False Convictions

I absolutely, positively enjoyed this and every other book Tim Green has written. If you enjoy suspense you'll love this book.

It is unique perhaps to find someone who, during the course of his college education, was successfully trained for two careers. Author Tim Green attended Syracuse University and was an All-American football player. In 1986, the Atlanta Falcons selected him in the first round of the NFL draft, and his professional career covered eight seasons. However, his off-the-field accomplishments easily match his football skills. He majored in English literature and studied with award-winning writer and Syracuse professor Tobias Wolff. Syracuse taught him football and writing, and following graduation, he has been successful in both endeavors. Green's writing career has included a nonfiction account of his NFL days, THE DARK SIDE OF THE GAME, and a series of books for young readers set in the world of professional sports. He is best known for more than a dozen legal-themed suspense novels, the last five having reached the New York Times bestseller list. While playing in the NFL, Green also managed to attend law school as well as work in radio and television journalism. His experience is the foundation for the plot and characters of his thrillers, in which legal and media themes abound. And FALSE CONVICTIONS is his latest effort. Characters who have appeared in his previous books show up on the pages of this engaging and entertaining novel. Readers again follow Texas attorney Casey Jordan and investigative TV reporter Jake Carlson in an interesting series of plot twists that have as their blueprint current headlines in print and visual media. Very few fictional courtroom attorneys devote their careers to simply earning lucrative fees. They usually want more; they want justice. And Casey Jordan is no exception. She has established a law office that handles many cases for the less fortunate of society. When she is offered an annual stipend of one million dollars by Robert Graham, a wealthy businessman who has founded the Freedom Project, Jordan accepts the opportunity. Graham immediately sends his private jet to Fort Worth, Texas, to bring Jordan to upstate New York in an effort to establish that Dwayne Hubbard was wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of a female college student in 1989. In addition to his wealth, Graham is an unabashed self-promoter. With his cooperation, Carlson is granted an in-depth interview to promote his efforts to free the wrongfully convicted. Sometimes people are just too good to be true, and Carlson suspects that about Graham. FALSE CONVICTIONS takes several interesting plot twists and turns as the "White Knight" Graham turns out to be hiding some skeletons in his closest. Furthermore, Hubbard's wrongful conviction --- one that appears to be part of a small-town conspiracy involving local political power brokers --- is far more complicated in scope and impact, and Jordan finds herself the target of a criminal investigation. The lawyer is forced to go on the run, seeking exoneration (a common plot in legal fiction). And Gree

FALSE CONVICTIONS Tim Green Grand Central Publishing ISBN: 978-0-446-40152-4 $25.99 - Hardback 304 pages Reviewer: Annie Slessman DNA testing plays an active role today in proving the innocence or guilt of people serving time in our penal institutions. Daily we hear of people who have served years in prison for crimes they didn't commit. This fact is the basis of Tim Green's latest novel, FALSE CONVICTIONS. Casey Jordan is a well-known attorney whose work has been immortalized in a Lifetime movie with Susan Lucci playing her role. She is easily recognized and known for her success with tough cases. She is approached by the Freedom Project to represent them in the case of Dwayne Hubbard, a prisoner accused of rape and murder some seventeen years prior. For her services, the Project has offered a million dollars to support her legal clinic for women. Hardly an offer she can turn down. From the moment Casey arrives in Auburn, NY, the location of the crime, she sees this case as one of her simplest. All she has to do is find the owner of a white van, get a DNA sample from both Dwayne and the owner of the white van and the case is solved. Or, so she thinks. The case becomes more complicated as she digs deeper into the case and with the help of a television reporter she seeks to find the truth with Dwayne's charges. Nothing is what is seems and the story is full of twists and turns that will keep its reader guessing. A fantastic who-dunnit, the reader of this work will not be disappointed. Tim Green has written thirteen previous works and two have been among the New York Times bestseller list. A member of the New York State Bar, he also served as a player in the NFL. He now lives in upstate New York with his wife and five children.

In "False Convictions," Tim Green starts the action in autumn of 1989, when Dwayne Hubbard, a black man carrying a knife whose DNA matches the blood type of the victim, is beat up by thugs and then detained by police for the brutal murder of Cassandra Thornton, a popular blonde bombshell who went to the same school as him. Fast forward twenty years later, and gorgeous attorney Casey Jordan, who runs a legal clinic for underprivileged women, is contacted by billionaire Robert Graham to participate in his charity program aimed at freeing wrongfully convicted people, called Project Freedom, in exchange for annually donating one million dollars for her clinic. The first case Robert wants Casey to look into is that of Dwayne Hubbard, suspicious of the circumstances surrounding his case. At the time of Hubbard's conviction, the son of D.A. Rivers, Nelson Rivers, was Cassandra's boyfriend. After further research into the matter, Casey begins to suspect that Rivers put Hubbard in jail to cover up the crime of her son. Graham partners Casey with Marty Barrone, a lawyer engaged to the judge's daughter, and introduces her to Jake Carlson, a prominent TV reporter. Casey visits Dwayne in jail, who affirms his innocence. Casey soon realizes that the DNA on Dwayne's knife, aside the fact that it happened to match the victim's blood type, was never fully tested against the DNA of the victim. Casey travels to the warehouse where evidence is kept, but officers tell her they got rid of the knife due to age of the case. Casey's suspicion is aroused when she notices that the boxes of evidence from older cases are still present. Determined to do the DNA test, Casey learns that right before the murder, Cassandra was raped and swabs were taken from her to be stored at the hospital. There, Cassandra encounters another obstacle as the hospital's lawyer tells her an authorization from the judge is needed, before she can see the swabs. Soon, Casey's main quest becomes not only convincing the judge to re-open the case, but getting Nelson River's DNA sample to compare against the victim's. At first, Green's plot appears deceptively easy. However, the action gets increasingly more complicated as Casey realizes that her involvement in Dwayne's case is really a part of a bigger story and that some characters around her have ulterior motives. Overall, this was an entertaining mystery. The characters are well-developed, and Green frequently keeps you guessing as to where he's going with the story. The book itself is pretty short, so it was a quick read. Recommended for the mystery lovers out there.

Dallas attorney Casey Jordan works with the not for profit Freedom Project, who handle wrongful conviction cases. Billionaire Robert Graham, founder of the Freedom Project, offers Casey one million dollars annually for use by her legal clinic if she works a couple of well known cases a year. Casey agrees. In 1989 in Auburn, New York black man Dwayne Hubbard was convicted of the murder of a white female college student; DNA analysis proves his innocence and implies a massive conspiracy by all those involved in the original prosecution. At the same time that Casey proves Dwayne did not commit the murder that he went to jail for, TV reporter Jake Carlson investigates Graham. He brings some concerns to Casey, who partners with him into looking at the philanthropist's business transactions and other past dealings. The third Jordan legal thriller (see Above the Law and The Letter of the Law) is a terrific tale because the audience sees deep inside the heroine's soul as her passion for the law and helping the impoverished ring genuine. Thus Casey is lucid in her belief that Graham is wasting his money on the Hubbard case, but it is his cash though she still questions him why. Fans will enjoy the exciting False Convictions though some might question the fascinating climatic twists. Harriet Klausner