The Dreams of Ada [Hardcover]

Robert Mayer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 16, 1987

The true, bewildering story of a young woman’s 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.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A miscarriage of justice, in Mayer's unconvincing view, occurred in the Oklahoma town of Ada when two young men, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, were accused of the 1984 rape and murder of Denice Haraway, a newly married 24-year-old grocery clerk, for which they were sentenced to death although no body was found. The men repudiated their confessions, which were extracted by allegedly coercive police officers, claiming that they were recounting dreams. In suspenseful style, journalist-novelist Mayer recreates in minute detail the investigation and trial along with character and actions of those concerned with the casevictim, the accused, families, witnesses, authorities and outraged townspeople. Haraway's body has now been found, and the two men on death row await a new trial before a court of appeals. Photos not seen by PW. 25,000 first printing.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is a focused glimpse of the criminal justice system, a journalistic study of the disappearance of a young woman in Ada, Oklahoma, and the subsequent arrest and trial of two men suspected of kidnapping, raping, and murdering her. A jury convicted the two men without any eye witnesses, and without a body, a murder weapon, or the implicated vehicle. Mayer looks inside the various elements of the systemlaw enforcement, the work of the district attorneys and defense lawyers, and the responsibilities of the judge and the juryand reveals how this system, and an obsessed and overly zealous public, can lead to injustice. Mayer does an excellent job depicting all sides of the story thoroughly and objectively. The reader is left with an eerie, frightening view of our criminal justice system, which still holds these two men on Death Row.Melinda Stivers Leach, Precision Editorial Svces., Wondervu, Col.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 396 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1St Edition edition (April 16, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670810797
• ISBN-13: 978-0670810796
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,003,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not the place to debate guilt or innocence, February 19, 2005

By 

David Chopin "True Crime Lawyer" (Gainesville,FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dreams of Ada (Hardcover)

I have read many true crime books in my life.
Out of these books I would estimate 10% qualify as truly excellent or great true crime books.
This is one of those books.

A Book Review should not be debating the guilt or innocence of the suspects mentioned in the book.

What the average reader wants to know is will this book keep me up all night turning the pages?

The best true crime books are better than their fiction counterparts because the things people do to each other are more unbelieveable than anything a fiction writer could invent.

This book qualifies as a book that will keep you up all night and the next day when you try to read it while eating lunch.

My sympathies are certainly with the relatives of the victim but nevertheless this is one of the best True Crime books I've ever read.

By the way, my secret to finding the best true crime books is to look at the bottom of the outside cover of the book. If the book was a Book of the Month Selection or an Edgar Award Winner or Nominee...buy the book. (This book was an Edgar Award Nominee) You won't be sorry.

Here are 5 others that will keep you up all night:
1) Minds of Billy Mulligan
2) Zodiac
3) Unveiling Claudia
4) Zebra
5) Careless Whispers

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keep the Dream of Freedom Alive, November 1, 2006

By 

TundraVision (o/~ from the Land of Sky Blue Waters o/~) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dreams of Ada (Paperback)

Mayer's missive about miscarriage of justice in Ada, OKlahoma, has been re-released to coincide with best-selling legal thriller author (and attorney) John Grisham's first foray into non-fiction True Crime, *The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.* Although chronicling different crimes and different cases, they occur on common ground. Both constitute a grippingly nauseating expose of Ada, America, run totally amuck. (Be afraid. Be very afraid that this can and IS happening right here, in the "Land of the Free") In the Afterward to this update, (no pictures :-( Mayer aptly describes the obscenity of District Attorney Bill Peterson (WHAT?!? He's still there, in his absolute power?!? Proving what they say about absolute power - it corrupts absolutely) and his band of Good Old Boys as "Kafka in Oklahoma."
Coerced, by interrogators who would make the SS & KGB proud, into dreaming up implausibly impossible "dreams" of what could have happened to a missing convenience store clerk, 2 then-young men have been matriculating in the Oklahoma prison system for over 20 years now.
This reviewer, graduate of the University of Oklahoma's College of Law, is simply dumbstruck. I have dreams of Peterson storm-trooping through his Pontotoc County Courthouse to the swirling strains of "Darth Vader's Theme." As another son of the South would ask:
People of Pontotoc County, What Are You Thinking?
And shame on the rest of you all, Oklahoma, for allowing this boil on the buckle of the Bible Belt to not merely fester, but prosper.
Both books should be required reading for those who profess to believe in Liberty and Justice for All.
[and see wardandfontenot.com]
/TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars proverbial fly on the wall, December 31, 2006

By 

writer wannabe - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dreams of Ada (Paperback)

true, this whole story reeks of miscarriage of justice, but my review is more focused on the writing style of the author, robert mayer. he is good. really good. he obviously must have had access to most of the participants and just seems to be like a fly on the wall; observing, watching, listening and just taking us through the twists and turns. it is obvious even he does not know where the story is going; what is going to happen next. we experience it as he does. it is almost like a work of fiction. i wish mayer would write more true crime. this is what i look for when i scour the book stores for true crime books.