Past Features

December Boys: A Jay Porter Novel

Jay Porter, the newest employee at NorthEastern Insurance in New Hampshire, is investigating an accident claim when he learns the teenager behind the wheel was arrested for minor drug possession and sentenced to a hardcore behavioral modification center. At the county courthouse, Jay meets Nicki, a young college intern, who tips him off to a possible scandal―first-time juvenile offenders being shipped to private institutions for political kickbacks. He learns that long-time family nemeses, Adam and Michael Lombardi, may have a stake in the scheme. Is Jay’s mission to help these kids a legitimate crusade? Or is his thirst for revenge driven by the guilt he feels over his own junkie brother’s death? These questions conspire to tear apart tranquility and drive a wedge between Jay and his wife Jenny. With help from new friend Nicki, and a couple of old friends, Jay finds himself thrust back into a past he had hoped to leave behind, putting everything―and everyone he loves―at risk in pursuit of the truth.

A MURDER OF CROWS
BY TERRENCE MCCAULEY

For years, every intelligence agency in the world has been chasing the elusive terrorist known only as The Moroccan. But when James Hicks and his clandestine group known as the University thwart a bio-terror attack against New York City and capture The Moroccan, they find themselves in the crosshairs of their own intelligence community.

The CIA, NSA, DIA and the Mossad are still hunting for for The Moroccan and will stop at nothing to get him. Hicks must find a way to keep the other agencies at bay while he tries to break The terrorist and uncover what else he is planning.

When he ultimately surrenders information that leads to the most wanted terrorist in the world, Hicks and his team find themselves in a strange new world where allies become enemies, enemies become allies and the fate of the University - perhaps even the Western world - may hang in the balance.

Can Hicks and the University survive an onslaught from A MURDER OF CROWS?

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December Boys
​by Joe Clifford

Joe Clifford is acquisitions editor for Gutter Books, and producer of Lip Service West, a "gritty, real, raw" reading series in Oakland, CA. He is the award-winning author of the books Choice Cuts, Junkie Love, Wake the Undertaker, and Lamentation, as well as editor of Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Stories Based on the Songs of Bruce Springsteen. Joe's writing can be found at www.joeclifford.com.

Praise for December Boys

Clifford has written a very human tale of redemption.”
―Publishers Weekly

“Taut, breathless, stark and powerful, December Boys yanks you along like a raft on a whitewater river, buffeting your senses and emotions and putting you inside the head of Jay Porter, a man tortured by both past and present, seemingly bent on self-destruction but somehow still trying to find a way to hold onto the good things in his life and to find a peace he can handle.”
―Sara J. Henry, award-winning author of A Cold and Lonely Place

“December Boys is more than great noir, or great crime fiction―it's great fiction, period. Spare and gritty, Joe Clifford's depiction of America’s seedy underbelly combines razor-sharp dialogue with a compelling story and nakedly honest characters. Clifford's work resembles the best of the late Tom Piccirilli―unflinching and brutal one moment, lyrical and thought-provoking the next. Do yourself a favor: check out December Boys and see if you don't agree.”
―Allan Leverone, New York Times best-selling author of the Tracie Tanner Thriller Series

“Clifford's writing is lean, like a prizefighter, except instead of only hitting you (it does that too), December Boys is willing to be vulnerable, beautiful. Sure, there's muscle and brawn, but it's that tangle of tenderness, elevating the prose to an emotional experience that stays with you long after you flip the final page.”
―Joshua Mohr, author of All This Life
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“Jay Porter is a character who will break your heart, and Joe Clifford a writer capable of doing the same. Along the way, he'll also thrill you, make you angry, and cause you to cheer. No mean trio to pull off. December Boys is a timely, topical tale of broken people who come back swinging, achieving the kind of partial triumphs and halfway heartaches only real life―and the best writing―can depict.”
―Jenny Milchman, USA Today bestselling and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author of As Night Falls