from his wife he moved not far from the Williamson's. Eventually he met Ron, and through their love of the guitar and music they became friends and started to go out drinking together. Eventually Dennis found he couldn't cope with Ron's mood swings and stopped drinking with him. But the damage was done.

Debbie Carter

A young waitress at a local cocktail bar, who was brutally raped and murdered in December 1982.

Denice Haraway

A young woman who was abducted in April 1984.

Gary Gore

The last man to be seen talking to Debbie Carter, he had also asked her to dance earlier in the evening. But the dance was cut short as Debbie angrily stormed off to the bathroom.

Tommy Ward

A local boy who had the misfortune of having a few misdemeanours to his name, and bore a slight resemblance to a photofit of the suspected kidnappers of Denice Haraway.

Karl Fontenot

Another local boy, who had been fishing with Tommy when Denice disappeared, and was Tommy's alibi witness.

Terri Holland

A petty criminal and jailhouse snitch.

~Their Stories~

As I said before the book is about the mistakes in the criminal justice system which almost cost these men their lives. I don't want to go into a great deal of detail because that would defeat the object of reading the book. So the basic outline is; Ron and Dennis were arrested for the rape and murder of Debbie, many years after the crime had actually been committed, and after the death of Ron's mother who was able to say that Ron was home on the night of the murder.

Tommy and Karl were arrested for the kidnapping of Denice. Both sets of men were convicted on the flimsiest of evidence, mainly consisting of testimony from jail house snitches, particularly the evidence of Terri Holland. Even though it was shown that she could not have heard what she testified to.

The only other major pieces of evidence were so called confessions. After hours of police grilling and threats Tommy and Karl were coerced into giving confessions. The police gave them hypothetical scenarios telling them to imagine what might have happened if it was all a dream. After getting them to tell a reasonable sounding story they were told to repeat it into a video camera, but they were told not to mention dreams or anything similar.

The confessions were full of holes and contradicted each other. When the body of Denice was eventually found, it was shown that there was no resemblance to the crime and the confession. Despite this the prosecution went ahead and their fate was sealed when the jury saw the men on video confessing to killing Denice.

The police used the same tactics again years later with Ron, they also coerced a 'dream' confession, and again this was coupled with the testimony of Terri Holland, who again received a pass on her crimes once the testimony had been delivered.

Dennis was tried separately to Ron and found guilty, he was sentenced to life in prison. Ron was portrayed as the major protagonist and he too was convicted, his case wasn't helped by the incompetence of his attorney, and that the prison guards deliberately messed with the doses of his medication and whispered messages 'from beyond the grave' pretending to be Debbie. This meant Ron was in a terrible state in court and unable to control himself. Ron was sentenced to the death penalty.

Tommy and Karl were both convicted and received the death penalty. When further evidence came to light that proved their confessions to be false, they were retried and received life imprisonment.

The story then continues to tell the readers about the appeals process and how only one judge had the foresight to realise a terrible injustice had been done. It also tells of the horrendous treatment Ron received whilst on death row, and the blatant disregard by the prison service for his mental state.

~My Thoughts~

The description above really doesn't give justice to the complete and utter travesty that occurred in Ada and the criminal justice system. Its hard to believe that this could have happened in recent times, it reads like a tale from the 1800's.

I have never agreed with the death penalty, although sometimes when I hear vile acts against children, my immediate response is hang the b*stards. This is usually only fleeting and my true feelings about the death penalty come back to the fore.

This book strengthens those feelings, if it hadn't been for a few good men and women working tirelessly on appeals, three men would have been put to death. One of whom was so mentally disturbed at some points he could barely function.

I found myself sickened by the actions of the police, who completely disregarded any evidence and despite Miranda being introduced a couple of years early, they also disregarded the rights of their suspects.

But even more sickening was the attitude of the prosecutor, who even after the release of Ron and Dennis would not admit he had made a mistake. He relied on jail house snitches who he must have known would say anything to reduce their own sentence. If he didn't realise this then he is even more dangerous as he must have no sense at all.

