The Big Exoneration

A mysterious man, trapped in a mirror of his private detective office, recruit a boy, 13, and his sister, 10, to travel back in time to the year 1939 and clear him of a crime he did not commit. To do this, they masquerade as adult detectives and roam Los Angeles, questing gangsters, and their molls as they seek to find the true murderer. Jake and his younger sister, Darlene, while temporarily staying in a downtown residence in Los Angeles, come across a skeleton key to a door that strangely no one else in the building can see. Printed on the frosted glass of the door is the name, Archer Wolfe, Private Detective. As they enter, they find two rooms furnished with strange furniture dating back to the 1930s. Exploring further, they discover the ghost of Archer Wolfe trapped in a mirror on the wall. Convicted and executed for a murder he did not commit, the detective has one request: Venture through 1930s Los Angeles as private detectives and find the real murderer exonerate Archer Wolfe of the crime. However, they must accomplish this within a short amount of time because the ghost of the detective and his world of the 1930s will soon vanish. Mystery of the Man in the Mirror fits as a children's book, a young adult fiction book, and falls into the mystery adult noir genre as well. Thirteen-year-old Jake and ten-year-old Darlene have just moved into the Santa Fe Building Lofts on Los Angeles’ Sixth Street. They will be living in their uncle’s loft with their parents until they can find more permanent housing near their father’s new job. Facing a long, boring summer ahead while their parents are away at work, the two children begin exploring the old building in search of something to do. Jake comes across an old skeleton key and finds it fits the lock of a door to a private detective agency on the third floor. Jake and Darlene are shocked to find a man trapped within a mirror inside the office. The children learn the man is Detective Archer Wolfe, who was framed eighty years earlier for a murder he did not commit and received the death penalty. The last moment he remembers was his execution. Eager to be a part of the mystery, Jake and Darlene waste no time hunting for clues, determined to prove Archer’s innocence and clear his name. Jake and Darlene realize the skeleton key is the one link between the past and the present timelines and that they can use it to cross back in time at various locations around Los Angeles. But time is running out as they learn they only have a limited time to exonerate Archer and set things straight.

From award-winning investigative journalist Kyle Swenson, Good Kids, Bad City is the true story of the longest wrongful imprisonment in the United States to end in exoneration, and a critical social and political history of Cleveland, the city that convicted them. In the early 1970s, three African-American men—Wiley Bridgeman, Kwame Ajamu, and Rickey Jackson—were accused and convicted of the brutal robbery and murder of a man outside of a convenience store in Cleveland, Ohio. The prosecution’s case, which resulted in a combined 106 years in prison for the three men, rested on the more-than-questionable testimony of a pre-teen, Ed Vernon. The actual murderer was never found. Almost four decades later, Vernon recanted his testimony, and Wiley, Kwame, and Rickey were released. But while their exoneration may have ended one of American history’s most disgraceful miscarriages of justice, the corruption and decay of the city responsible for their imprisonment remain on trial. Interweaving the dramatic details of the case with Cleveland’s history—one that, to this day, is fraught with systemic discrimination and racial tension—Swenson reveals how this outrage occurred and why. Good Kids, Bad City is a work of astonishing empathy and insight: an immersive exploration of race in America, the struggling Midwest, and how lost lives can be recovered.

This book examines the lessons learned from twenty-five years of using DNA to free innocent prisoners and identifies lingering challenges.

An homage to noir detective mysteries of the 1930s, this is a story of two middle school kids who discover a skeleton key to an office in a century-old building in downtown Los Angeles. When they enter the office, they are transported back in time to the year 1939. Here they find the ghost of Archer Wolfe trapped in a picture frame. Wolfe tells them he was condemned and executed for a murder he didn't commit. Hoping the kids can exonerate him, he sends them off to roam 1939 Los Angeles for the real murderer. The kids, dressed in the fashions of 1939, oddly passed themselves off successfully as '30s private dicks to a motley crew of mobsters and molls.However, there is a ticking clock element. The kids have only one week to uncover the murderer, get his written confession, and return with it to modern day before Wolfe's ghost vanishes forever.From its title to its period slang and references, this novel is a literary feast for fans of hardboiled fiction and the mystery is a clever homage to Hammett and Chandler. Those who know L.A. will appreciate the shout-outs to Coles, the Fred Harvey House at Union Station, the Aztec Hotel on Route 66, and other local landmarks.

