Overview

""The Committee is a triumph of historical fiction--and a warning from our past. Sterling Watson swiftly and elegantly anchors the reader in an era that many would love to forget, and then reminds us of the humanity within the history. Watson is the rare writer who can address the big ideas--politics and power, love and hate, fear and freedom--without ever losing sight of the characters at the story's heart."" --Michael Koryta, New York Times best-selling author of How It Happened ""Sterling Watson is a rare find among writers as he commands all the elements of great fiction, and he continues to prove this with The Committee. In his latest must-read, Watson uses his great skill to shepherd readers back to 1950s Florida and a terrifying time when unchecked power, driven by hatred and prejudice, destroyed lives."" --Lori Roy, Edgar Award-winning author of Gone Too Long ""Sterling Watson's The Committee shines a bright light on one of the darkest times in our collective history. This multilayered and complex look at how easy--and terrifying--it is for power and hatred to corrupt is a must-read for anyone who still subscribes to the notion that the 1950s were an idyllic time in American history."" --Greg Herren, author of Survivor's Guilt and Other Stories ""Timely and pertinent to today's cultural and political climate, this historical-fiction accounting of the persecution of gay people by the state in the 1950s reveals a part of Florida's past that sowed prejudice against our community for decades. This is a must-read."" --Gale Massey, author of The Girl from Blind River The Committee is set in a sleepy late 1950s Florida university city. Its characters--professors, students, townspeople rich and poor, and politicians--are both typical of such a place and unusual, even bizarre, for the challenges they face and the changes they undergo when their lives are suddenly disrupted by the nefarious workings of a shadowy group of men, The Committee, who use the powers of government and the police to investigate and reveal the most private acts of innocent men and women. This is a story of love, both licit and hidden, war, friendship, betrayal, compromise, and finally the necessity to stand firm against the encroachments upon freedom by men who believe they do God's and the government's righteous work. Set against the backdrop of political turmoil and the clash of classes and cultures--Southern, academic, patrician, and demimonde--The Committee pits protagonist Tom Stall, scholarly, ambitious, and rising in his world of teaching and administration, against two men and a woman--a colleague, a university president, and an old friend turned deadly enemy--in a struggle for the soul of a town, a university, and an ideal. Tension and suspense build with crushing inevitability as hidden forces and unforeseen events threaten Stall's career and finally his very life.

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9781617757839

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Reviews

The Committee is a timely reminder that the hard work of resistance and social justice often falls to reluctant ordinary citizens--the question is, will they rise to the moment or go-along-to-get-along? Sterling Watson's historical novel takes us to a Florida in the grip of a McCarthyesque governor determined to rid the state of homosexuals and communists. I found myself riding anxiously alongside Tom Stall as he doggedly navigated the hazards of his own imperfections, and the fraught politics of his Florida campus, trying to protect his career and family without sacrificing his integrity. Again and again, I shook my head in frustration at the craven politics portrayed in this book while taking inspiration to fight the injustices we face today. --Alsace Walentine, Tombolo Books Critical praise for Suitcase City by Sterling Watson: The telling is masterful...Sit back and enjoy Watson's latest. It's better than bourbon on the rocks. --Kirkus Reviews, Starred review Hypnotically beautiful novel...Paranoia has been defined as 'seeing too much pattern.' Author Watson can make us sweaty victims of that madness, partaking of it, suffering from it, and loving every minute. --Booklist, Starred review Watson's magic is in pacing and taut prose...Suitcase City is an absorbing thriller, a vivid adventure in a bright, humid, perilous underworld...[A] tense, bloody thriller with a strong sense of place and a soft heart. --Shelf Awareness, Starred review [A] noir gem...a deeply contemplative and darkly poetic prose style complements the well-crafted plot. --Publishers Weekly A solid revenge tale...There is plenty of action to be had in this suspense tale, but it is the examination of the characters' motivations that really makes it shine. For fans of Lee Child and Nicci French. --Library Journal Gripping....As [Watson] spins additional threads within the plot, deepening our interest in even minor characters, his grip remains steady....Peeling back the layers of Tampa society to reveal a crosshatching of race and class--the country club scenes are particularly fine--Watson stealthily heightens the suspense. --Barnes & Noble Review Watson weaves...questions about race into a plot that takes one bloody turn after another, a crescendo of violence that ends with a day at sea that might be the most chilling of all. --Tampa Bay Times [An] irresistible earworm of a novel...With its airtight atmosphere of impending, life-sinking doom, and taut language evoking palpable Gulf Coast Florida seediness, Suitcase City duly takes its place alongside the best works of former Floridian Pete Dexter, and the brilliant Tampa novels of Dennis Lehane. --Paste Magazine Suitcase City [is] such a damn great book, a too-rare (and sometimes nearly too real) depiction of the wildly different worlds that exist side by side in the city by the bay....Events uncoil with an unflashy confidence and understated poetry, drawing in diverse characters whose deep inner lives give the wire-tight plot a thumping, nervous heart. --Creative Loafing Tampa Suitcase City is a beautifully crafted labyrinth of plot and subplot. --Florida Book Review The novels of Sterling Watson are to be treasured and passed on to the next generation. --Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River Sterling Watson is an American treasure. If this taut literary crime novel doesn't center him on the map, we should change maps. --Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter I am a huge fan of Sterling Watson's writing, and take it from me: Suitcase City is arguably his best novel to date. I began reading and did not look up again until the very last page, so taken was I by its twists and turns, its explorations of race and honor and the love a father has for his daughter. Turn off your phone, lock your door, and dive into Suitcase City. --Ann Hood, author of The Obituary Writer As Watson reminds us, corruption and cruelty survive through their uncanny ability to take on new shapes. --Laura Lippman, author of I'd Know You Anywhere

