LemonSky reviewed The Dreams of Ada by Mayer, Robert
Review of 'The Dreams of Ada' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
3 1/2 stars rounded up
On April 28, 1984, Donna Denice Haraway vanished from McAnally's, a convenience store in the small town of Ada, OK. Three men arrived at the store and saw a young couple leaving. When the men entered the store, they found that the clerk, Denice, is missing and the cash drawer was open and nearly empty. The police immediately tried to locate the light-colored, older model pickup that was seen leaving the area. This is just the beginning of a case that will haunt Ada for years.
Two young men, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, were charged with Denice's death, though her body had not been found at the time of their initial trials. Though the men insisted on their innocence, they also provided damning video statements admitting their guilt. There were some problems with the confessions, though. Initially, Odell Titsworth, a Native American, was implicated …
3 1/2 stars rounded up
On April 28, 1984, Donna Denice Haraway vanished from McAnally's, a convenience store in the small town of Ada, OK. Three men arrived at the store and saw a young couple leaving. When the men entered the store, they found that the clerk, Denice, is missing and the cash drawer was open and nearly empty. The police immediately tried to locate the light-colored, older model pickup that was seen leaving the area. This is just the beginning of a case that will haunt Ada for years.
Two young men, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, were charged with Denice's death, though her body had not been found at the time of their initial trials. Though the men insisted on their innocence, they also provided damning video statements admitting their guilt. There were some problems with the confessions, though. Initially, Odell Titsworth, a Native American, was implicated as the driving force behind the crime. However, he had a broken arm at the time, and had been unable to take part in the alleged abduction, rape, and murder of Denice Haraway. Ward was provided with an alibi by relatives.
There was photographic proof that Ward and Fontenot had short hair at the time of Denice's disappearance, while the suspects were described as having long hair. There were several other men who were identified as possible suspects in place of Ward and Fontenot, including a pair (given pseudonyms in the book for legal reasons) who appeared to be very good suspects. Then there was Denice's body - when it was found, it was discovered that she had been shot, not stabbed like Ward and Fontenot had claimed in their confessions.
Mayer's book makes a compelling argument for the innocence of Ward and Fontenot. I'm really amazed that Fontenot was even convicted due to the weakness of the witness identification (or complete lack of it). [a:John Grisham|721|John Grisham|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1413390525p2/721.jpg] wrote a non-fiction book, [b:The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town|5345|The Innocent Man Murder and Injustice in a Small Town|John Grisham|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441415135s/5345.jpg|3202981], based on an eerily similar case in Ada involving many of the same players. Fortunately, the two men in that case, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, were cleared. Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot remain in jail, though they are no longer on death row.
Why the 3 1/2 star rating? The book's focus is on Tommy Ward and his family. We get to know all of them - Miz Ward (the family matriarch), Tommy Ward, and his seven siblings, especially Tricia, his oldest sister. Karl Fontenot shows up periodically for what I would call "cameos." He's not a terribly likeable character, and I never really cared about him. There is slight emphasis on the Haraways and Denice Haraway's family. They and Denice never really come to life at all. They are just names. We actually see more of Tommy Ward's defense team than we do of the victim's family.
I have the Kindle edition of this book and I have noticed some typos in it - It's Lovelady, not Love Lady, and Mercury Grand Marquis, not "Mercury Marquee" (seriously?). Better proofreading would have helped.
Overall, a good, interesting book and a quick read, but missing something. It's basically a book about Tommy Ward and his family.