Rag and Bone (Jay Porter) by Joe Clifford

Jay Porter has been on a crusade against the Lombardi family for some time (and three novels). He returns home after a year on the run. He sets out to investigate who set fire to his old friend Alison's farm. The thing is, Porter stories are never really about the crime but all about the man. Jay is such a strong and damaged character his life story is what makes the book great.
Smoking, drinking, getting beat up Jay Porter is a real anti-hero. He also has a desire to find out the truth, more as a way not to think about his problems than anything else though.
He's close to losing all ties to his son which for make some heartbreaking scenes as a father myself. They are written so powerfully I had to stop reading several times during those scenes.
Powerful, dark stuff. And a great farewell for this series.

Favorite Sons of 2018

I got divorced this year as most PI's seem to do as well. It kind of cut into my reading time and I had a little trouble concentrating on the written word. I didn't write a lot myself either. Next year I will probably be more active again.
Still, I managed to read and review enough to come up with my Best Of list again:


BEST PI NOVEL: Broken Ground (Jay Porter) by Joe Clifford
BEST DEBUT: August Snow (August Snow) by Stephen Mack Jones
BEST NEW PI: Marker by Marcus Pelegrimas
BEST ACTION SCENES: Miami Burn (Titus) by John D. Patten

Broken Ground (Jay Porter) by Joe Clifford

Divorced from his wife Jay Porter now spends his days as an estate cleaner and at AA meetings. At such a meeting he is asked by a recovering addict to track down her sister who's last known address was a rehab center. When it turns out she didn't use drugs he finds out the real reason she went missing and encounters his old arch enemies once again.

Jay is one unique PI. He's an unlicensed one, more of a guy doing favors for friends like Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder, but at least Scudder was an ex-cop. Jay gets his edge from his anger, not his police background. In fact, it's that undertone of anger and frustration that makes Jay's voice such an interesting one to read about. Beware, this voice is so well-written you might get drawn into the story too much. Whenever I was reading it I felt a craving to smoke or drink, just like Jay. I had to be careful to be nice to my wife. There were times when I looked at my son and almost cried at the idea of having to be without him.

This is something special. And if you read or listen to interviews with Joe Clifford you will find out just how special. He really infused this novel with his own experiences and I have the deepest respect for how this man took his painful past and managed to create this wonderful novel from it and managed to start a wonderful family, holding on to all Jay lost.

December Boys (Jay Porter) by Joe Clifford

Jay Porter, after some traumatic events involving his brother's death in Lamentation is back. He's working as an insurance investigator now. He learns while investigating a claim that a young boy went to a hardcore behavioral modification center for a minor crime. When he finds out there's a lot of similar cases he decides to find out what is going on, aided by an attractive young clerk. It turns out there's some ties to his brother's death as well.
This is a true hardboiled, noirish tale. Porter is having a hard time dealing with his relationship with his wife, his brother's death and just himself. An upbeat tale this is not. It is dark, moving and rich.
I do recommend reading Lamentation before you read this one though.