This book was infuriating: Ten true stories of people who were wrongfully convicted. The luckiest were in jail for a decade or so; the most unlucky was executed. It is chilling to realize these people could be anyone - this could happen to my kids, to your kids, to anyone.
I've learned some things that I hope I never need to use. First, the police can lie to suspects they are interrogating. Second, people under stress and duress confess to crimes they didnt commit all the time. And third, no one should ever believe the testimony of a jailhouse informant. They have everything to gain by pleasing the prosecutors and almost nothing to lose by lying. I still believe most police officers, investigators, and district attornys are honest and just trying to find the truth, but, man, are the bad eggs bad.
I read Grisham's "The Innocent Man" years ago and it has always stuck with me. I was engrossed by this new non-fiction work as well. Half of the accounts are written by Jim McCloskey and they aren't quite as well-written as Grisham's accounts, but are still worth reading. All the stories were new to me except the last one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for gifting me a digital ARC of this nonfiction book by the collaboration of John Grisham and Jim McCloskey. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

John Grisham teamed up with the founder of Centurion Ministries, Jim McCloskey, to take an in-depth look at ten stories of innocent people wrongly convicted. Each chose five stories and wrote them independently from the other. Grisham's stories were pulled from the headlines and investigation, whereas McCloskey's were from his company's personal experience trying to get these wrongful convictions overturned.

Each of these stories are horrible - what could be worse than an innocent person going to jail for decades or put to death for something they had no part in? When you read these stories, you will be hard pressed not to think - there, but for the grace of God, go I. Because so many of these people were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. What's so very disturbing is the callous attitude of all those that we entrust to do the right thing - the witnesses, the police, the prosecutors, the judges. While you certainly can't read these stories and whitewash everyone with the same brush, it's so sad that politics and saving face take priority over someone's life. This is a must read and should be mandatory reading for police academies and law students.

Thank you to NetGalley, Doubleday, John Grisham, & Jim McCloskey for providing this advance reader copy (ARC) of this book. I'm providing my honest review.

A miss for me. It's well researched, well written, and tone-deaf in 2024. I was aware of the Innocence Project but not Centurion Ministries, they both do good works and are needed in a society with an imperfect justice system. Still the best in the world but where there are people involved there is crime and mistakes, even in those we entrust our lives to. The stories provided are interesting and sad. They show good people done wrong and bad people unpunished. The years of Antifa & Black Lives Matter riots are behind us, thank goodness. Defund the police didn't work and crime soared. "Reforming" the justice system has let criminals run free or enter a revolving door scenario. If this book had been published in 2020 it might have made more of a social justice splash. In 2024 it's not as effective.

#NetGalley #Doubleday #Framed #socialjustice #prisonreform #judicalsystemreform #JohnGrisham #JimMcCloskey #CenturionMinitries

Framed is an eye opening account of multiple people wrongly convicted. It feels like a call to action, an invitation to take a stand and demand a truly fair justice system.

It's moving and emotional! A must read.

I fell in love with John Grisham's writing years ago when I read The Street Lawyer. Then when he wrote The Innocent Man he pulled me in a didn't let me go. He has a way of writing that makes you feel like you are part of the story. It feels so real and it's good and scary at the same time. LOL...This was another book that blew my mind. It's so hard to read these books because it amazes you that innocent people can go to jail for a crime they didn't commit. I couldn't imagine being wrongfully accused. These 10 cases will take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride but it's worth the ups and downs. John and Jim know how to tell each of these 10 cases story in the perfect way. You will not be able to put this book down. I would definitely recommend this book. I also recommend anything John Grisham has written.


Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday Books | Doubleday for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

What does it feel like to look at injustice? What does it say that so much goes unremarked and unnoticed by a society when so many live behind bars and who have been stripped of everything that they value and love to the point that they feel separated from any compassion and humanity? In this book John Gresham and Jim McClosely hold that uncomfortable mirror up to the reader and the world we live and pose these, and many more uncomfortable and disquieting questions, to the reader. I found myself shocked by so many of the stories here and not just by the crimes these individuals were so wrongfully accused of, but the the many different stages of the legal system that failed to do justice by them.

If stories of true crime capture your interest, these are stories that must be read because they show that justice is something we must all strive to find, hold and protect. We must always seek out not just the price of guilt by the Truth behind actions and deeds. We need to always questions and seek understanding and never presume guilt until proven innocent, but remain impartial and look towards how evidence is sought out and collected and fight to preserve the power of a just and legal system foe all.

