Almost heartbreaking to read about the injustices here. No system is perfect, but the corruption and ineptitude is truly tragic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author/publisher for the book in return for my honest opinion.

Ever since watching the Kalief Browder story, the 16-year-old boy who was held for over 1100 days at Riker's Island without a trial, I've become obsessed with cases of wrongful conviction.

The stories in this collection will leave you angry, speechless, and absolutely questioning the idea of justice. It was just mind-boggling to see how these people were treated and how many years they lost to a system that will leave them all irrevocably changed. It was difficult at times to keep reading because of the sheer injustice and outrageousness of these true stories, but they need an audience. These stories need to be told.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

As much as I loved this book, it was also a gutpunch due to it being completely true. The ten stories in this book are all about people (mostly men) who are convicted of crimes they did not commit. All of them murders, some involving rape or arson, but which results in death as well.

Each short story is written by either Grisham or McCloskey, who both did their research. I have read The Innocent Man and was impressed, so I knew this one would be as well. Similar themes run through each of these stories, as well. Most of the falsely convicted are people of color, or have a low IQ, or are of low income, or a combination of these. None of them asked for a lawyer. The book stated that up to 90% of innocent people don’t ask for an attorney because they know they are innocent and have nothing to hide.

This book should be required reading, honestly, about how police and district attorneys can railroad people to close the case and have a successful conviction on their records. I have no doubt these stories are but a handful in our prejudicial justice system.

Really well researched but important to note this is two white men who still have a lot of biases to work through.

This is a book I will recommend to all and reread more than once. It highlights the ineptitude of our justice system and brings to light the horrors that are often swept under the rug. Ten innocent people who were wrongfully convicted are spotlighted through this nonfiction novel that feels like it should be the stuff of fiction in the 21st century. This is a difficult read, but worth the endeavor. These are the true crime stories that need to be amplified. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

The subject matter of these stories is very grave and sobering. It seemed at times, that Grisham's writing was a bit flippant and arrogant, like we're lucky he's giving his opinion. I didn't get that impression from Jim McCloskey's writing. He feels more reserved and more respectful of the subject.
Thank you to Doubleday Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a depressing book for me. Sad and scary that these are true stories. I think the telling of the stories has a purpose and is important but not entertaining.

It wasn't written with the character development or authors flare. Very boring like reading a case file or financial papers.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

Outrageous. Nauseating. Should be required reading by all those public servants who wield the power discussed in these convictions. And those who vote for such laws.

Seriously upsetting, and a very difficult read. The message is clear and needs to be accepted - those to whom we afford the power of life and death need more oversight than they are given. Kudos to Centurion Ministries, Innocence Project, Innocence Network and other organizations who advocate on behalf of those who are wrongfully convinced. Kudos to all who don't accept what we now have in place and continue to strive for a criminal legal system that is just, and to impose accountability on those whose work rests the questionable power of granting life or death.

We need a better system, and in this book is found a loud call to arms x 10. Thank you to Authors Grisham and McCloskey for their raised voices, flags and call to action. All the stars for awareness and changed minds.

*A sincere thank you to John Grisham and Jim McCloskey, Doubleday Books, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #Framed #NetGalley

This was definitely not an easy read. I took my time with this book and read usually a story a day. There was just so much information in each of the stories that I needed time to reflect about each case. I think that the authors really missed the mark on making the people m0re human to the reader. It was all very disconnected to me and read like the notes as opposed to reflecting the person that experienced them. I was more interested in reading things from Jim McCloskey as this is his realm and do not really get why Grisham is doing all these co-authored things that have nothing to do with him. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

This book was very informative. I could not believe how many lives were destroyed by our justice system. I to think of how many more we don't know about is unbelievable.

Disturbing. It's a very good read but disturbing! You're never prepared for such stories. It was a hard read and at times wanted to believe it's fictional.

I had to take breaks while reading this
because it was so heartbreaking and
emotional. Our system is horribly
flawed! The evidence showing the
innocence of those in these stories and
yet they are not being released had me
angry and in tears. For people who
believe our system is perfect or rarely
gets it wrong and if it does, it fixes it,
this book is a must read. I can only
imagine the others who are wrongly
accused.