Critical praise for Suitcase City by Sterling Watson: The telling is masterful...Sit back and enjoy Watson's latest. It's better than bourbon on the rocks. --Kirkus Reviews, Starred review Hypnotically beautiful novel...Paranoia has been defined as 'seeing too much pattern.' Author Watson can make us sweaty victims of that madness, partaking of it, suffering from it, and loving every minute. --Booklist, Starred review Watson's magic is in pacing and taut prose...Suitcase City is an absorbing thriller, a vivid adventure in a bright, humid, perilous underworld...[A] tense, bloody thriller with a strong sense of place and a soft heart. --Shelf Awareness, Starred review [A] noir gem...a deeply contemplative and darkly poetic prose style complements the well-crafted plot. --Publishers Weekly A solid revenge tale...There is plenty of action to be had in this suspense tale, but it is the examination of the characters' motivations that really makes it shine. For fans of Lee Child and Nicci French. --Library Journal Gripping....As [Watson] spins additional threads within the plot, deepening our interest in even minor characters, his grip remains steady....Peeling back the layers of Tampa society to reveal a crosshatching of race and class--the country club scenes are particularly fine--Watson stealthily heightens the suspense. --Barnes & Noble Review Watson weaves...questions about race into a plot that takes one bloody turn after another, a crescendo of violence that ends with a day at sea that might be the most chilling of all. --Tampa Bay Times [An] irresistible earworm of a novel...With its airtight atmosphere of impending, life-sinking doom, and taut language evoking palpable Gulf Coast Florida seediness, Suitcase City duly takes its place alongside the best works of former Floridian Pete Dexter, and the brilliant Tampa novels of Dennis Lehane. --Paste Magazine Suitcase City [is] such a damn great book, a too-rare (and sometimes nearly too real) depiction of the wildly different worlds that exist side by side in the city by the bay....Events uncoil with an unflashy confidence and understated poetry, drawing in diverse characters whose deep inner lives give the wire-tight plot a thumping, nervous heart. --Creative Loafing Tampa Suitcase City is a beautifully crafted labyrinth of plot and subplot. --Florida Book Review The novels of Sterling Watson are to be treasured and passed on to the next generation. --Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River Sterling Watson is an American treasure. If this taut literary crime novel doesn't center him on the map, we should change maps. --Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter I am a huge fan of Sterling Watson's writing, and take it from me: Suitcase City is arguably his best novel to date. I began reading and did not look up again until the very last page, so taken was I by its twists and turns, its explorations of race and honor and the love a father has for his daughter. Turn off your phone, lock your door, and dive into Suitcase City. --Ann Hood, author of The Obituary Writer As Watson reminds us, corruption and cruelty survive through their uncanny ability to take on new shapes. --Laura Lippman, author of I'd Know You Anywhere