This was an interesting read. I love all things true crime related. I like to think that I'm pretty accurate at looking at the facts available and figuring out whether or not someone is guilty. So it's interesting to read about these cases, most 20 plus years old, only to discover how corrupt and inaccurate people and science can be. I can only imagine how many other cases have yet to be discovered. It's heartbreaking and devastating. I really enjoyed getting a look at these cases and appreciate how well written this book is.

𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐢𝐦 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟎 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝟐𝟏 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞—𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦. 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦—𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞—𝐢𝐬.

𝐓𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧’𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚, 𝑭𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟—𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦—𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚. 𝐈 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐲’𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒥𝑜𝒽𝓃 𝒢𝓇𝒾𝓈𝒽𝒶𝓂, 𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝑀𝒸𝒞𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓀𝑒𝓎, 𝒟𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒫𝓊𝒷𝓁𝒾𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey is definitely one of my top reads of 2024. It covers 10 stories of wrongful conviction and is, as expected, infuriating and heart breaking.

I’ve heard of some cases covered in the book, but others were new to me. But I learned something from each story. I cried multiple times throughout the book - especially learning some of the men wrongfully convicted are still in prison and one was executed.

My main takeaways:
1. Wrongful conviction happens more often than we’d like to admit. Which I say all the time, but the point still stands.
2. The criminal justice system is not just (I used to say it’s broken, but now I agree with a friend I discussed this book with - it’s not; it’s working exactly as it’s intended. 😢 a hard hitting epiphany).
3. Never, ever, ever waive your Miranda rights and speak without a lawyer present. Never. I think every single person in this book did, because they wanted to be helpful to police or didn’t want to look guilty (they weren’t).And look what happened…

This one published yesterday - please go grab a copy. Thank you @doubledaybooks for the #gifted copy!

I’ve always credited John Grisham’s novels with sparking my love of reading. As a younger reader, I devoured most of his political thrillers and have been captivated by his work ever since. Grisham has a knack for crafting entertaining page-turners that also weave in more profound themes, prompting readers to reflect on important issues. One theme that consistently runs through much of his work is injustice, particularly the flaws within the criminal justice system. While most of Grisham’s books are fictional, his 2006 novel The Innocent Man tackled real-life true crime and brought this issue to light. Now, Grisham has teamed up with Jim McCloskey, founder of Centurion Ministries—an organization dedicated to freeing wrongfully imprisoned individuals—to share ten true stories of wrongful convictions in their book Framed. I was fortunate enough to receive a copy from the publisher. It’s a powerful exploration of the human cost of injustice.

"Among innocence advocates and lawyers, it is often said that it is much easier to convict an innocent person than to get one out of prison."

The authors take turns sharing these stories, with each contributing five that alternate throughout the book. They focus on the real-life accounts of men who were wrongfully convicted—innocent but found guilty—and forced to sacrifice their friends, families, wives, and decades of their lives in prison while the actual perpetrators walked free. In each case, the authors immerse readers in the moments that led to these wrongful convictions, shedding light on the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and corrupt court systems that make these errors so difficult to reverse. As I read the first couple of stories, I was struck by the overwhelming injustice. But as I continued, patterns emerged between the cases, leaving me bracing for the inevitable heartbreak that unfolded with each new story.

The U.S. criminal justice system is built on the principle of "innocent until proven guilty," a notion that should instill confidence in the system. However, as the stories in Framed reveal, the presumption of innocence isn’t always upheld. Investigators’ theories, personal egos, and the intense pressure to close cases can often result in wrongful convictions that, when examined closely, seem blatantly incorrect, given the lack of solid evidence. Reading these stories, I found myself outraged on behalf of these people—victims of the very system designed to protect them.

Even more troubling was the refusal of those in power, particularly in my home state of Texas, to reconsider the evidence, clinging instead to blind faith in the original convictions. This unwillingness to question the finality of a verdict, even when faced with overwhelming evidence of innocence, became painfully clear as a fatal flaw in the system. John Grisham and Jim McCloskey’s Framed is an essential work that highlights the severity of wrongful convictions and serves as a call to action. Hopefully, it will inspire readers to push for the reform this broken system desperately needs.

The stories you hear about police corruption is scary. In this book these stories are brought into a more vivid light and the details make you question everything. Why would certain police officers conduct there investigations in these manners and how do they get away with it for so long? Reading about the effects this had on peoples lives who were falsely imprisoned for so long is excruciatingly sad.

Thank you to Netgalley, the authors and publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for this e- copy of Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey in exchange for a honest review. This book is a real opener to how innocent people were framed for murders they didn’t commit just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time or because they were the wrong color . Because of the ineptitude of law enforcement agencies around the country innocent people went to jail for crimes they did not commit. This book is a series of short stories highlighting a number of different cases. Easy to read and well researched. Perfect for true crime fans . This book left me angry at the injustices these innocent people faced because of shoddy police work.

