Broken Ground

Joe Clifford

Jun 2018 · Jay Porter Book 4 · Oceanview Publishing

About this ebook

Perfect for readers who appreciate the novels of Dennis Lehane with deeply flawed characters struggling to walk the righteous path. At an AA meeting, handyman and part-time investigator Jay Porter meets a recovering addict who needs his help. In the midst of another grueling northern New Hampshire winter, Amy Lupus’ younger sister, Emily, has gone missing from the Coos County Center, the newly opened rehab run by Jay’s old nemeses, Adam and Michael Lombardi. As Jay begins looking into Emily’s disappearance, he finds that all who knew Emily swear that she’s never used drugs. She’s a straight shooter and an intern at a newspaper investigating the Center and the horrendous secret hidden in it—or beneath it.

When Jay learns of a “missing” hard drive, he is flung back to five years ago when his own junkie brother, Chris, found a hard drive belonging to Lombardi Construction. For years Jay assumed that the much-sought-after hard drive contained incriminating photos of Adam and Michael’s father, which contributed to Chris’ death. But now he believes the hard drive harbored a secret far more sinister, which the missing Lupus sister may have unwittingly discovered. The deeper Jay digs, the more poisoned the ground gets, and the two cases become one, yielding a toxic truth with local fallout—and far-reaching ramifications.  

Ratings and reviews

Jay Porter is a man beset by demons ... demons that he is doing everything in his power to dispel. Jay is an alcoholic .. although he's been sober for months. He's lost a lot lately ... his parents, his brother, his wife and son, his job, his best friend who drank himself to death, and two women who couldn't/wouldn't handle his issues. But he is on the right path. He's started his own business which is doing well. He attends his meetings religiously ... and that's where things get a little crazy. At an AA meeting, he is accosted by a woman who is also a recovering addict. She asks for Jay's help in locating her sister, who's gone missing. She checked herself into a new rehab center and then disappeared. Since Jay has been involved in some previous missing persons that he's discovered, Amy Lupus turns to Jay. When he goes to investigate, he finds out things that relate back to the Lombardi family ... influential in their community... but there are secrets that only Jay knows ..which makes him very dangerous to leave walking around. And then things really heat up when Amy's sister is found ... dead of a broken neck. Who would want Amy dead? What did she know that she shouldn't have? The deeper Jay digs, the more poisoned the ground gets ... and the danger may be closer than he thinks. Jay is a deeply flawed character, but a good guy underneath the rough exterior. He has a lot of regrets and feels a lot of guilt, but he keeps on the path to recovery ... one day at a time. There's a lot of suspense, with several suspects to look at ... all with one motive or another ..and who does not like Jay poking his nose in their business. Although 4th in a series, this easily reads as a stand alone. There's just enough information from previous books so the reader doesn't feel as though he/she is jumping in the middle with no directional help. After reading BROKEN GROUND, it's just whet my appetite to read the others. Many thanks to the author / Oceanview Publishing / Edelweiss for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

About the author

 A former homeless junkie, Joe Clifford has dedicated his life to education and the craft of writing. He is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University and holds an MFA degree from Florida International University. He is the acquisitions editor for Gutter Books and the producer of Lip Service West, a gritty reading series in Oakland, California. Clifford is the author of several acclaimed books—two of which were Anthony Award nominees: Lamentation, his first novel in the Jay Porter series, and his anthology (editor) Trouble in the Heartland. Broken Ground is the fourth novel in his Jay Porter series. In all his Jay Porter novels, Clifford uses the backdrop of drug abuse to shine a light on the misunderstood and marginalized, while weaving personal tragedies into narratives that compel and transcend as well as entertain. Clifford lives with his wife, Justine, and two sons in the San Francisco Bay Area.