FRAMED: ASTONISHING TRUE STORIES OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS.
BY: JOHN GRISHAM, AND JIM MCCLOSKEY

This was a STUNNING and meticulously researched, well written non-fiction book that John Grisham, and Jim Mcloskey masterfully recreated ten cases of heartbreaking wrongful convictions of innocent people. You can tell throughout the writing that both of these two men, who both tell of five cases each, are very passionate about their work exonerating the falsely convicted The chosen title, "FRAMED," is aptly the most perfectly way to describe how I felt as I read each story told. Making it in my opinion, a well matched moniker for this book that's BRILLIANTLY told. "FRAMED," was the word that I couldn't help thinking over, and over, as I read the details from beginning to end, that are included in this IMPECCABLY written, and GRIPPING narrative. I felt so upset as I learned about how twenty-one innocent lives were destroyed when they were truly innocent. This is the first non-fiction book that JOHN GRISHAM has written since, "THE INNOCENT MAN." He collaborated with JIM MCCLOSKEY, who is the FOUNDER of CENTURION MINISTRIES, who has devoted forty-five years of his life, tirelessly trying to overturn wrongful convictions of innocent individuals. There are hundreds of stories just like these, that sadly happened within a flawed United States Criminal Justice System that makes this book required reading by all citizens, since this book illuminates a vast amount of eye-opening experiences that shocked me. Until reading this important book, I knew that there are miscarriages of justice vaguely, but had no idea how often it happened, and that those who I've trusted to protect the population caused some of these injustices in the first place. This terrific and insightful careful examination that zeros in on ten cases impacted me from changing my vague idea of what I thought I knew, to learning about truly horrifying examples how innocent people lost so much from those who I never could have imagined possible. They are all true. This masterful well written book was so powerful that I felt a visceral reaction that I hope others will, and I will be recommending this highly to every reader in this Country, since this book deserves to reach as wide of an audience as possible. I don't know how anyone who reads these harrowing accounts, and witnesses the ten cases that these two have chosen to highlight will finish this, and not be influenced to do what they can to do their part to raise awareness. Or at the very least take these cases of useless suffering more seriously.

IT"S NOT AN EASY BOOK TO READ EMOTIONALLY, BUT IT IS A NECESSARY ONE!

John Grisham is at the top of his game, as he expertly has informed me of misconduct of those who are entrusted with power to serve justice, and have unbelievably abused it. Once I read these gripping, miscarriages of how law enforcement from detectives, prosecutors and even judges acted unethically to put it mildly, these innocent people didn't stand a chance, and once convicted how it's next to impossible to exonerate them. There are innocent lives that have been devastated in this book that I will never forget. It happens due to law enforcement in the legal community who act unlawfully, and morally that have abused their positions of power to make some of these wrongfully convicted innocent lives suffer needlessly that I will never forget. I was astounded that some lives were never the same, and how some persevered after things were as bad as it could get as their stories unfolded. The writing was so strong, yet accessible that I felt like an eye witness. I really loved this non-fiction book by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey. There are of course, other factors that contributed to wrongful convictions like prison snitches looking to gain something, false eye witnesses, perjury, etc. Thankfully, with science and advances in DNA technology, there has been nothing that I read that would suggest these ten cases have happened recently. More like years ago, but still it happened and the innocent paid and some lives were destroyed and luckily with advances in forensic science have made things improved and harder to frame innocent people. It still happens, but it's less frequent. Thankfully these heartbreaking. cases happened years ago., , Which makes me think of the second story about the High School Custodian that landed on Death Row, falsely convicted of raping and murdering the pretty High School girl. Today, socioeconomically speaking, can affect your ability to get a competent Criminal Defense Attorney
versus a Public Defender, along with Detectives with tunnel vision, could easily get someone innocent spending years incarcerated. I keep thinking of those men in the military in the first story, and I can't stop thinking how one of them was married with children, who put it behind him, juxtaposed with the one who never recovered and can't keep a steady job.