If you are in to true crime stories, this is the book for you. It is quite disturbing to read these stories and see how people can be falsely accused of crimes they didn’t commit. I love John Grisham and would definitely recommend. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review. It was a very eye opening book.

Well-known legal fiction author John Grisham has teamed up with John McCloskey, the founder of Centurion Ministries, an organization devoted to freeing the wrongly convicted, especially those sentenced to death or life in prison (Centurion has helped free seventy people to date - an amazing feat yet a very small number if there are many more such stories to be told). They tell ten stories in the book (five written by each of the authors). Right up front, I want to confess that I only read six of the stories. To say that these cases are depressing is a bit of an understatement. That being said, I found them somewhat repetitive - the circumstances surrounding most of the cases were too similar.

Starting with the initial investigation into each of the cases - the police investigators seem to latch on to a potential suspect, and then create the “evidence” to convict the suspect - it did not matter if there were other plausible scenarios or suspects - it becomes more important to close the case by ignoring evidence, scaring others to make their story fit (through threats or promises to jailhouse snitches to avoid jail) and just plain intimidation of the suspects until they give up. And then it takes years to find the evidence that eventually leads to their freedom. Obviously, each story is a little different and each story made me feel that the justice system in this country does need some kind of reform. I am sure that only a small percentage of law enforcement engages in these activities but there must be some way to prevent it. My thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This is such a sad but important book that details real-life instances of innocent people who were convicted of crimes by overzealous prosecutors who cared more about their conviction statistics or political aspirations than the truth. The stories of suspects being coerced into confessions after hours of abuse by law enforcement are shocking. The years of life lost in prison cannot be replaced by whatever money the victim might receive in a lawsuit. This is a book that is hard to read, but also one that must be read. Highly recommend.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Non-fiction book putting the spotlight on the judicial system and penal systems and their irregularities. Of course, the authors have chosen stories of the wrongly convicted and as horrible as they are, they are the exception. Frequently, the blame is on the police and a system that forces fast closure is partly to blame.

John Grisham and Jim McCloskey brought some of their top 10 wrongful incarnations. This was a very good crime read but so heartbreaking to see what they went through. The intimidation from officers and investigators that they went through that they actually had them believing to some point that they were guilty. Such injustice to these individuals it is so hard to understand how they got by with proving they were guilty with not much evidence. How evidence was thrown away or disregarded. I am thankful that Jim McCloskey is trying so hard to set the innocent free.

I received this ARC from Netgalley, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey is a powerful, eye-opening collection of real-life stories that had me hooked from the start. Grisham, known for his gripping legal thrillers, brings the same page-turning intensity to these heartbreaking true accounts. What struck me most was the emotional weight of these stories—innocent people losing decades of their lives, enduring unimaginable suffering while the true criminals went free.
The book does a brilliant job of uncovering the root causes in a justice system- flawed testimonies, systemic racism, and corruption within the court system. It's impeccably researched, and some of the revelations gave me literal goosebumps as I saw the injustices unfolding.
These stories are not only a must-read for anyone interested in justice but also a reminder of how easily the legal system can fail. It’s a deeply moving, thought-provoking book that I couldn’t put down.
Very grateful to the publisher for this copy, opinions are my own

John Grisham, renowned for his bestselling fiction novels, collaborates with John McCloskey, the founder of an organization dedicated to exonerating innocent individuals wrongfully convicted. Together, they present “Framed,” a collection of ten compelling true stories that illuminate the profound flaws within our judicial system.

Each narrative unfolds with a sense of disbelief and outrage, exposing the corrupt actions of law enforcement, flawed evidence, and even fabricated evidence. The inadequate representation by the legal teams further underscores the injustice faced by these victims and their families.

From the very first story, I was left in a state of shock and dismay by the sheer extent of the wrongful convictions. The revelation that some of these actions were legally permissible only added to my disbelief. While we are all aware of the corruption within our legal system, reading these stories immerses us in the struggles of the victims and their families, as well as the tireless advocates fighting for their freedom and justice.

“Framed” is a thought-provoking read that demands our attention. It serves as a must-read for anyone interested in criminal justice and the pursuit of innocence for those wrongfully convicted. This book earns a resounding 5/5 rating.

Framed by John Grisham; Jim McCloskey are astonishing stories of ten innocent people wrongfully convicted.
Honestly these are horrific but riveting stories that are truly thought-provoking.
These are really some horrible stories faced by some innocent Americans who’ve been wrongfully convicted of crimes.
I was hooked once I started. This book is extremely well written with vivid descriptions.
This duo did an outstanding job.

Thank You NetGalley and Doubleday for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!