The Committee

Written by Sterling Watson

Narrated by Mike Ortego

In the late 1950s, Gainesville, Florida, seems to be a sleepy university town. Its residents live, by outward appearances, ordinary lives. And yet the town is far from ordinary. The most private acts of professors, students, townspeople rich and poor, and politicians are under the close scrutiny of a shadowy group of men—the Committee—who use the powers of government and the police to investigate, threaten, and control this increasingly fearful community.

The Committee pits friends against friends and threatens careers and lives in a struggle for the soul of a town, a university, and an ideal. Based on actual historical events and set against the backdrop of political, cultural, and class turmoil, 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 are doing God’s and the government’s righteous work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Jul 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781094410753

Sterling Watson

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. The Committee is his latest novel.

Reviews for The Committee

[Andrew Sturgeon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Alex writes an informative book. I have enjoyed the Breaking series and look forward to future books.

[Dale King · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent narration. Interesting look back to an infamous period of American history. Lots of well crafted twists. Kept me guessing to the end.

[Juliakasdorf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Some developments, I found a little bit out of line with the realism of the story, but it kept me engaged all the way through. Looking forward to reading more Sterling Watson, plus what a great narrator.

[LynneGauthier · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very well written historical fiction. The characters were well developed. It was a brilliant interwoven web of ethical dilemmas.

[Christa Schopf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes it was hard to follow. But it was good glimpse into the past

[mcstephen2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well written and very engaging. Sad we seem to be back in 1958 again.

[Barry Weber · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was an engrossing book. The characters were well developed and the story easy to follow on a personal basis and historical basis.

[Adrian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book has a pretty slow pace but not a bad listen.

[Henry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! That was a very good one. I’ll be looking for more of the similar quality plot, narrative and language.

[Mike Higgins · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a fantastic book, laced with great subject matter and believable characters. The story focuses on historical fact that can be applied to any number of situations we are witnessing today. I would suggest this book to any of my contemporaries and encourage anyone to follow suit. The narrator does the Floridian accents of the late 50s justice and and I believe makes the book all the more enjoyable.

[Hagerman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book. I’ve “read” it twice but the second time I listened to it rather than read it. The narrator was fantastic. I hope I can find other books he’s narrated. After listening to it I realized how very professional and tight the story writing was. I plan to read all of Sterling Watson’s other books.

[elizabethhames · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Book was fine except it stopped suddenly at partway through chapter 19 mid sentence! Very frustrating!

[meboles · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So evocative of a time, place and culture that I initially thought it must've been written in the early '50s.
You must relax into its pace a bit, in order to reap the full rewards of this novel.
Excellent, balanced writing. What a contrast to my last randomly chosen thriller/mystery, which was written so appallingly that I wondered if it was some kind of joke.
One of the pleasures of Scribd is the endless browsing; you feel that sense of excitement and liberty of a physical library, where you're free to peek into an endless number of novels, but reject them without consequence.

[d-fbuser-66028664 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was good, but there were a few inconsistencies. Still a good listen.

[Aaron Cobb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book. I really wish as time progressed professors would have held onto the integrity of the timeframe this book takes place in.

[Linda Elam · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author presented the thoughts and actions of his characters as they existed in the 1950s without overlaying them with today's beliefs. He provided a good description of the social structure and hierarchy of the times.

[Randi Altman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was a school child in those days, but I DO remember. How things have changed in 50 odd years. I believe Charlie Johns and his ilk, Harry Truman and his Viet Nam fiasco, McCarthy’s insanity combined for the perfect storm
In a world of insanity and coming on of Communism in America (and the world) this little jewel causes one to re-evaluate their orientation in the world.
A quiet intelligent motif is simply “ that which occurs in your bedroom is between you, your guests and God”.

[Jan Fisher · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Slow start, but after the first hour I was hooked.

[Jim Smith · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Interesting in sight into university life in the American South in the 1950s

[Joe Maggio · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent portrayal of southern politics from not too long ago!! Even though it is a “fictional “ novel, the attention to detail an accuracy is eye opening! Great book!

[d-fbuser-292693883 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fabulous. An absolute “must read”. Compliments also to the narrator.

[RICHELLE · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was cool. Great plot, liked most of the characters. It’s set in the 50s, so be prepared for racism, homophobia, misogyny, jst everything offensive lol. I’d recommend it.

[laurence9tremblay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Be ready for the 50s south whole messed up attitude

[Constance Sahlmark · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent! Great characters, dialogue, plot - everything! Could not put down.

[Pete Birch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. It makes you question your own perspective on tolerance.

[Jamie · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Complete garbage. . . . . . . . .

[bradkautz · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tom Stall, professor of English, finds himself at the center of an intricate drama in Sterling Watson's The Committee. The storyline was plausible, and unpredictable, so that at the end of each chapter I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen next. Watson uses a style that allows to see what Stall is thinking as the story moves along, a mechanism that I felt greatly added to what is already a good story. I greatly enjoyed reading this book.

[sean191 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bam! Akashic ends the year on a high note. I'm very familiar with the publisher's noir anthologies and love them, but hadn't read a novel put out by them before. So glad I got this introduction. While there was a number of big stretches that required a willing suspension of disbelief, Watson is a great writer. His pacing and character development was perfect to me and he gave just enough about each character to care without slowing down the story so much that you lost the thread of the narrative.

[livelylady · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

While this book had a good plot, I felt it needed more editing. It was arduous to read, easy to put down and hard to pick up. I love the idea of a mid century Florida university having a committee to weed out the “considered unmentionables” of southern society at the time. Now living in central Florida, I thought more description would have made this more spell binding.

[amuskopf-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this book as part of LibraryThing’s early reviewer program.

I enjoyed the Committee. I wasn't alive in 1958, but I felt like Watson's portrayal of it was real and accurate. The dialog throughout was authentic, and I found some bits of humor. A well reading book.

My only (minor) concern was that the climax felt a little rushed. It could have been tenser or something, and with a better flow