At first I found the book a little hard reading, perhaps that was because I was expecting a fiction book, and factual books are written in a different manner. But by around the third chapter I was hooked, I kept having to turn the page, because I was convinced that the prosecutor couldn't be that stupid and the next chapter would show him admitting his mistake.

My heart absolutely went out to Ron's sisters, Annette and Renee. The heart break they went through watching their brother being convicted for a crime he didn't commit was bad enough. But then they had to watch his mental deterioration from afar, and had to fight every step of the way to get him medical help.

I also felt sorry for Debbie's mother, who actually gets only slight mentions in the book. But I can imagine how hard it was for her, not only to lose her daughter in such a vile way, but to think that her murder was solved, only for all the wounds to be reopened.

I would recommend this book to anyone, but I would especially recommend it to anyone who believes in the death penalty. These three men were almost killed by the state for just having the wrong look. Two men are still in jail 22 years later fighting for their freedom.

I now want to read The Dreams of Ada by Robert Mayer, which was published a few years after the convictions, and details the ludicrous confessions of these men.

York Dungeon

I can't say I was particularly impressed with the York Dungeon, I had heard really good things about the London Dungeon, and I thought it'd be very similar, but this turned out not to be the case.

==Finding the Dungeon==

Firstly it took us a while to find the place. The directions we had and the signposting around York weren't the best, and we almost gave up. It was only because we'd bought the tickets in advance that we persevered.

The dungeon address is York Dungeon, 12 Clifford Street, York, YO1 9RD, which is a little back street well away from the centre of York.

==Opening Times ==

The dungeon opens at 10.30 each day, and closes between 4 and 5.30 depending on the time of year, it closes earlier in low season, and later during the school holidays.

== Prices ==

Adult: £14.00/ Child: £10.00/ Student: £13.00 / OAP (60+ yrs): £13.00

Booking online makes it cheaper, for example booking one adult and 2 children online means you can save up to £10.20. It is 'up to' that amount because the prices vary during the day, and early morning and late afternoon prices are cheaper. The only problem booking this way is that you are limited to a 2 hour slot, I'm not sure what would happens if you miss this slot.

The price is for the tour, and it lasts about 1 hour.

== My Thoughts ==

As I said earlier we struggled to find it, because it was on the corner of a little back street, in fact we only really noticed it because we saw a bunch of people loitering on the pavement. When we got closer we realised that this was the queue for the dungeon. There was a member of staff dressed as some sort of ghoul trying to entertain the queue, but he wasn't being very successful.

The major drawback to this attraction is the party size, they allow far too many people in at one time, and whilst this helps to keep the queues down it also means that the rooms are packed, with people shoulder to shoulder. It also means that children can't really see what's going on, because there are too many adults in front of them and unfortunately in today's society adults won't move aside and let children to the front so they can see.

On the tour you move from room to room, and the staff are dressed in different costumes, and they tell the tales of Dick Turpin, Guy Fawkes, the Black Death amongst others. There's also a mirror room that is supposed to represent the Labyrinth of the Lost Roman Legion, where you wander around a mirror maze.

During the Dick Turpin talk you sit on benches whilst the story is being told, then when Dick is hanged the benches drop a whole inch or two, which I presume is meant to be the thrilling part of the tour, but it fell completely flat.

There's also a mock 17th Century court room, where one staff member dresses up as a judge, and randomly picks people out of the audience to humiliate in the dock. Whilst this was slightly amusing, you could see that the people who were selected were extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed by the situation.

Unlike the London Dungeon there's no ride at the end, so basically you're paying a lot of money for an hours walk whilst being squashed in with a lot of sweaty strangers.

I can't really recommend it, I found it mildly interesting, but the kids didn't really enjoy it, mainly because they couldn't see half of what was going on. And a lot of the time they couldn't understand what the staff were saying, because they were putting on strange cackling voices to try and create a more horrifying atmosphere. Because I knew the stories they were telling I could just about work out what they were talking about, but because the kids had never learned of the Black Plague or Dick Turpin at school they struggled to understand what they were saying.

