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Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey is a non-fiction book about egregious miscarriages of justice and State-sponsored perjuries. Mr. Gishham is a best-selling author, this is his first non-fiction book. Mr. McCloskey is a former naval officer, corporate consultant, and the founder of Centurion Ministries which fights to overturn wrongs and free the innocent.

This book is frightening, it shows how easily corrupt police officers, attorneys, and judges can tilt the scales of justice their way. Once that’s done, the full power of the state can come down on an innocent person, usually for political reasons.

In Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey, each author writes five stories of injustice. Mr. Grisham’s are page-turning narratives of cases that local and national media have previously covered. Mr. McCloskey’s stories center around the ones that Centurion Ministries fought, while they lack Mr. Grisham’s style, they more than make up with insider’s perspectives and nuance.

I didn’t find the book as astonishing as the title suggests, but more enraging, alarming, and terrifying. Many of the stories take place in Texas and systematic racial bias is one factor that seems to repeat itself. these events didn’t happen during reconstruction, but during my lifetime – it isn’t easy to believe. These convictions however apply to everybody, half the convictions in the book are average white people.

All of the stories show the lengths authorities will go to avoid admitting that they made a mistake, avoid embarrassment, or not pay settlements, and that includes executing innocent people. Relying on The shady “experts”, jailhouse snitches, ignoring evidence and common sense are dramatized over and over again.

These are great stories, and after some of the latest books I read by Grisham (The Exchange for example) which, frankly, disappointed me, it’s good to see him back in top form. This book makes a good case against the death penalty, especially with DNA evidence and abuses which are being uncovered.

This novel is addicting, entrancing, and horrifying. Each chapter is a new foray into a profoundly unsettling recount of racism, a corrupt justice system, and lives broken by an undeserved guilty sentence. This will keep you up at night.

I had to take this chapter by chapter and sit with each story for a while before committing to the next. However, it kept my attention! I would recommend this book to anyone who binges true crime documentaries (like me), eats up true crime podcasts (like me), and cares deeply about justice (like me). John Grisham and Jim McCloskey should be proud.

Thank you, NetGalley and Doubleday, for the eArc!

This novel describes the history of 10 true convictions of men sent to prison for life or death row based on lies, intimidation, threats, rewards to prisoners for lying and suppressed evidence at trials by the legal system.
This is an eye opening novel and reveals the flaws of some people we are suppose to trust. The subject matter is upsetting.

In this non-fiction work, Grisham and McCloskey account 10 different cases where an individual was wrongfully convicted and often on death row. The stupidity, corruption and coercion that is detailed is just insane. I’m sure this is just a small sample of cases like this and kudos to the authors for bringing it to the readers.

BOOK: Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions
AUTHOR: John Grisham & Jim McCloskey
PUB DATE: October 15, 2024, by Doubleday
PAGES: 368
RATING: 5 STARS
GENRE: True Crime

A H U G E Thank You to @netgalley, @Doubleday, and the authors for gifting me an advanced digital in exchange for my honest review!

QUICK & SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: Like many, I’m a true crime junkie, and I’ve become very passionate about cases involving innocent parties being found guilty. These 10 stories take you through what happens to men who were wrongfully convicted. It’s infuriating to see innocent lives spent behind bars – some for most of their lives. - missing out on time with loved ones and having their freedom taken away. This book is something everyone should read to understand how difficult and long the process can be to prove innocence once wrongfully convicted. It definitely makes you think that this could happen to anyone. It could even happen to you if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. It shows just how valuable and integral organizations are such as Centurion Ministries and The Innocence Project. This is excellent to listen to on audio. Be sure to pick it up the next time you’re taking a long road trip or just doing chores around the house. YOU WON’T WANT TO SKIP THIS ONE.

I read through three of the recounts of innocent victims convicted of crimes they did not commit. I was unable to read any more as the ineptness and racism in each crime turned my stomach as they should to anyone who reads this book. I can say that if true crime and proving the innocence is something you would read, this book would be number one on the list.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

That was very emotionally grueling. I can not imagine how the actual people and their families felt during their ordeal. The idea of a human deliberately doing something like what happened in these stories out of ego, arrogance and hubris is disgusting. No matter where you fall on the idea of execution, this is one book that will make you think.

John Grisham and Jim McCloskey has written compelling stories of wrongful convictions and the complexities of our justice system. These stories are a hard pill to swallow as the authors highlight the flaws in the legal system, encouraging readers to reflect on the broader implications of justice and morality. Makes me think of how many more out there are wrongfully convicted without any hope of ever getting their justice they rightfully deserved.

