disappearance, the nightmare of a small town obsessed with
delivering justice, and the bizarre dream of a poor, uneducated man
accused of murder—a case that chillingly parallels the one,
occurring in the very same town, chronicled by John Grisham in
The Innocent Man.
On April 28, 1984, Denice Haraway disappeared from her job at a
convenience store on the outskirts of Ada, Oklahoma, and the sleepy
town erupted. Tales spread of rape, mutilation, and murder, and the
police set out on a relentless mission to bring someone to justice.
Six months later, two local men—Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot—were
arrested and brought to trial, even though they repudiated their
“confessions,” no body had been found, no weapon had been produced,
and no eyewitnesses had come forward. The Dreams of Ada is a
story of politics and morality, of fear and obsession. It is also a
moving, compelling portrait of one small town living through a
nightmare.