Exposes the sinister complexity of American racism King tells this story with grace and sensitivity and his narrative never flags Jeffrey Toobin New York Times Book ReviewFrom the author of the Pulitzer Prizewinning bestseller Devil in the Grove comes the story of a small town with a big secret In Decemberthe wife of a Florida citrus baron is raped in her home while her husband is away She claims a husky Negro did it and the sheriff the infamous racist Willis McCall does not hesitate to round up a herd of suspects But within days McCall turns his sights on Jesse Daniels a gentle mentally impaired white nineteenyearold Soon Jesse is railroaded up to the state hospital for the insane and locked away without trial But crusading journalist Mabel Norris Reese cannot stop fretting over the case and its baffling outcome Who was protecting whom or what She pursues the story for years chasing down leads hitting dead ends winning unlikely allies Bit by bit the unspeakable truths behind a