Suitcase City

I'd call this a beach read thriller. It took wonderful twists and turns, and the author clearly had a good grasp of his geography (this native Floridian especially enjoyed the references to Cedar Key - a favorite escape). The revenge plot is deep and complicated, but you really have to suspend disbelief to get engaged. It is rather far-fetched, the things Jimmy Teach has gotten away with thus far, and the way his and Blood Naylor's paths continued to cross and entwine over the years without them knowing it. But if you can do that, if you can suspend your disbelief, and just go along for the ride, it's an enjoyable one. I like a story that keeps you guessing, especially when you're sometimes guessing who the good guy really is, and who show more to root for. show less

What a great book!

Mr. Watson has created a compelling crime novel and woven in such authentic local flavor that it reminds me of being back in Tampa. His style is accessible without being dumbed down and the pacing of the novel makes it difficult to put down. I enjoyed the razor-thin timing and the uncanny coincidences - they made the story suspenseful and fun.

Overall, I enthusiastically recommend this book to the Florida local, out-of-town visitor and crime-novel aficionados - Suitcase City will satisfy them all.

Review of Suitcase City by Sterling Watson

Jimmy Teach is a football has-been living in Tampa florida, who continues to meander through his life when his past starts to catch up with him. His story is told in a series of flashbacks as various pieces of his own history come to haunt him.

You want to like Jimmy and be in his corner, yet at every turn he does something or says something that makes you just slap your forehead and ask, “did he really just do that?” But Watson doesn’t let the story devolve into the tragi-comic, instead he keeps it just real enough to pull us along (and into) the story. I found myself captivated and reading, oblivious to what was going on around me as I followed Jimmy down this unknown road.

I enjoyed show more Watson’s writing and descriptions--he writes cleanly and with vivid--although not poetic--descriptions. He sets an atmosphere that permeates his story that makes you wince as you follow the things the characters do. Many of the characters and scenes seem almost ripped from the TV show COPS--people doing a number of half-thought-through things getting pulled into an almost surreal semi-urban hell--yet are utterly believable in their motives and actions.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book with the expectation that I would provide an honest review. show less

Jimmy Teach is a successful Vice President of pharmaceutical sales in Tampa, a former college football star, a father, and a widower. But he grew up poor in Cedar Key and as a teenager supported his mother with his seafaring skills – running pot into shore from mother ships in the Gulf of Mexico.

Jimmy’s drug-running past is about to catch up with him as his former smuggling partner, Blood Naylor, now a convicted felon and Tampa pimp has devoted his evil self to wreaking vengeance on Jimmy. Blood Naylor has set things up so that The Tampa Police like Jimmy for a couple of different crimes, either of which could ruin his life.

Jimmy has lived on his wits and charm in the past and even though he’s older and softer now, he’s going show more to need them both again. Suitcase City is riveting and entertaining literary crime fiction that sustains suspense while going a bit deeper than the standard crime plot. show less

Jimmy Teach was a former University of Florida Gator's quarterback hero and professional football player, his playing days are done, but some personal events that occurred before and during his football days come back to haunt his life. Now living in Tampa, Florida the area has there own serial killer on the loose with three prostitutes that have disappeared and the authorities questioning Teach of his involvement because of his violate past in and out of football. A very enjoyable and interesting novel about where this will lead, what's around the next bend for Teach.

A middle age, college foot ball star, Jimmy Teach, has become a successful pharmaceutical executive in his old stomping grounds of Tampa, His wife has died and he and his teenage daughter have a good relationship. When Teach is accosted by a high school honor student, his present comes unwoven only to entangle with his past. Skeletons are dug up, memories revived.

I enjoyed the references to places I know in the Tampa area, like Bern's and Ybor City. It is obvious that the author is on familiar geographical turf. All the characters were well developed and described. SUITCASE CITY packs of wallop of suspense and mystery.

This crime novel is fast paced, and a little violent. It has a nice revenge plot hidden in it, you just have to get past the first 1/3 of the novel before things even out, and send you on a nice ride. At about the 1/3 mark (just prior to the section 1 end), I said to myself that I really wasn't enjoying the book much and was uncomfortable with where it seemed to be heading. However, I pushed on, and with the resolution of the first crisis, I was more comfortable.
The storylines in the plot are nicely interwoven. the use of different viewpoints was quite useful, and not at all confusing to me. While gruesome, the death details are well presented.
This novel by Sterling Watson is a good and easy beach read. Not complicated, or too gritty. show more But while entertaining, it may not be a book I'd return to.
3 stars show less