Confessions of an Innocent Man

Dow, David R. Confessions of an Innocent Man. New York: Dutton 2019. Print

First Sentences:

If you ask a lucky person to tell you what happened on the worst day of his life, he can do so without hesitation.

If you ask the same question to a homeless mother of three whose earthly possessions fit into a stolen grocery cart, she won't have a clue. I know this is true because I am one of the lucky ones, but my father was not. 

Description:

Here's a pretty straight-up story for a novel. A man is falsely accused, tried, convicted and sentenced to die for a murder he did not commit. There was circumstantial evidence and a possible motive, but we readers know that the narrator of David R. Dow's Confessions of an Innocent Man is clearly innocent.

The novel opens with Rafael Zhettah, owner of a small restaurant, describing the loving relationship he had with his wife, Tieresse, right up until she was found murdered in their lavish home. "Lavish" because Tieresse was a multi-billionaire. Unfortunately, at the time of Tieresse's killing, Rafael was in bed with another woman. Although he admits to this infidelity (and others), they could all be explained and were considered acceptable by his wife. But given Rafael's lack of a solid alibi in the time frame for the murder, along with the not insignificant motive of him inheriting her billions, Rafael becomes the number one suspect.

He is tried and sentenced to be executed, and his life begins anew on death row. As narrator, he carefully reconstructs his conversations and interactions with fellow prisoners, all of them along with Rafael, waiting for lawyers to hopefully win their cases on appeal. 

Men do not go crazy from being locked in a cage. They do not go crazy from the outside pushing in. They crack from the inside pushing out. When you take away hope, madness fills its place, and madness is loud...louder than anything in the free world....Making noise is the proof you aren't yet dead.

The years, months, days and finally hours pass as one appeal after another is denied. Finally, Raphael is lead down the corridor to the noose.

I prayed for time to slow down, desperate for someone to take however long was needed to realize I did not kill my wife....for me, time is the enemy.

But that is only the very beginning of the book and for Rafael. What occurs next is utterly surprising. I won't spoil the next steps other than to say the second half of the book details one gripping instance after another. Suffice to say, you simply cannot anticipate what is going to happen from page to page, right up to the ending. Human nature, both positive and negative, are simply unpredictable.

Dow creates a tension throughout the novel that is incalculable, not for shock, gore or violence, but for the difficult situations he places his characters in and the choices he gives them to face along with the outcomes they cannot expect. 

Readers simply will be unable to put this book down, both for the high quality of story and character, but also for Dow's skillful writing in telling this story through Raphael's thoughts and words. I was fascinated by it and gave up trying to guess what would happen next after only a few pages. 

Happy reading. 

Fred

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Jones, Tayaril. An America Marriage.   

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Bates, Laura. Shakespeare Saved My Life  

True memoirs of a man caught for theft and his resulting time spent in prison during the turn of the 20th century. While covering an older time, the description of actual prison life and prisoners is fascinating and chillingly honest. (previously reviewed here) 

Lowrie, Donald. My Life in Prison  

True memoirs of a man caught for theft and his resulting time spent in prison during the turn of the 20th century. While covering an older time, the description of actual prison life and prisoners is fascinating and chillingly honest. (previously reviewed here)