This is a story about 10 different cases where innocent people were convicted of crimes due to a dirty justice system. DNA that was either ignored or purposely hidden/destroyed. Judges who were racist or working with a corrupt District Attorney in order to jail an innocent person just to solve a crime.

It literally broke my heart reading these individual stories about how others worked so hard to free them before they were either executed or in jail for life. With attorneys working hard to free them and for John Grisham to write about these heinous acts.

A good read!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Great read and interesting true stories of those who have been wrongly incarcerated. This is a book of hope amid hopelessness for so many. The work and time that goes into finding truth for those wrongly imprisoned is beyond belief. A good read and eye opening. thanks to Net Galley for the arc.

When I was in law school, we had a lot of fun with John Grisham's fiction and his use of ethical violations to fuel his plots. This book wasn't fun at all; it was brilliantly researched, laid out, and executed, but I got more and more disturbed with each story. So many of the stories didn't even make sense -- how could the police decide to arrest someone based on such flimsy evidence, sometimes people with an alibi who ended up being excluded by DNA or other means? Many of the accused pled guilty to either stop the harassment or avoid the death penalty, when the evidence showed they shouldn't have even been arrested. They lost decades, and many of their families didn't believe their innocence. They didn't get to live the lives they should have been able to live, and many of them ended up with the real killer never being found.
Of course, the real killer was never found. Resources are limited and the police wouldn't have been able to spend that much energy going after multiple people. So the families of the original victims never got justice while these other people were victimized by the state.
I thought this was going to be something more ambiguous, but many of these stories were clear from the beginning. This is important to acknowledge so we can try to keep this from happening again.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

This was such a difficult book to read; I kept needing to put it down and let my brain process the incredible injustices that happened in these cases. It's so important for us to be aware of these cases, and not just assume that a guilty verdict tells the true story always.

Framed tells the stories of ten horrific cases of wrongful convictions., and the circumstances that led to them. Grisham and McCloskey tell of supposed experts who fabricated evidence, law enforcement determined to make an arrest at any cost, and prosecutors who would do anything to win a case even when all evidence points against the guilt of the charged defendant.

You can't help but wonder just how many of these are forgotten once the person has gone to prison for a crime they didn't commit. You will walk away from this book with such an appreciation for the people who donate their time and money investigating and litigating these cases, fighting for the truth to come out and innocent people to be freed.

Thank you so much to Doubleday for this book to review!

I am a huge Grisham fan, and his first non fiction book The Innocent Man is still one of my favourite books and I think about it regularly.
This was truly astonishing.
I spent the entire book with my mouth agape and my head shaking in disbelief.
These stories are unbelievable, until you tell yourself the events really happened.
The story of the Norfolk Four is one of those stories that will linger with you, there needs to be a Netflix documentary about it. It would be laughable if it weren't real people's lives. And the worst part is knowing Grisham and his coauthor would have had so many more stories just like these ones.
This book will anger you, shock you, and sadden you so deeply for the people who were wrongly convicted.
Highly recommended.

Somehow this review got lost on Netgalley. This book is a must read for all people interested in justice in a sometimes unjust system. Grisham and McCoskey tell 10 stories that will literally have you lose your mind that these people were ever convicted of a crime. You see corrupt police officers, racism, and power being abused by people that we should trust. From the opening pages of this book you will be astounded that the man convicted was ever convicted and as you turn the pages you see more and more people convicted on the same case that had nothing to do with but were forced to give false confessions. Yes, its a real thing. Thank goodness for the Innocence Project which just helped get a man out of jail who also was falsely convicted of a crime in a place he was no where near. The local police just needed someone to convict so they picked this man because he was gay and Native American, I highly recommend reading one story a day so you can process each story and demand more from our justice system. It's truly sad to think of the time these people spent in prison and missed out o life because of corrupt politicians and police. It should never have happned and know that one day it could be you. Demand more!!! Thank you John Grisham #netgalley and #doubleday for the read.

Framed by John Grisham is a compelling exploration of real-life wrongful convictions, co-written with Jim McCloskey. Grisham, known for his legal thrillers, brings his storytelling skill to these ten true stories of individuals who were wrongfully imprisoned and fought tirelessly for exoneration. The book exposes the flaws in the justice system—misconduct, racism, corruption, and unreliable testimony—that lead to devastating outcomes. Gripping and impeccably researched, Framed offers a sobering look at the uphill battle for justice and the lives irreversibly altered by wrongful convictions.

John Grisham is so well known for his legal thrillers that he hardly needs any introduction, but he does occasionally dabble in nonfiction, taking a particular interest in cases that see our nation’s criminal justice system used to incriminate, convict, and sometimes kill innocent people. Jim McCloskey is a minister who founded Centurion Ministries, an organization devoted to freeing people who have been wrongly convicted of heinous crimes, who has also written a popular memoir. It only makes sense then that the pair would team up for this book that, through 10 true tales, highlights some serious flaws in the ways that American law enforcement functions at every level.