Unusually for legal thrillers this book starts with the trial verdict, and as the name suggests the verdict is appealed.

~Short Synopsis~

The books begins at the end of a piece of civil litigation with the giant chemical company Krane defending their dumping of carcinogenic chemicals in a town's water supply and rejecting the claims of the townsfolk and particularly the plaintiff Jeanette Baker, who's son and husband died of cancer.
Krane Chemicals is part of the Trudeau Group owned by billionaire Carl Trudeau.

When the verdict finally comes in the jury have awarded a total of $41 million dollars in damages and punitive damages.

Trudeau insists his company will not be paying out anything, and so begins the appeal.

The story follows the lives of the lawyers who took Jeanette Baker's case and their struggle to overcome the costs of both the case and the appeal. It also follows the lives of Carl Trudeau and his companies, and his love of money over people.

But the majority of the story is about the corruption in the US Supreme Court system and the way in which good men can be manipulated by big business, and how money can buy anything including seats on the Supreme Court Judges panel. It shows that lawyer Ron Fisk, despite believing himself to be in charge, is just a pawn in the game.

As usual I would love to say more, particularly about the ending, but obviously that would be giving far too much away and would spoil it for anyone who hasn't read the book.

~Writing Style~

John Grisham has been a firm favourite of mine for many years, I have read just about every book he has written. Were some have disappointed me, The Appeal most certainly did not. The writing flows beautifully, Grisham doesn't waste valuable pages talking about the technicalities of the justice system, but he does subtly introduce the information you need to know, without it being preachy or seeming like you're reading a textbook.

On the front of the book there is a quote from the Daily Express, which states 'Nobody Does Legal Fiction Better', and its absolutely true. I've read a lot of legal fiction and Grisham is far and away the best in his field.

~My Thoughts~

If you haven't guessed, I thought this book was great. In parts I found it some what worrying however. Because I can truly imagine that in real life these big companies are just as ruthless and manipulative as they are in this book. And for them profits and the shareholders come before the rights of the 'little people', whether they be people living around the company or workers of the company.

It also made me think about the water we drink, how safe is it really? How do we know we aren't all being poisoned slowly but surely? Although I think that's just my over active imagination running away with me.

The book wasn't without its faults. I found the husband and wife team of Wes and Mary Grace Payton who took on the case to be a little too sickly sweet. Other people probably find it sweet and cute that a pair of lawyers would put their livelihoods, their home etc on the line for a client, but I found that just a little unrealistic.

The book certainly brought home how easy it is to manipulate individuals and society when there is enough money involved, and it made me glad that we don't have the same system of electing judges in this country.

After about a third of the book I thought to myself, 'I know how this is going to turn out'. But I was wrong, and I was even wrong about the second scenario I had after the first turned out to be wrong.

The latest in the Alphabet books by Sue Grafton.

~Background~

A bit of background for anyone who hasn't heard of them. The Alphabet books are of the crime/drama genre and A is for Alibi was first published in 1983. The main character is Kinsey Millhone, a ex police officer now turned private investigator. She lives in a flat attached to the house of her landlord and now good friend Henry. Other recurring characters include, Rosie the owner of the local tavern, who serves some of the vilest sounding Eastern European food! William, who is Henry's brother and now Rosie's partner and Lonnie Kingman, Kinsey's friend and legal advisor. Although these characters occur in all the books, and there are some other minor characters who pop up now and then, the books are all stand alone books. While knowing and investing in the characters adds to the enjoyment, it is quite possible to enjoy each book without reading the entire series.

~Short Synopsis~

Kinsey's neighbour Mr Gus Vronsky has a tumble at his home, leaving him requiring the services of a home help/nurse to assist his day to day living. His only relative (his great grand niece) lives too far away to help, so flies in to hire someone.

A shortage of applicants means she hurriedly hires Solana Rojas, and asks Kinsey to do a background check on her.

The background check shows Solana to be a efficient if rather strict and staid nurse. There's nothing to suggest that Solana will be any trouble at all. However, Solana is not all she seems and soon Kinsey has to re-evaluate her impresses of the nurse. And Gus steadily gets worse rather than better.

