Reading With the Rubies

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing  assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and  write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe  heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets  Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Carl is a  dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months  to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after  spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder. As  Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he  cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of  the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws  himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by  having to deal…