A 1992 thriller by John Katzenbach. Matt Cowart is a reporter who receives a letter from Bobby Earl Ferguson, a death row inmate claiming innocence. While initially skeptical, Cowart soon comes to believe that Ferguson is innocent and manages to get him released... only to learn that he has in fact released a dangerous killer.
This book contains examples of:
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: It turns out that during the initial investigation, the police failed to search the Outhouse on Bobby Earl's property; when Cowart and the cops return, they search the outhouse more fully and discover bloody clothes. The Sheriff admits that the bloody clothes would have been enough to make beating Bobby Earl unnecessary.
- Evil Genius: Bobby Earl is as intelligent as he is evil.
- Framing the Guilty Party: Deconstructed. While Bobby Earl is guilty, it's made clear that if the Sheriff's Department had done a more thorough job, they wouldn't have needed to resort to torture to get a confession. Sheriff Brown even admits that part of why he hates Cowart is because he was entirely right that the case was laughably weak.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Bobby Earl is convicted due to a combination of racism, a coerced confession and an incompetent lawyer. He's still guilty as hell.
- Serial Killer: Bobby Earl and Blair Sullivan are both examples.
