Grisham's Next Book to be Nonfiction

John Grisham’s next book will be nonfiction and due out in October.

It will deal with the life of Ronald Williamson, a former Major League baseball player prospect who was convicted and sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. After 12 years in prison, Williamson was freed in 1999. He died five years later.

Grisham, the former Mississippi legislator and best-selling novelist, learned of Williamson’s story by reading his obituary in The New York Times.

“Not in my most creative hour could I imagine a story as compelling as Ron Williamson’s,” Grisham is quoted on the Web site of his publisher, Doubleday. The author has received full cooperation from the Williamson family.