John Grisham is known worldwide for his bestselling novels, but it’s his real-life passion for justice that led to his work with Jim McCloskey of Centurion Ministries, the first organization dedicated to exonerating innocent people who have been wrongly convicted. Together they offer an inside look at the many injustices in our criminal justice system. A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty, there is very little room to prove doubt. These 10 true stories shed light on Americans who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free.

What became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke and fled the country? The answer is in THE EXCHANGE, the riveting sequel to THE FIRM, the blockbuster thriller that launched the career of America’s favorite storyteller. It is now 15 years later, and Mitch and Abby are living in Manhattan, where Mitch is a partner at the largest law firm in the world. When a mentor in Rome asks him for a favor that will take him far from home, Mitch finds himself at the center of a sinister plot that has worldwide implications --- and once again endangers his colleagues, friends and family. Mitch has become a master at staying one step ahead of his adversaries, but this time there’s nowhere to hide.

In John Grisham’s third thriller set on Camino Island, popular bookseller Bruce Cable tells Mercer Mann an irresistible tale that might be her next novel. A giant resort developer is using its political muscle and deep pockets to claim ownership of a deserted island between Florida and Georgia. Only the last living inhabitant of the island, Lovely Jackson, stands in its way. What the developer doesn’t know is that the island has a remarkable history, and locals believe it is cursed…and the past is never the past.

For most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor and drugs to contract killings. The vice was controlled by a small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumored to be members of the Dixie Mafia. Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the ’60s and were childhood friends, as well as Little League all-stars. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith’s father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to “clean up the Coast.” Hugh’s father became the “Boss” of Biloxi’s criminal underground. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom.

In John Grisham’s first collection of novellas, law is a common thread --- but he has several surprises in store. “Homecoming” marks the return of Jake Brigance, but he’s not in the courtroom. He’s called upon to help an old friend, Mack Stafford, a former lawyer who stole money from his clients. In “Strawberry Moon,” Cody Wallace is only three hours away from execution, and he has one final request. The “Sparring Partners” are the Malloy brothers, Kirk and Rusty, two successful young lawyers who inherited a once prosperous firm when its founder, their father, was sent to prison. As the firm disintegrates, the resulting fiasco falls into the lap of Diantha Bradshaw, the only person the partners trust.

Lacy Stoltz meets a mysterious woman who is so frightened she uses a number of aliases. Jeri Crosby’s father was murdered 20 years earlier in a case that remains unsolved. But Jeri has a suspect whom she has become obsessed with and has stalked for two decades. Along the way, she has discovered other victims. He is the most cunning of all serial killers. He knows forensics, police procedure and, most important, the law. He is a judge who is under Lacy’s jurisdiction. He has a list, with the names of his victims and targets, all unsuspecting people unlucky enough to have crossed his path and wronged him in some way. How can Lacy pursue him without becoming the next name on his list?

In the summer of his 17th year, Samuel Sooleymon gets the chance of a lifetime: a trip to the United States with his South Sudanese teammates to play in a showcase basketball tournament. However, a civil war is raging across South Sudan; while he is away, rebel troops ransack his village. His father is dead, his sister is missing, and his mother and two younger brothers are in a refugee camp. Partly out of sympathy, the coach of North Carolina Central offers him a scholarship. He moves to Durham, enrolls in classes, joins the team, and prepares to sit out his freshman season. But Samuel has something no other player has: a fierce determination to succeed so he can bring his family to America.

Clanton, Mississippi. 1990. Jake Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye. His fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career, his financial security and the safety of his family on the line.

Just as Bruce Cable’s Bay Books is preparing for the return of bestselling author Mercer Mann, Hurricane Leo veers from its predicted course and heads straight for the island. Florida’s governor orders a mandatory evacuation, and most residents board up their houses and flee to the mainland, but Bruce decides to stay and ride out the storm. One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce’s and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson’s injuries suggests that the storm wasn’t the cause of his death: He has suffered several suspicious blows to the head. Who would want Nelson dead? As Bruce starts to investigate, what he discovers between the lines is more shocking than any of Nelson’s plot twists --- and far more dangerous.

In the small Florida town of Seabrook, a young lawyer named Keith Russo was shot dead at his desk as he worked late one night. The killer left no clues. But the police soon came to suspect Quincy Miller, a young black man who was once a client of Russo’s. Quincy was tried, convicted and sent to prison for life. For 22 years he languished in prison, maintaining his innocence. But no one was listening. In desperation, he writes a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small nonprofit run by Cullen Post, a lawyer who is also an Episcopal minister. Powerful, ruthless people murdered Keith, and they do not want Quincy exonerated. They killed one lawyer 22 years ago, and they will kill another without a second thought.

Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son --- a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor and faithful member of the Methodist church. Then, one cool October morning, he rose early, drove into town, walked into the church, and calmly shot and killed his pastor and friend, the Reverend Dexter Bell. As if the murder wasn’t shocking enough, it was even more baffling that Pete's only statement about it --- to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury and to his family --- was: "I have nothing to say." He was not afraid of death and was willing to take his motive to the grave.

Mark, Todd and Zola came to law school to change the world, to make it a better place. But now, as third-year students, these close friends realize they have been duped. They all borrowed heavily to attend a third-tier, for-profit law school so mediocre that its graduates rarely pass the bar exam, let alone get good jobs. And when they learn that their school is one of a chain owned by a shady New York hedge-fund operator who also happens to own a bank specializing in student loans, the three know they have been caught up in The Great Law School Scam. But maybe there's a way out. Maybe there’s a way to escape their crushing debt, expose the bank and the scam, and make a few bucks in the process.

