'Dreams of Ada' is the best true crime book I have ever read. Another reviewer referred to it as a 'follow-up' to the John Grisham book 'The Innocent Man.' That is totally incorrect. Although that book is also set in Ada, OK, it was written after 'Dreams' and is about a totally different crime. It appears Grisham borrowed heavily from descriptions and impressions of Ada previously used by Mayer.
'Dreams' gives me chills each time I read certain sections. But it doesn't get that effect with any brutal or grisly descriptions of a crime or with any shock value. It's a fairly straightforward account of the kidnapping and murder of a most ordinary young lady. She was working in the wrong convenience store at the wrong time. What evokes chills is how the criminals (or perhaps NOT criminals) were convicted. A peculiar young man is questioned and begins to spout what he describes as a dream of the crime.
Unfortunately for him, and possibly for the victim's family, some of his details are dead on - yet it is almost impossible that he was involved. He and a sidekick are presently convicted, but their case is being reviewed. The book allows the reader to draw their own conclusions - if they can. A most disturbing view of a crime which may never be solved.
'Dreams' gives me chills each time I read certain sections. But it doesn't get that effect with any brutal or grisly descriptions of a crime or with any shock value. It's a fairly straightforward account of the kidnapping and murder of a most ordinary young lady. She was working in the wrong convenience store at the wrong time. What evokes chills is how the criminals (or perhaps NOT criminals) were convicted. A peculiar young man is questioned and begins to spout what he describes as a dream of the crime.
Unfortunately for him, and possibly for the victim's family, some of his details are dead on - yet it is almost impossible that he was involved. He and a sidekick are presently convicted, but their case is being reviewed. The book allows the reader to draw their own conclusions - if they can. A most disturbing view of a crime which may never be solved.
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