“Clifford understands human potential for moral collapse and redemption...”

—Publishers Weekly on Lamentation

“...gritty and addicting.”

—LitReactor on December Boys

“...character-driven noir at its finest.”

—Author Jennifer Hillier on Give Up the Dead

“...a hard-bitten and hard-boiled loner who manages
to make you root for him and all the world's underdogs.”

—Author Reed Farrel Coleman on Give Up the Dead

“Clifford paints true-to-life characters with
the same gritty touch as the best of Dennis Lehane.”

—Author Robert Dugoni on Lamentation

“...the kind of wrenching, powerful work that defies easy categorization...”

—Author Jerry Stahl on Lamentation

New standalone:

Skunk Train

Now Available!

Starting in the Humboldt wilds and ending on the Skid Row of Los Angeles, SKUNK TRAIN follows two teenagers, Kyle and Lizzie, who stumble upon stolen drug money and set off to find Kyle's father, a Hollywood director he's never met, with drug dealers, dirty cops, and the Mexican mob on their heels.

Kyle Gill, fifteen, lives with his older cousin, Deke, in the backwater Northern California town of Dormundt. Kyle has been cutting class for the past three weeks. When Kyle returns home one afternoon, he discovers Deke and his business partner, Jimmy, are holding one hundred pounds of marijuana, which they discovered abandoned at their dealer's house. Knowing people will soon come looking for the dope, Deke and Jimmy set up a quick deal at the Skunk Train Inn, a skeezy roadside motel, but the buyers turn out to be dirty cops...

BUY THE BOOK:

Now Available!

Rag and Bone

Jay Porter Series Book 5

Having spent ten months on the run after he was framed for the murder of an estate-clearing associate, handyman Jay Porter returns to his hometown of Ashton, New Hampshire. During his time as a fugitive, he searched for a hard drive—evidence that would put his longtime nemeses Adam and Michael Lombardi behind bars. But he came up empty handed.

He has nothing. No hard drive, no hope. He hasn't spoken to his ex-wife and son in almost a year and he's broke. With his reputation tarnished and employment opportunities nonexistent, Jay takes a charity assignment from old friend/flame Alison Rodgers and learns of a fire at Alison's former rehab farm. Jay is convinced that the Lombardis started a fire as a scare tactic to pressure Alison to sell. As Jay begins to look into the origins of the fire, he hopes he will finally be able to put away his enemies. But he soon discovers that evil isn't so easy to define...

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The True Story Behind Jay Porter and the Manafort Brothers

Like the workers in Broken Ground, my father Neil was knowingly sent by [the Manafort Brothers] to die at a contaminated job site.

Read the article in Mystery Scene