According to the book’s description, Grisham tells the “harrowing true story of a Texas father condemned to die for a crime that never happened.”
ANDERSON COUNTY, Texas — World-renowned author John Grisham has written a new non-fiction book about the story of Robert Roberson, an East Texas death row inmate convicted of killing his daughter but has maintained his innocence for over 20 years.
The book titled, “SHAKEN: The Rush to Execute an Innocent Man,” is set to be released on June 9, 2026, a news release announced Wednesday.
Roberson has been on death row since his 2003 capital murder conviction in the 2002 death of Nikki Curtis in Anderson County. He was initially set to be executed in October 2024, but multiple appeals to courts led to his stay of execution. Since his conviction, he has spent time in-and-out of appeals courts citing junk science or the Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Currently, he is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. in Huntsville. That date was set during a hearing in July after the Texas Attorney General’s Office requested a new date.
Gretchen Sween, one of Roberson’s attorney, said their team is seeking a stay of execution through an appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. They are also seeking a new trial, claiming Anderson County Judiciary acted unconstitutionally multiple times in his case and citing new evidence that Roberson’s legal team received in June.
According to the book’s description, Grisham tells the “harrowing true story of a Texas father condemned to die for a crime that never happened.” He said the book exposes the failures leading to a “blameless man’s death sentence, and a justice system more eager for a conviction than the truth.”
“The wrongful conviction of Robert Roberson has been an ongoing tragedy for over 20 years. If it now becomes a wrongful execution, it will live in infamy. We don’t know its final chapter, but I’ll be there to record the outcome,” Grisham said.