Broken Ground

A Jay Porter Novel

By: Joe Clifford

Narrated by: Timothy McKean

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 that hard drive may have 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.

©2018 Joe Clifford (P)2018 Cherry Hill Publishing, LLC

Critic reviews

“Another riveting novel by a master of the noir fiction genre... A simply riveting read from first page to last.” (Midwest Book Review)

Needs An Ending

I like a series! However, this book requires you to buy another book to complete the story. I am debating.

I am losing interest in the main character. In book one he was a bit of an underdog and because of extenuating circumstances fell on hard times. He is a jerk to people nice to him which is getting old.

The stories are good which keeps me coming back for more. I may give the main character one more chance.

The fourth novel of the saga of Jay Porter doesn’t disappoint

Jay has undergone changes since the first novel when he loses his big brother. Drug-addicted, Chris is too far gone to be saved by Jay and dies. This tragedy weighs heavily on our hero
Jay is annoying, frustrating to his friends and cannot help getting mixed up in situations above his head.
Having lost his best friend to chronic alcoholism, Jay is now sober for a year. He gets along better with his ex-wife, Jennifer, and his son Adrien.
Once more he meddles with police matters under the excuse of helping people, in spite of the warnings of Sheriff Tuley. This time he looks for Emily, the sister of Amy a fellow AA member. He stumbles in a complex conspiracy led by important people. Following his involvement, multiple murders occur. Among them, Emily, Amy, and the boyfriend.
Jay is clueless as usual and the story doesn’t end well.
Jay lets go of his dream of reuniting with Jenny and picks up drinking again.
I enjoy the cast of characters, their interactions that range from preposterous to hilarious. It makes the reading touching, interesting and funny.