Sterling Watson's The Committee shines a bright light on one of the darkest times in our collective history. This multilayered and complex look at how easy--and terrifying--it is for power and hatred to corrupt is a must-read for anyone who still subscribes to the notion that the 1950s were an idyllic time in American history. --Greg Herren, author of Survivor's Guilt and Other Stories Timely and pertinent to today's cultural and political climate, this fictional account of the persecution of gay people by the state in the 1950s reveals a part of Florida's past that sowed prejudice against our community for decades. This is a must-read. --Gale Massey, author of The Girl from Blind River The Committee is a timely reminder that the hard work of resistance and social justice often falls to reluctant ordinary citizens--the question is, will they rise to the moment or go-along-to-get-along? Sterling Watson's historical novel takes us to a Florida in the grip of a McCarthyesque governor determined to rid the state of homosexuals and communists. I found myself riding anxiously alongside Tom Stall as he doggedly navigated the hazards of his own imperfections, and the fraught politics of his Florida campus, trying to protect his career and family without sacrificing his integrity. Again and again, I shook my head in frustration at the craven politics portrayed in this book while taking inspiration to fight the injustices we face today. --Alsace Walentine, Tombolo Books Critical praise for Suitcase City by Sterling Watson: The telling is masterful...Sit back and enjoy Watson's latest. It's better than bourbon on the rocks. --Kirkus Reviews, Starred review Hypnotically beautiful novel...Paranoia has been defined as 'seeing too much pattern.' Author Watson can make us sweaty victims of that madness, partaking of it, suffering from it, and loving every minute. --Booklist, Starred review Watson's magic is in pacing and taut prose...Suitcase City is an absorbing thriller, a vivid adventure in a bright, humid, perilous underworld...[A] tense, bloody thriller with a strong sense of place and a soft heart. --Shelf Awareness, Starred review [A] noir gem...a deeply contemplative and darkly poetic prose style complements the well-crafted plot. --Publishers Weekly A solid revenge tale...There is plenty of action to be had in this suspense tale, but it is the examination of the characters' motivations that really makes it shine. For fans of Lee Child and Nicci French. --Library Journal Gripping....As [Watson] spins additional threads within the plot, deepening our interest in even minor characters, his grip remains steady....Peeling back the layers of Tampa society to reveal a crosshatching of race and class--the country club scenes are particularly fine--Watson stealthily heightens the suspense. --Barnes & Noble Review Watson weaves...questions about race into a plot that takes one bloody turn after another, a crescendo of violence that ends with a day at sea that might be the most chilling of all. --Tampa Bay Times [An] irresistible earworm of a novel...With its airtight atmosphere of impending, life-sinking doom, and taut language evoking palpable Gulf Coast Florida seediness, Suitcase City duly takes its place alongside the best works of former Floridian Pete Dexter, and the brilliant Tampa novels of Dennis Lehane. --Paste Magazine Suitcase City [is] such a damn great book, a too-rare (and sometimes nearly too real) depiction of the wildly different worlds that exist side by side in the city by the bay....Events uncoil with an unflashy confidence and understated poetry, drawing in diverse characters whose deep inner lives give the wire-tight plot a thumping, nervous heart. --Creative Loafing Tampa Suitcase City is a beautifully crafted labyrinth of plot and subplot. --Florida Book Review The novels of Sterling Watson are to be treasured and passed on to the next generation. --Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River Sterling Watson is an American treasure. If this taut literary crime novel doesn't center him on the map, we should change maps. --Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter I am a huge fan of Sterling Watson's writing, and take it from me: Suitcase City is arguably his best novel to date. I began reading and did not look up again until the very last page, so taken was I by its twists and turns, its explorations of race and honor and the love a father has for his daughter. Turn off your phone, lock your door, and dive into Suitcase City. --Ann Hood, author of The Obituary Writer As Watson reminds us, corruption and cruelty survive through their uncanny ability to take on new shapes. --Laura Lippman, author of I'd Know You Anywhere

Author Information

Sterling Watson is the author of eight novels, including Deadly Sweet, Sweet Dream Baby, Fighting in the Shade, and Suitcase City. Watson's short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Prairie Schooner, the Georgia Review, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, the Michigan Quarterly Review, and the Southern Review. He was director of the creative writing program at Eckerd College for twenty years and now teaches in the Solstice MFA Program at Pine Manor College in Boston. Of his sixth novel, Suitcase City, Tom Franklin said, ""If this taut literary crime novel doesn't center Sterling Watson on the map, we should change maps."" Watson lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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