Benjamin Rachlin

“[An] absorbing true-crime saga . . . Rachlin combines a gripping legal drama with a penetrating exposé of the shoddy investigative and trial standards nationwide, as evidenced by hundreds of postconviction exonerations . . . a moving evocation of faith under duress.”

“Bracing . . . vivid . . . in Rachlin’s skilled hands, Grimes’s story triggers indignation but also confers solace.”

“An astonishing look at the United States justice system . . . [Rachlin’s] study of the heroic individuals working—or more often simply volunteering—tirelessly to mend an inhumane and flawed system will inspire hope . . . Rachlin’s work of nonfiction reads like a legal thriller.”

“Enraging, instructive, and profoundly moving . . . a gripping lesson in the terrible costs of our flawed criminal justice system and the power that individuals have to change its course . . . also an inspiring call for readily achievable reform. Remarkable and unforgettable.”

“Nothing less than a masterpiece of investigative reporting and virtuosic writing . . . Greek drama brought into our own times. It will change readers’ lives, I think, and inspire them. It’s that good.”

“Compelling and enraging . . . a gut punch.”

“Profoundly elevates good-cause advocacy to greater heights.”

“A chilling story of wrongful conviction ... cinematic ... a powerful, unsettling account of an overdue legal movement.”

“Show[s] us that the specter of wrongful convictions involves flesh and blood human beings.”

“Moving . . . Rachlin, with confidence and care, relays both the terrifying personal costs and complex legalities, so dependent on fallible humans, of wrongful conviction and imprisonment.”

“Deeply researched and, more importantly, deeply felt … a profound meditation on the human condition and a vital contribution to the literature … should make us all consider these current times as not just toxic and tragic but filled with the possibility of hope and redemption. Benjamin Rachlin takes us through the justice system in all its immutability and shows us the light we can wield should we so choose.”