Customer Reviews

Superbia

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of this book and it was simply stunning. I dare anyone who picks it up to not try and finish it in one sitting. It appears to be a quick read, but there are layers upon layers to the book that make you go back and look through it again. The Chief Midas character is what tipped me off. Not to give too much away, but readers would do well to look up some of the last names as they go along...just to see how deep it really goes....

Superbia is the best book that Schaffer has written so far, by a mile. Don't get me wrong, his genre efforts are fantastic, and great fun to read. I loved Whitechapel, and The Guns of Seneca 6... but Superbia takes top spot for me.
I read it in less than 24 hours. I'm quite a slow reader at times, or I can be, but there was something about Superbia that made it stick in my head. It wouldn't leave me. I literally couldn't put the book down.
Primarily it's the story of Frank and Vic, two cops who are thrown together as partners. They have different approaches to their work, however they are both grounded in the same ideals of fatherhood and their mutual disgust of those who bring harm to children. They're both Fathers who love their children. Frank seems to be in a stable relationship, whereas Vic's has gone down the toilet, with his children being used as weapons by his ex-wife.
Superbia is brutal in places, and you get the distinct impression that so much of it has a truthful element to it. It's a case of 'you couldn't really make this up'. The idea of reading a fictionalised account of events that may have happened in real life is a major draw to keep reading through it, as you find yourself wanting to know what happened next. In this respect I didn't want the book to end. I wanted it to keep on going. However that's not to say that it reached a naturally fulfilling conclusion; I'm merely saying that it is so well written, and so honest in its subject matter, that I didn't want the experience to end.
I was going to list my favourite scenes here in this review, but you have to go into the book cold. You have to be open to the experience.
Also something should be said here about Schaffer's sense of humour. It really comes through in Superbia, although it is present in his other work. Strangely, for an American, he has a very British sense of humour. I found myself chuckling along quite a few times. The pitter-patter between Frank and Vic, especially early on, was fantastically written.
Superbia is dark and funny. It is honest. It is literally, as someone elsewhere has said of Schaffer, a 'cop bearing his soul'.
He says this could be the book that ends his policing career. I say let it. Don't worry.
I implore you to read this book. If you liked Whitechapel or Guns of Seneca 6, then you're going to love this book. If you haven't read either of those two, why not start here? It truly is his best book to date.
I don't know how he's going to top it... but the funny thing is, I know he will.
Schaffer isn't a writer to watch. He's not an up and coming star. HE IS THE REAL DEAL.
It's about time you acquainted yourself with him.

Schaffer hits another one out of the stadium. As the chaplain of a large township public safety department near Detroit, I have experienced some of the pathos revealed here. The characters are too believeable and the story too real. Excellent work of "fiction".

The drama kicks off from the fist page.

A child pulls a small gun on police and firers. They fire back and two end up dead and one severely shot in the leg. The survivor, Frank O'Ryan, returns to work the next chapter but has a secret addiction to pain pills that started when his leg is shot. The leg maybe the obvious wound but Frank is fighting all sorts of other demons: a belittling boss, a sketchy new partner, and a new position in the force as a detective not to mention all of the post traumatic stress from killing the child.

Frank and his new partner, Vic step into an journey into the rings of hell each ring darker than the next. On the surface this appears to be a sassy, dark cop drama but pay careful attention to detail. Bernard Schaffer is a mastermind in character creation. Each one has a carefully chosen name that links the character and his personality to its Greek name sake.

Schaffer has crafted a fun read and one I highly recommend.

This was so obviously a cop book written by a cop. I grew up with this stuff (dad & uncle wore the Blue)and still live with it (2 brothers in Blue)and as much as I have heard all my life, this took it all a step further.

Cops are a unique breed and this author totally takes on that uniqueness and delivers. The weird sense of humor, the need for justice, and the constant fear of leaving those you love too soon because of what you chose to do for a living. He also explores the deep sense of fear for their own families that cops carry with them. As a teen and young adult I so did not get that what my dad feared most and the reason he seemed over protective was of all he had seen on the Job and his fear that one of his own kids might become one of those victims he saw every day. There is a reason cops keep so much inside, if they didn't they'd never survive.

Anyway, this book. Great characters. Totally loved Vic and Frank. I did not see the ending coming and I have to say it hit me hard. I will read it again sometime, but knowing how it turns out for these characters will make it a bittersweet read.

I am not a writer nor am I very articulate. Somehow I felt compelled to write a review about Suburbia. Bernard can flat out write! I could not put this story down. The detail, the suspense is so intense. If you are looking for a great read this is it. Gritty, REAL and Tragic.

Witty, gritty, and appallingly accurate.

This book is not for the faint of heart. If you are looking for romance don't buy this book. If you are looking for a strong dose of reality expressed as fiction and you like intense police drama... this book is for you.

Life for a real policeman as I've never read it before. The author is a real police officer and has been for long enough to share his lifestyle in this piece of fiction. I do not know how much of this is factual in his life, but I do feel it is factual in some unfortunate's life.

I stayed up until almost 4am this morning to finish reading this book. After having read through the first two chapters the chill I felt was greater than the blowing snow outside. I have known different law enforcement personnel... nuts. That sounds so sterile, obtuse, and distant. These are real people. Our families, friends, and neighbors who have answered to a higher calling; that of serving and protecting the rest of us from the rest of us as needed. And, they risk their lives, physically, mentally, emotionally... for what? To keep our society from coming completely unglued.

Sorry... did not mean to get on the soapbox but I have the highest regard for the police and all who put themselves on the line for another... even if I don't particularly like some I've met, I will not disrespect them.

This story, this book, elicits such a deep gutteral response within me. If you want to crawl into the skin of a real cop, a real hero... with all of the bruises, faults, and secret sins of any and every human being, then get this book and read it.

I give it and its author, my highest recommendation.

This is not a paid review. Although I am familiar with the author... I have most of his books, I swear to you I am being heartfully honest. I love reading thrillers, horror, fantasy... and biographies. This reads like I was sitting down with these cops like I used to do. Fiction or not, it reads like a biography. It should be made into an R-Rated movie.

Thanks Bernie for creeping me out for real. Keep up the superb work.