A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in the black market of stolen books and manuscripts. Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block. A generous offer of money convinces her to go undercover and infiltrate Cable’s circle of literary friends, ideally getting close enough to him to learn his secrets. But eventually Mercer learns far too much, and there’s trouble in paradise.

Mark, Todd and Zola came to law school to change the world, to make it a better place. But now, as third-year students, these close friends realize they have been duped. They all borrowed heavily to attend a third-tier, for-profit law school so mediocre that its graduates rarely pass the bar exam, let alone get good jobs. And when they learn that their school is one of a chain owned by a shady New York hedge-fund operator who also happens to own a bank specializing in student loans, the three know they have been caught up in The Great Law School Scam. But maybe there's a way out. Maybe there’s a way to escape their crushing debt, expose the bank and the scam, and make a few bucks in the process.

What happens when a judge bends the law or takes a bribe? Lacy Stoltz is an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct, and a corruption case crosses her desk. A previously disbarred lawyer is back in business as Greg Myers; he claims to know of a judge who was secretly involved with the construction of a large casino on Native American land. Greg’s only client is a person who knows the truth and wants to blow the whistle and collect millions under Florida law. Lacy immediately suspects this case could be dangerous --- but it also could turn out to be deadly.

Sebastian Rudd is not your typical street lawyer. His office is a customized bulletproof van, complete with Wi-Fi, a bar, a small fridge and fine leather chairs. He has no firm, no partners, and only one employee: his heavily armed driver, who also happens to be his bodyguard, law clerk, confidant and golf caddie. Sebastian defends people other lawyers won’t go near: a drug-addled, tattooed kid rumored to be in a satanic cult; a vicious crime lord on death row; a homeowner arrested for shooting at a SWAT team that mistakenly invaded his house. Why these clients? Because Sebastian believes everyone is entitled to a fair trial --- even if he has to bend the law to secure one.

Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track --- until the recession hits and she gets downsized. However, she is offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic in Virginia for one year without pay, after which there would be a slim chance that she’d get her old job back. Samantha’s new job takes her into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, and within weeks she finds herself engulfed in litigation that turns deadly.

Nearly 25 years after the publication of A TIME TO KILL, John Grisham returns to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial --- a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured history.

Nearly 25 years after the publication of A TIME TO KILL, John Grisham returns to that famous courthouse in Clanton as Jake Brigance once again finds himself embroiled in a fiercely controversial trial --- a trial that will expose old racial tensions and force Ford County to confront its tortured history.

Given the importance of what they do, the controversies that often surround them, and the violent people they sometimes confront, it is remarkable that in the history of this country only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five. Who is the Racketeer? And what does he have to do with the judge’s untimely demise?

In the summer of 1973, Joe Castle quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever.

Once he was a well-liked, well-paid young partner in a thriving Mississippi law firm. Then Patrick Lanigan stole 90 million dollars from his own firm --- and ran for his life. For four years, he evaded men who were rich and powerful, and who would stop at nothing to find him. Then, inevitably, on the edge of the Brazilian jungle, they finally tracked him down. Now Patrick is coming home. And in the Mississippi city where it all began, an extraordinary trial is about to begin. As prosecutors circle like sharks, as Patrick’s lawyer prepares his defense, as Patrick’s lover prays for his deliverance and his former partners wait for their revenge, another story is about to emerge. Because Patrick Lanigan, the most reviled white-collar criminal of his time, knows something that no one else in the world knows. He knows the truth.

Things are looking up for partners Finley & Figg when a new young lawyer joins their “boutique” --- aka tiny and unimportant --- Chicago law firm. They begin to investigate the manufacturer of a popular cholesterol medication, hoping to file a class-action suit. Yet the pharmaceutical industry is no picnic, and soon the trio finds itself in situations it can’t just argue out of. Stuart Shiffman has our review and says, “Grisham's novels are no longer just suspense-packed adventures. He now uses the pages of his bestsellers as a pulpit for commentary on contemporary legal issues. The lecture subject of THE LITIGATORS is mass tort litigation, a system that makes millionaires out of lawyers on both sides of the legal battle but does little to compensate the actual victims.”

Travis Boyette raped and strangled a cheerleader, then watched as police and prosecutors sent football star Donté Drumm to death row. Now it’s nine years later, and Donté is days away from execution. For the first time in his life, Boyette decides to do what’s right. But how can a criminal convince lawyers, judges and politicians that they have the wrong guy?

Rick Dockery is the third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. In the AFC Championship game, with a seventeen-point lead and just minutes to go, Rick provides what is arguably the worst single performance in the history of the NFL. Overnight, he becomes a national laughingstock—and is immediately cut by the Browns and shunned by all other teams. But all Rick knows is football, and he insists that his agent find a team that needs him. Against enormous odds, Rick finally gets a job—as the starting quarterback for the Mighty Panthers . . . of Parma, Italy. To say that Italy—the land of fine wines, extremely small cars, and football americano—holds a few surprises for Rick Dockery would be something of an understatement.

In a departure from his well-known legal thrillers, John Grisham crafts a tale of small town American life in rural Arkansas in the '50s. Seven-year-old Luke Chandler has never kept a secret or told a single lie in his young life until September of 1952, when two groups of migrant workers --- and two very dangerous men --- come through the Arkansas Delta to work on the Chandler cotton farm.

In this searing courtroom drama, John Grisham probes the savage depths of racial violence as he delivers a compelling tale of uncertain justice in a small southern town.