Superbia [Kindle Edition]

Bernard Schaffer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Ed McBain for the 21st Century." Matt Posner, author of School of the Ages

"Schaffer is the very best independent author I have ever read...with Superbia, Schaffer has taken his game to an entirely new level." David Hulegaard, author of Noble

"Step to the side, Joseph Wambaugh." 5-Star Customer Review

"Schaffer's writing is top notch. He is funny, dark and tortured throughout. I was laughing at one page and then crying the next." The Book Nook Club

A deadly shooting leaves police officer Frank O'Ryan with a shattered knee and a growing addiction to Percocet. Upon his return to duty, he is assigned to assist the most despised person in his police department, Detective Vic Ajax.

Together, the two officers will encounter everything from drug stashes hidden inside dirty baby diapers to geriatric child molesters. They will journey into a world of madness, crushing isolation, and unsung heroism from which so few return.

Superbia is the funniest, scariest, most brutal account of what police officers truly experience, written by the only author in the world who could take on such a task.

Best-selling author Bernard Schaffer does more than write books. By day (and often night) he is a real life police detective and narcotics officer. This is the book that ends some careers and begins legendary new ones.

Praise for Guns of Seneca 6

“One Hell of a Ride.” 5 Star Review on Amazon.com
“A damned good western.” Gretchen Rix, author of “The Cowboys Baby”
“A Gem of a Novel” 5 Star Review on Amazon.com

Praise for Whitechapel: The Final Stand of Sherlock Holmes

“Riveting and gripping.” Bookpleasures.com
“A Masterpiece.” 5 Star Review on Amazon.com
“One of the best books ever.” 5 Star Review on Amazon.com

Praise for Women and Other Monsters

“Nothing short of amazing.” David Hulegaard, author of Nobel
“Better than Stephen King.” AL Fetherlin, author of Release
“Thank God for Schaffer.” KindleObsessed.com

Praise for Way of the Warrior

“This author never ceases to amaze me.” 5 Star review, Amazon.com
“Just a cop bearing his soul.” 5 Star review, Amazon.com

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 356 KB
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00701D9LO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,198 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Bernard Schaffer is the best-selling independent author of runaway best-seller SUPERBIA, WHITECHAPEL: THE FINAL STAND OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, sci-fi western GUNS OF SENECA 6, the short-story collection WOMEN AND OTHER MONSTERS, and many other titles all currently available exclusively on Amazon.

One critic's review of WOMEN AND OTHER MONSTERS said, "Thank God for Schaffer." We couldn't agree more.

www.ApiarySociety.com is the Official Website for Bernard Schaffer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Read in Ages, January 21, 2012

By 

Hulegaard Books (Oregon City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superbia (Kindle Edition)

There are so many things that I want to say about this book, but I truly believe that the best way to experience it is to go into it cold. That's the way I experienced it. From being a fan of the author, I knew roughly what it was about, but when I began to read, it could not have been any further from my initial expectation.

Hands down, Schaffer is the very best independent author I have ever read. I buy his books with confidence knowing that I'm going to get a quality read. With Superbia, Schaffer has taken his game to an entirely new level. It's obvious from the first pages of the book that he is very close to the subject matter, and that he's speaking straight from the heart. He presents the reader with an opportunity to peek behind the curtain of real police work. It's gritty and hard to stomach at parts, but when it's over, I can close the book. I can't even imagine what it's like to face that kind of evil every day.

You have probably read a police procedural or detective story before. You have never read one like this. Schaffer's story is dark, intelligent, eye-opening, and if you can believe it, funny. Superbia is somehow both the most somber and hilarious book Schaffer has ever written. I've already read it twice and I'm ready to go back again.

I have read all of this author's books, and Superbia is my new favorite by a wide margin. If I had to offer any criticism at all, it's that I have no idea how he's going to top it, but I can't wait to watch him try.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ed McBain for the 21st Century, January 21, 2012

By 

Matthew Posner ""The Dean"" (Queens, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Superbia (Kindle Edition)

I am associated with Bernard Schaffer as a member of Kindle All-Stars group, but I purchased the book on my own because I was interested in it and I am only writing my genuine feelings.

I began reading this book at the start of my lunch break in the middle of work today. I did absolutely nothing else until I had finished it two hours later. It is a rare book that compels me to such rapt attention. Superbia recalled for me one really interesting police procedural novel I read years ago by Ed McBain -- and I think this book is every bit as interesting and even more raw. Superbia could be called Ed McBain for the 21st century. This book also reminds me of some other classic police dramas, including the tv series Homicide: Life on the Street or NYPD Blue, or the movies Copland and Dirty Harry, and I am sure that I would be comparing it to The Wire, except that I haven't seen The Wire (my bad).

The conceit of Superbia is that all the characters have surnames based on Greek mythology. It might be best for me not to explain how the mythology is relevant to each of the characters, but clearly Bernard planned this aspect carefully, adding a strong level of allusiveness that rewards research and rereading. Most of the names are from the Iliad, many others from Ovid or Sophocles or the Homeric Hymns. Some connections are very clearly relevant, especially one which is tragically so.

Yes, I said tragic. Tragic in the sense that Sophocles is tragic, that Shakespeare's great plays are tragic -- a good person falls to ruin as a result of mistakes and bad luck. There is some rough and painful material in here. Brutality, cruelty, savage emotions, pedophilia, injustice, idiots and smooth operators in law enforcement, bad things happening to good people. There is foul language, but only where there needs to be. Everything feels right. The b*ll-busting of the cops is as funny and real as anything that has ever been written about the police. I could read that for hours on end and never stop enjoying it.

So please, if you are on the fence at all about this book, don't be. Bernard Schaffer is an honest cop. he means what he says, and I'm an honest teacher, and so do I. Superbia is a new classic.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest. I swear to God....no, seriously., January 23, 2012

By 

beyondtrouble "beyondtrouble" (Ambler,PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Superbia (Kindle Edition)

I grew up in a cop family. I was one of those little kids sitting at the dinner table begging to hear stories about the bad guys daddy caught and who would yell "Bye! Please be safe!" everytime he would leave for the station. Superbia lifts the veil why my father never really shared that many stories, and why he would stop me and reply "Don't say bye, say see ya later!". It also explained a lot of things for me too. Yes, Superbia gave me a new appreciation (and sadness) about what cops deal with but it was also a REALLY hard read for me. Because it hit too close to home, because I could picture it too clearly and also because now as an adult, I still have family on the force. Thank god for the cop humor in it (which I always thought was so dark, sick and twisted in a hysterical way). If it wasnt for the belly laughs they provided, I dont know what state I'd be in! This book itself IS the Truth Rabbit. Reading it beat out of me all of these emotions that I couldnt swallow down until I finished and had time to process. Which means, I didn't stop until I did just that. I did a 4 hours straight through read on my tiny a*s iphone kindle app screen. It was THAT MAJOR of a novel.Immediately afterwards, I did two things. Rub my eyes, and call my dad to say "hi". Thank you for writing this book and thank you for working to get the bad guys B. Please stay safe.