The Sin Warriors - Softcover

Julian E. Farris

3.46

13 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590212746 ISBN 13: 9781590212745

Publisher: Lethe Press, 2012

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Fifty years ago, three hundred teachers and students in Florida vanished. No storm troopers. No mass graves. Who were they? Just wasted lives from blackmail, coercion, entrapment--tactics of state senator Charlie Johns and his covert investigations of homosexuals in Florida's universities. The Sin Warriors is a novel inspired by those actual events. David Ashton has struggled for self-acceptance and identity his entire life. David's estrangement from a dysfunctional family childhood, his sexual awakening and bonding with his gay professor places them in the crosshairs of state senator Billy Sloat, an ambitious, country politician obsessed with ridding the university of subversives--homosexuals, blacks, alleged communists--on the heels of the McCarthy hearings during the mid-fifties. But who is Sloat actually, and where does his hatred and contempt come from? From a backwoods childhood in North Florida to his reign as a powerful senator, Sloat intends to destroy the new life David has built for himself in college, and questions are raised: What is family? Whom should we love? What price do we pay to defend our country and our integrity? Which is more enduring fear or love? These themes provide counterpoint to corrupt politicians and their abuse of power to further their own prejudices and limited understanding of what it is to be human.

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Review:

". . . Farris's love for his characters is evident as he forces the reader to look deep inside their souls, from the evil political leader Billy Sloat, who organizes the secret committee to rid Florida schools of homosexuals, to the college freshman David Ashton, who falls victim to Sloat's committee. . . . His style is both original and effortless. The book is not only a compeling read, but it gives insight into a part of American history that we often forget or are too scared to remember." -- David Artavia, Advocate.com, May 31, 2013

"Many struggle with trying to figure out who they are. And some face persecution over who they love. "The Sin Warriors" is a novel . . . following David Ashton, a young man who comes into age in the swing of the chaotic 1950s, where McCarthyism puts him in the sights of a state senator out to make a name for himself. When he starts to find happiness, that happiness is threatened, and love faces a tumultuous period. "The Sin Warriors" is an enticing addition to any gay historical fiction collection, highly recommended."-- Midwest Book Review, March, 2013

"The Southern legacy of racial segregation, the influence of religious fundamentalism, the politics of social class, and the targeting of post-secondary schools as hotbeds of corruption by anti-intellectual bigots are all seamlessly woven into an absorbing plot about coming of age and learning to love in a dangerous time. This subject matter is the stuff of melodrama, but Farris handles it with understated skill. This novel . . . is both of its time and beyond it." --Jean Roberta, The Gay and Lesbian Review/Worldwide, June/July 2013

"What Stockett's The Help did to bring alive the individual stories of race in the South in the early 1960s, Farris's Sin Warriors does to illuminate the personal and political battles surrounding sexual orientation during the same era - A truly unforgettable read." -- Thomas Serwatka, author, Queer Questions, Clear Answers

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