John Grisham, coauthor with John McCloskey of this nonfiction book, delves—well documented—into the description of 10 cases of wrongful convictions in the United States. Grisham tells five of them, and McCloskey, who works in reviewing convictions of innocent prisoners, writes the other five. The accounts, regarding the criminal aspects, are narrated with harshness, and some of them are grisly—without dwelling on details—but realistic. These are cases where the accused ended up in prison with life sentences or death penalties, while the real perpetrators remained free, which is why the crimes described are especially severe.

On a positive note, the book highlights the effort to publicize these cases of judicial errors, the work carried out by the Centurion Ministries institution, where McCloskey works to redeem wrongfully convicted inmates, and also the acceptance of divine will by some prisoners who, even while accepting their unjust sentences, fight to uncover the truth with courage and hope.