Broken and Profane

by Jeff Schober

Buffalo, New York, in the fall of 1980: a white supremacist embarks on a killing spree, targeting black people… one every day. His first murder- from City Hall’s balcony twenty-eight stories high- becomes his signature. The case is assigned to Mark Bennett, a new detective whose father was a police legend. Ken Connell, the department’s star investigator, is angry to learn he is passed over. Bennett owns a pedigree, but lacks experience solving homicides. Bennett grapples with secrets: conversations with his dead father and a burgeoning affair he must keep quiet, because Allison is separating from a husband who doesn’t want her to leave: Ken Connell. Bobby Bennett, Mark’s younger brother, is a rookie patrolman learning the job. His partner is George Pope, a veteran street cop who once paired with Bennett’s father. Pope is wise but crusty, determined to mentor a stubborn young man, no matter how much resistance he faces. For several days, victims keep coming. Against a backdrop of crooked cops, drug dealers, prostitutes, transvestites, tension mounts as the net narrows on the killer while Connell learns the truth about his wife’s affair. These events converge in a darkened basement with two cops, a killer and three guns trained in different directions. Rich in characterization, Broken and Profane is crime fiction that resonates with authenticity, a taut thriller portraying the underbelly of life and the men who are entrusted with keeping society’s order. Jeff Schober is the author of the true crime book Bike Path Rapist with Det. Dennis Delano and the novel Undercurrent.

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Jeff Schober is a writer and teacher from Buffalo, N.Y., who writes frequently about issues in and around Western New York.

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book from No Frills press at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair. The author was at the stand and signed the book and we chatted for a bit.

Having just recently read Jane Casey's three novels centered on Maeve Kerrigan, as well as Dan Simmons' Joe Kurtz stories, I was interested to see if this one could match up.

It did. Raw and gritty to the very end. Good character development with a story that clipped along at just the right pace, a true page-turner (I read this in two sittings).

The author has a solid main character in Mark Bennett to build upon in future installments.

For you Buffalonians, both Simmons' Kurtz novels and Schober's novel are set in Buffalo. Simmons did not do a good job fact-checking his Buffalo geography and was a bit off in overall portrayel of Buffalo. Not so with Schober, who is a local author and Buffalo native and does a fine job of illuminating Buffalo in all its glorious grays and shadows.

[Dasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grittier than I usually read, but that speaks to its closeness to reality. I'll read the next in the series. It's a solid cop book, and all too real. Well done, Jeff Schober.