Getting Life

A devastating and infuriating book, more astonishing than any legal thriller by John Grisham (The New York Times) about a young father who spent twenty-five years in prison for a crime he did not commitand his eventual exoneration and return to life as a free man.On August 13, 1986, just one day after his thirty-second birthday, Michael Morton went to work at his usual time. By the end of the day, his wife Christine had been savagely bludgeoned to death in the couples bedand the Williamson County Sherriffs office in Texas wasted no time in pinning her murder on Michael, despite an absolute lack of physical evidence. Michael was swiftly sentenced to life in prison for a crime he had not committed. He mourned his wife from a prison cell. He lost all contact with their son. Life, as he knew it, was over. Drawing on his recollections, court transcripts, and more than 1,000 pages of personal journals he wrote in prison, Michael recounts the hidden police reports about an unidentified van parked near his house that were never pursued; the bandana with the killers DNA on it, that was never introduced in court; the call from a neighboring county reporting the attempted use of his wifes credit card, which was never followed up on; and ultimately, how he battled his way through the darkness to become a free man once again. Even for readers who may feel practically jaded about stories of injustice in Texaseven those who followed this case closely in the presscould do themselves a favor by picking up Michael Mortons new memoirIt is extremely well-written [and] insightful (The Austin Chronicle). Getting Life is an extraordinary story of unfathomable tragedy, grave injustice, and the strength and courage it takes to find forgiveness.