The New York Times best selling true story of an unlikely friendship forged between a woman and the man she incorrectly identified as her rapist and sent to prison for 11 years. Jennifer Thompson was raped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her apartment while she slept. She was able to escape, and eventually positively identified Ronald Cotton as her attacker. Ronald insisted that she was mistaken-- but Jennifer's positive identification was the compelling evidence that put him behind bars. After eleven years, Ronald was allowed to take a DNA test that proved his innocence. He was released, after serving more than a decade in prison for a crime he never committed. Two years later, Jennifer and Ronald met face to face-- and forged an unlikely friendship that changed both of their lives. With Picking Cotton, Jennifer and Ronald tell in their own words the harrowing details of their tragedy, and challenge our ideas of memory and judgment while demonstrating the profound nature of human grace and the healing power of forgiveness.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF OF POLITICO and the host of MSNBC's WAY TOO EARLY comes a probing and illuminating analysis of the current state of American politics, democracy, and elections. “[Lemire] has done his homework.” –The Guardian Jonathan Lemire uncovers that “The Big Lie,” as it’s been termed, isn’t just about the 2020 election. It's become a political philosophy that has only further divided the two parties. Donald Trump first tried it out in 2016, at an August rally in Ohio. He said that perhaps he wouldn’t accept the election results in his race against Hillary Clinton, that the election was “rigged.” He didn’t have to challenge the result that year, but the stage was set. When he lost in 2020, he started the lie back up again and to devastating results: an insurrection at the Capitol in January 2021. In the more than five tumultuous, paradigm-shifting years of Donald Trump’s presidency and beyond, his near-constant lying has become a fixture of political life. It is inextricably linked with how his party behaves, how the Democrats respond to it, and how he remains relevant, even after a decisive loss in 2020. Jonathan Lemire brings his connections, profile, and dogged reportorial instincts to bear in his first book that explores how this phenomenon shapes our politics. Written with sharp political insight and detailed with dozens of interviews, The Big Lie is the first book to examine this unprecedented and tenuous moment in our nation’s politics.

The fascinating story behind the innocence movement's quest for justice. Documentaries like Making a Murderer, the first season of Serial, and the cause célèbre that was the West Memphis Three captured the attention of millions and focused the national discussion on wrongful convictions. This interest is warranted: more than 1,800 people have been set free in recent decades after being convicted of crimes they did not commit. In response to these exonerations, federal and state governments have passed laws to prevent such injustices; lawyers and police have changed their practices; and advocacy organizations have multiplied across the country. Together, these activities are often referred to as the “innocence movement.” Exonerated provides the first in-depth look at the history of this movement through interviews with key leaders such as Barry Scheck and Rob Warden as well as archival and field research into the major cases that brought awareness to wrongful convictions in the United States. Robert Norris also examines how and why the innocence movement took hold. He argues that while the innocence movement did not begin as an organized campaign, scientific, legal, and cultural developments led to a widespread understanding that new technology and renewed investigative diligence could both catch the guilty and free the innocent. Exonerated reveals the rich background story to this complex movement.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Great new book by wonderful and very street smart author Dan Bongino, EXONERATED, THE FAILED TAKEDOWN OF PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP BY THE SWAMP. Dan hits all of the crooked points of the greatest Witch Hunt in political history. Nevertheless, the Scam continues!” —President Donald J. Trump An explosive, whistle-blowing expose, Exonerated: The Failed Takedown of Donald Trump by the Swamp reveals how Deep State actors relied on a cynical plug-and-play template to manufacture the now-discredited Russiagate scandal. With the cutting analysis and insight he exhibited in his blockbuster bestseller Spygate: The Attempted Sabotage of Donald J. Trump, Fox News contributor Bongino exposes who masterminded the dangerous playbook to take down Trump, their motives, and how a plan filled with faked allegations backfired—forcing investigators to up the ante and hide their missteps and half-truths in a desperate effort to prove a collusion case that never happened. The result? The misguided multimillion Mueller investigation that tore the nation apart, tried to destabilize the presidency and led, as the world now knows, to nowhere!