I don't want to give too much away, but both John Grisham, and Jim McCloskey are still devoting their time working on exonerating the wrongly convicted. John Grisham, I think works with both the Innocence Project, and with Jim McCloskey at the Centurion Ministries. I want to leave you with this small quote from the synopsis: "A fundamental principle of our legal system is the presumption of innocence, but once someone is found guilty there is very little room to prove guilt.''

Publication Date: October 15, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, John Grisham & Jim McCloskey and Doubleday Books--Doubleday for generously providing me with my ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#Framed #JohnGrisham #JimMcCloskey #DoubledayBooks #NetGalley
FRAMED: ASTONISHING TRUE STORIES OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS.
BY: JOHN GRISHAM, AND JIM MCCLOSKEY

This was a STUNNING and meticulously researched, well written non-fiction book that John Grisham, and Jim Mcloskey masterfully recreated ten cases of heartbreaking wrongful convictions of innocent people. You can tell throughout the writing that both of these two men, who both tell of five cases each, are very passionate about their work exonerating the falsely convicted The chosen title, "FRAMED," is aptly the most perfectly way to describe how I felt as I read each story told. Making it in my opinion, a well matched moniker for this book that's BRILLIANTLY told. "FRAMED," was the word that I couldn't help thinking over, and over, as I read the details from beginning to end, that are included in this IMPECCABLY written, and GRIPPING narrative. I felt so upset as I learned about how twenty-one innocent lives were destroyed when they were truly innocent. This is the first non-fiction book that JOHN GRISHAM has written since, "THE INNOCENT MAN." He collaborated with JIM MCCLOSKEY, who is the FOUNDER of CENTURION MINISTRIES, who has devoted forty-five years of his life, tirelessly trying to overturn wrongful convictions of innocent individuals. There are hundreds of stories just like these, that sadly happened within a flawed United States Criminal Justice System that makes this book required reading by all citizens, since this book illuminates a vast amount of eye-opening experiences that shocked me. Until reading this important book, I knew that there are miscarriages of justice vaguely, but had no idea how often it happened, and that those who I've trusted to protect the population caused some of these injustices in the first place. This terrific and insightful careful examination that zeros in on ten cases impacted me from changing my vague idea of what I thought I knew, to learning about truly horrifying examples how innocent people lost so much from those who I never could have imagined possible. They are all true. This masterful well written book was so powerful that I felt a visceral reaction that I hope others will, and I will be recommending this highly to every reader in this Country, since this book deserves to reach as wide of an audience as possible. I don't know how anyone who reads these harrowing accounts, and witnesses the ten cases that these two have chosen to highlight will finish this, and not be influenced to do what they can to do their part to raise awareness. Or at the very least take these cases of useless suffering more seriously.

IT"S NOT AN EASY BOOK TO READ EMOTIONALLY, BUT IT IS A NECESSARY ONE!

John Grisham is at the top of his game, as he expertly has informed me of misconduct of those who are entrusted with power to serve justice, and have unbelievably abused it. Once I read these gripping, miscarriages of how law enforcement from detectives, prosecutors and even judges acted unethically to put it mildly, these innocent people didn't stand a chance, and once convicted how it's next to impossible to exonerate them. There are innocent lives that have been devastated in this book that I will never forget. It happens due to law enforcement in the legal community who act unlawfully, and morally that have abused their positions of power to make some of these wrongfully convicted innocent lives suffer needlessly that I will never forget. I was astounded that some lives were never the same, and how some persevered after things were as bad as it could get as their stories unfolded. The writing was so strong, yet accessible that I felt like an eye witness. I really loved this non-fiction book by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey. There are of course, other factors that contributed to wrongful convictions like racism, prison snitches, false eye witnesses, perjury, etc. Thankfully, with science and advances in DNA technology, there has been nothing that I read that would suggest these ten cases have happened recently. More like years ago, but still racism is still rampart, and very much alive, which makes me think of the second story about the High School Custodian that landed on Death Row, falsely convicted of raping and murdering the pretty High School girl. Today, socioeconomically speaking, can affect your ability to get a competent Criminal Defense Attorney
versus a Public Defender, along with Detectives with tunnel vision, could easily get someone innocent spending years incarcerated. I keep thinking of those men in the military in the first story, and I can't stop thinking how one of them was married with children, who put it behind him, juxtaposed with the one who never recovered and can't keep a steady job.