Kinsey is also hired to investigate the claims of a young woman accused of causing a road traffic accident. The young woman claims the couple suing her deliberately hit her, whilst the couple insist than she pulled out on them, causing a lot of pain and suffering.

~My Thoughts~

As usual Sue Grafton comes up trumps. The book is very easy reading, although i can lead to late nights and tiredness in the morning as you think 'I'll just read one more chapter', and that chapter turns into another and another, lol.
The characters all work really well together, and despite some of them appearing in every book they never get boring. In fact its good to know what it happening in their lives.

I like the way Sue has continued on from S is for Silence (where she first introduced 3rd party points of view) and writes from both Kinsey's and Solana's points of view. It means you can really get into Solana's mind and get an understanding of what makes her tick.

I also like the fact Sue has covered the little written about subject of elderly abuse, child abuse books are a dime a dozen, but elderly abuse is barely mentioned.

The only problem was the ending was a little weak, but not enough to take away from the fact it was a great book.

~Availability~

From all book sellers, currently priced at Amazon for £8.36 in paperback or £8.44 in hardback.

Book of the Dead - Patricia Cornwell

It has just taken me over 3 weeks to read this book, which is so unusual. The majority of the Scarpetta series I have read in a day or two, the one previous to this took a little longer at about a week. But this book was so awful I struggled to even get to the end.

It is such a shame because Patricia Cornwell has the ability to be such an excellent writer, but she has really let herself down badly with Book of the Dead, I haven't read a synopsis of the latest book Scarpetta, but I hope Patricia puts the series to rest in it, because judging by this one she's taken it a step too far.

Its hard to say why this book was so bad without giving too much away about the storyline (or lack thereof!), so beware if you are an absolute spoiler hater you'll probably want to stop reading here.

According to the synposis the book should be about Scarpetta and her newly opened private forensics lab, and the death of a tennis star, and the death of a young boy. All the things you'd except from a Scarpetta book. However the synopsis doesn't match the actual book itself.
What we actually get is two thirds of a book about Scarpetta's personal life and Benton's treatment of Dr Self in his clinic. Then we have a huge chunk of the book dedicated to Marino, his love life and his problems.
And as an after thought there are odd mentions of the deaths, a teeny bit of forensics thrown in, and finally in the last chapter or so the deaths are all wrapped up in a nice neat package.

But the package isnt that neat, because it leaves you wondering what on earth was all that about? There is nothing to really tell you why the bad guy or gal did what he or she did.

Its not that the Scarpetta series has avoided the personal lives of the characters, its just that they were always secondary to the main plots of the book.

I am so glad that I didnt pay for this book, that I actually just borrowed it from someone else, because if I'd bought it I think I'd be taking it back under the Sale of Goods Act - Not fit for the purpose. Because this book is certainly not a good read, or entertaining by any stretch of the imagination.

Scream for Me, Karen Rose

This was the first Karen Rose book I read, and I actually read them out of order because I should have read Die for Me first. However, even though the there were some references to Die For Me it didnt actually make any difference to reading this book, and it certainly didnt affect the enjoyment of it.

I didnt think I'd be able to find an author that could equal John Connolly but Karen Rose certainly does that. The book is perfectly paced and well written, it is one of those books were you think to yourself 'I'll just read one more chapter' and suddenly you find its 3am and you have work in four hours. The characters are believable and this allows the reader to invest in the character and sympathise/believe in them.

As succinctly as possible the plot revolves around Daniel Vartanian, a detective who tries to solve a murder from 13 yrs previous, which is somehow connected to his brother Simon.

Without giving too much away, his search leads him to connect up with Alex Fallon (female) who is also connected to the murder, but is also in danger.

To get the most out of this book I would suggest reading the books in order, because whilst it didnt spoil the enjoyment, when I eventually read the first book it did lead to a couple of 'now it makes sense' moments. But for anyone who likes crime/thiller novels then this is a great book, and Karen Rose is an excellent author.