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Beneath a Ruthless Sun: A True Story of Violence, Race, and Justice Lost and Found
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About Beneath A Ruthless Sun: A True Story Of
Product Description NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR and THE WASHINGTON POST"Compelling, insightful and important, Beneath a Ruthless Sun exposes the corruption of racial bigotry and animus that shadows a community, a state and a nation. A fascinating examination of an injustice story all too familiar and still largely ignored, an engaging and essential read." --Bryan Stevenson, author of Just MercyFrom the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller Devil in the Grove, the gripping true story of a small town with a big secret. In December 1957, the wife of a Florida citrus baron is raped in her home while her husband is away. She claims a "husky Negro" did it, and the sheriff, the infamous racist Willis McCall, does not hesitate to round up a herd of suspects. But within days, McCall turns his sights on Jesse Daniels, a gentle, mentally impaired white nineteen-year-old. Soon Jesse is railroaded up to the state hospital for the insane, and locked away without trial. But crusading journalist Mabel Norris Reese cannot stop fretting over the case and its baffling outcome. Who was protecting whom, or what? She pursues the story for years, chasing down leads, hitting dead ends, winning unlikely allies. Bit by bit, the unspeakable truths behind a conspiracy that shocked a community into silence begin to surface. Beneath a Ruthless Sun tells a powerful, page-turning story rooted in the fears that rippled through the South as integration began to take hold, sparking a surge of virulent racism that savaged the vulnerable, debased the powerful, and roils our own times still. Review “Exposes the sinister complexity of American racism …“King tells this … story with grace and sensitivity, and his narrative never flags. His mastery of the materials is complete.” —New York Times Book Review “Chilling...Truth oftentimes beggars belief, and the "true" in "true crime" can be a promise that betrays as much as it entices. Not so with Gilbert King's scorching, compelling, and — unfortunately — still entirely relevant new work.” —NPR “Remarkable… Beneath a Ruthless Sun is multiple books in one – a gripping true-crime narrative, a deeply wrenching story of American bigotry and corruption, and an inspiring tale of heroes fired by love and righteous fury… King reminds us of its not-so-distant history as a stronghold of Southern racism and bigotry, a state that produced both horrific violence and courageous protest.” —Christian Science Monitor “Timely and important.”— New York Times “Pulitzer Prize winner King returns with a new nonfiction story for those craving a Serial-esque fix… King provides a glimpse into the past that is equal parts enlightening, frustrating, and invariably un-put-downable.” —Harper's Bazaar“A true-crime masterwork.” —Men’s Journal “A first-rate crime thriller, built on shocking plot twists and vivid characters … This extraordinary book’s story might have begun more than half a century ago, but it isn’t history.” —Tampa Bay Times “Prepare to read Beneath a Ruthless Sun more than once — several stories are woven through this meticulously-researched nonfiction account of how justice cheated 19-year-old Jesse Daniels… [King’s] style is gentle but insistent. It’s laid out cleanly, with precision and without condemnation...And there lies the secret to the power behind King’s books: Truth. He speaks truth to a community that has kept its lips pursed together for the last 60 years, and we know it.” —Orlando Sentinel“A powerful page-turner.” —Garden & Gun“A book for true-crime aficionados as well as anyone interested in criminal justice reform.. .King delves into a complicated rape case that is rife with corruption, and in doing so, he shines a light on issues of sex, race, and class.” —Bustle“Tense and stunning...[Beneath a Ruthless Sun's] taut focus on a single case also shines a light onto larger issues of racial profiling, police corruption and the condition of Florida’s mental institutions.” —Book Page“The perversions of ju