I don't want to give too much away, but both John Grisham, and Jim McCloskey are still devoting their time working on exonerating the wrongly convicted. John Grisham, I think works with both the Innocence Project, and with Jim McCloskey at the Centurion Ministries. I want to leave you with this small quote from the synopsis: "A fundamental principle of our legal system is the presumption of innocence, but once someone is found guilty there is very little room to prove guilt.''

Publication Date: October 15, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, John Grisham & Jim McCloskey and Doubleday Books--Doubleday for generously providing me with my ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#Framed #JohnGrisham #JimMcCloskey #DoubledayBooks #NetGalley

Wow, this book will shake you and your belief in the justice system to the core. In this book, Grisham and McCloskey highlight 10 men who were wrongfully convicted of crimes that they did not commit. Some spent their entire lives in prison due to this grave injustice. As I read this book, I was literally flabbergasted when all the evidence pointed to other perpetrators - including DNA evidence - and police and prosecutors refused to look at anyone else for the crime (or re-worked their crime narrative to "make it fit"). I don't usually read nonfiction, but this was a page turner and I highly recommend it.Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance digital copy.

Crazy to think these things happen, some of the stories shared felt so unreal but I guess this is the world we live in.

Each author shares five stories of wrongful conviction and imprisonment, ten in total.

This reads like fiction. There were so many false confessions, so much ignored/destroyed evidence, so many unqualified expert witnesses, and such lazy police work. But this is real life, and the stories in 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 are just the tip of the iceberg.

Grisham was once a lawyer but is now a best-selling author and currently sitting on the board of both The Innocence Project and Centurion Ministries. McClosky is the founder of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully convicted.

Read this.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Fantastically horrific. This is a must read. The flaws of the criminal justice system are outlined clearly and painfully in this collection of wrongful conviction stories. While the language and details can a bit confusing due to the law lingo, you will still find yourself captivated by this guy-wrenching, anger-inducing real-life stories.

I desperately wanted to love this book. I adore John Grisham and his writing and strongly support organizations like Centurion and the Innocence Project. I was so excited to read it!

However, I believe that formatting the book as a brief retelling of ten different stories made each of them less impactful. So many facts needed to be conveyed about each case, and in providing the necessary context, the emotional weight of each case was left behind.

I've read other books from the perspective of the falsely imprisoned person and found those to be a lot more moving. Those stories have stuck with me for many years after reading and have changed my opinion on the death penalty.

The most powerful aspect of this book is not necessarily the individual stories it tells but the way it reveals how common these gross miscarriages of justice are.

It is horrifying how frequently this happens and how so many experts who testify at trial are simply presenting junk science to the jury.

While I didn't connect emotionally with this book, I strongly believe that it is an important book for people to read to better understand how flawed the American justice system really is.

Thank you to #netgalley for this ARC of #framed

In this nonfiction account, John Grisham has paired up with Jim McCloskey, a minister and the founder of Centurion Ministries, to bring us the stories of ten wrongful convictions. If you are a fan of true crime this book is for you as you will be led through from start to finish (often decades later) through the crimes, the investigative phase, the court cases, the appeals (and appeals and appeals) and new trials. This is not an easy book to read, as their are ten different stories, each filled with a plethora of characters, including the wrongly and unfairly accused innocent victim. Add in the astonishing behavior of police, prosecuting lawyers, judges, and both star and expert witnesses, and I found I could only read one story at a time. I was overwhelmed at times feeling shock, astonishment, anger, and extreme sadness, and I had to keep reminding myself these were true stories, even if my brain did not want to believe it.

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday Books for my DRC in exchange for my honest review.