Thanks to the way the Police and our courts are portrayed in popular media, most of us rest easy thinking that the amount of innocent people sent to jail or, even worse, put to death for crimes they didn’t commit is miniscule. Not so, say Framed‘s authors before they lay out a series of thoroughly detailed stories proving their point.

In every one of the murder cases presented here, it becomes very clear that the Police have the wrong person, but both they and the D.A. refuse to look elsewhere, even when the real killer effectively falls into their laps. Exculpatory evidence is repeatedly withheld, often not coming out until months later, with prosecutors and sometimes even judges knowingly hiding facts that exonerate the people before them. Even more alarming is the number of documented instances in which evidence supporting their theories is simply made up out of thin air, a crime for which no one involved ever seems to be punished.

Each of the authors takes on writing duties for 5 cases, and while McCloskey’s inside knowledge of those he tackles means they are rich in detail, Grisham’s natural writing talent means his are slightly more engagingly written. That said, the material presented in all 10 is so shocking and outrageous, readers will be glued to the page either way.

Framed certainly doesn’t paint law enforcement in a very positive light, especially in Southern states like Texas which are heavily represented here, but it does offer up that not all officers and court employees are dishonest. In many cases, the truth is ultimately revealed when new, more honorable people are installed in these positions of power and finally release pertinent evidence, though sadly this doesn’t happen often enough.

Reading Framed will have your blood boiling at the horrible ways that these supposed “officers of the law” and the teams of grifters that orbit and support them directly and indirectly inflicted severe emotional and physical suffering on innocent Americans, many of whom were current or former members of our Armed Forces. In one particularly egregious example detectives constructed a ludicrous story that led to the wrongful arrest of 7 Navy sailors despite all of them being excluded by DNA evidence.

This may wind up being the most important book in either author’s career and despite how angry one gets while reading it, it shouldn’t be missed. It shatters our faith in the reliability of our court system and drives home the need for urgent reforms to ensure stories like these become as rare as we previously believed them to be. Framed should be required reading for all Americans, and perhaps especially those hired to protect and serve.

I ended up buying this audiobook as well as reading some of my physical ARC because I found the audiobook worked better for the overall story but I liked having the physical copy to review details. All that to say, I got very into this book. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. Any innocent person who is incarcerated or, even worse, executed, is a blight on the entire criminal justice system and highlights our need for real reform. I was horrified by the actions of the prosecutors and police featured here, although I do not think they represent all of the State. But I do admire the work of the individuals and agencies who are working to rectify not only the wrongs endured by each person whose story was told in this book, but also anyone else who is also wrongfully incarcerated.

This book was hard for me to get through. Not because of the writing, which was very compelling and meticulously researched, but the subject matter of all wrongful convictions, and how corrupt officers and blatantly ignoring evidence put the wrong people away.
I'm not sure what was worse, reading about the cases themselves or how the wrong people were put in jail sometimes for decades before their convictions were overturned. In most cases without even an apology for the injustices they received.

In all honesty, I didn't fully finish all the stories, They all started to blend, and after reading a lot of the stories in one sitting it was making me a bit depressed. I do think these were well-written, and important stories that need to be told, I just couldn't read any more right now. I may pick this back up later and try and read them in small doses.

Thank you to Doubleday for sending me a physical copy.

Captivating!!!

Thank you NetGallary for an early review copy of Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey!

This book filled with true stories of innocent men and women falsely accused of crimes they didn’t commit and it moved me!

I believe each and every one of these stories! The amount of corruption between law enforcement and judges goes unchecked. A means of prosecution for this type of blatant fraud and corruption must be enforced! Lives are renewed and they go home and sleep soundly in their beds each night. They must be held accountable!!!

To say these stories fascinated me is an understatement. Framed is well written and thought provoking.

I would love to get involved and help! 70 people freed of wrongful convictions by Centurion is 70 too many!

This book was Terrific and everyone should read it!

Well done gentlemen!

No spoilers with my review! I gave this book 5 stars!

This is an incredibly important book. It almost reads like fiction, although sadly it is true. It is a collection of 10 people who were innocent yet convicted of serious crimes that they did not commit. I was familiar with one of the chapters as I had seen it in the production of “The Exonerated” many years ago. How these convictions were obtained is truly shocking. It is unbelievable that this could and most likely still happens. I would urge everyone to read this book if they were truly interested in the legal system and how innocent people can be caught up in a situation such as this.