Citizen Vince and Localism Resources

Spokane is Reading 2007

Part crime thriller, part seriocomic character study, and part examination of moral complexity at the margins of society, Citizen Vince tells the story of Vince Camden, a small-time hood relocated to Spokane via the Witness Protection Program. The novel offers a lucid portrait of Spokane—especially low-life Spokane—circa 1980 as it follows Vince while he attends to sundry criminal activities, attempts to cope with a new and decidedly more ruthless arrival from Witness Protection, and struggles to exercise his franchise for the first time in the 1980 presidential election. Vince is engaging, not least because he’s a man who seems little inclined to respect the norms of mainstream society yet reveals a growing commitment to the genuine responsibilities of citizenship.