AUGUST, 2009
NEW NOVEL WINS COVETED ‘EDITOR’S CHOICE’ DESIGNATION
The Death of Dahlgren Place, the
newly published novel by award-winning author Eliot Sefrin, has achieved the
coveted “Editor’s Choice” designation, awarded only to a select number of
high-quality titles released by the novel’s publisher.
The book, released in August 2009, is Sefrin’s second novel. His first,
Under A Cloud, was a critically acclaimed, award-winning story about a
controversial police shooting in a poverty-stricken, minority neighborhood
in Brooklyn, New York.
The Death of Dahlgren Place is also set in Brooklyn, where Sefrin was
raised and began his career as a newspaper reporter, feature writer, editor
and magazine publisher.
Inspired by real-life events, the novel – through the eyes of its teenage
protagonist, Nathan Wolf – chronicles both the trauma and triumph inspired
by the building of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge—symbolic of the rise of
modern-day New York and the unsettling close to Brooklyn’s fabled postwar
‘Golden Era.’
The book also takes readers on a journey that spans the years of the
bridge’s construction: 1959, a time of optimism and innocence, through 1964,
a year of turmoil and change marked by New York, and much of America,
undergoing a sweeping metamorphosis.
“Dahlgren Place is a composite of many streets in quiet, close-knit,
middle-class neighborhoods that existed in postwar New York, and still exist
to this day,” Sefrin says.
“I wanted to convey what it was like to live on streets like that during a
simpler, more innocent time – as well as the sense of loss, dislocation and
anguish many people felt when they were forcibly evicted from neighborhoods
that were routinely bulldozed during an era of massive public works projects
reshaping the city.”
“Ultimately, however, I wanted The Death of Dahlgren Place to be a
personal story of resiliency and hope – depicting how an unwelcome end to
childhood sparks an exciting journey of self-discovery, as the death of his
street and former way of life unexpectedly gives birth to a young boy’s
dream.”
February, 2006
NEW NOVEL PROBES TOUGHEST ISSUES FACING POLICE OFFICERS
Police officers are indeed the ‘thin blue line’ – all that separates our society from anarchy and lawlessness. Constantly confronting the unknown, the unpredictable and the unimaginable, they never know the outcome of any situation which they’re called on to respond. Split-second, gut-wrenching decisions are often all that dictates their fate as a hero-officer or cop-deemed-criminal.
Sound like a tough job? You have no idea.
Until now.
Eliot Sefrin’s debut novel, Under A Cloud, released this month, offers a unique, in-depth, inside look into the many of the issues facing ‘average cops’ and the public they serve. Beyond chasing bad guys and the ever-popular crime-scene investigation-type stories, Sefrin’s novel blends a composite of real-life incidents within an intense emotional shell, resulting in a book teeming with thought-provoking insights. Put simply,
Under a Cloud is a book cops will love because of its realistic portrayal of their job, and the general public will find more insightful than nearly any book of its kind on the market.
Under A Cloud follows the story of Matt Holland and Rachel Cook (based on Sefrin’s wife, one of the first female police officers deployed on street patrol in New York), two highly-regarded white New York City police officers involved in a fatal shooting of an innocent black teen in a poverty-stricken Brooklyn neighborhood. The tragic and accidental shooting immediately triggers a bitter racial confrontation, and results in lengthy investigations and political maneuverings that threaten to destroy the community, shatter lives and overwhelm the truth. As violence and controversy wrack the city, the incident becomes the focus of a landmark civil rights case, while both the officers and the family of the slain teen struggle to come to terms with the tragedy. In the process, they are exposed first-hand to the stereotypes, history, hatred and fears that can divide us as a society – and the actions and emotions that can ultimately bond and help people heal.
As the riveting drama unfolds, timely and important issues are examined, including:
- How a single, instantaneous decision by even a heroic and wrongly-accused police officer can result in a chain reaction that can rock a city, and change lives forever.
- Race relations and the police – an uneasy peace in many minority neighborhoods.
n The intense emotional impact ‘the job’ can have on police officers and their families, and how they can help each other cope with the job’s unrelenting stress.
- The unique challenges faced by women in law enforcement.
- The truth about police shootings, how they are investigated, and how officers and communities must live
‘under a cloud’ through lengthy, politically-charged probes.
“With Under A
Cloud,” Sefrin explains, “I try to take the reader on a journey into the hearts and minds of people whose lives are profoundly reshaped by the kind of police shooting that, sadly, is often an inevitable byproduct of a very difficult job. The novel allows me to explore issues that are relevant to both police and the public, including the volatile social chemistry of race relations and how hysteria, abstractions and politics can blind us to the truth.”
“By delving into the internal crises these officers face while in the white-hot glare of the public spotlight, and by taking readers inside the home of the slain teen, I’ve tried to go beyond the ‘symbols’ or ‘cardboard cutouts’ that cops and victims typically become in police shooting cases, and make this a human story . . . a story of who we are and what we’re capable of being.”
“My wife, like legions of police officers, faced these challenges every day on the job,” Sefrin says. “I hope readers will gain an insight into not only what transpires in the life of a cop, but how incidents like the one depicted in
Under A Cloud can lead all of us to experience chaos, pain – and, even more importantly, recovery.”
March, 2006
UNDER A CLOUD CITED BY PUBLIC SAFETY WRITERS ASSOCIATION
Under A Cloud has won the Grand Prize in the 2006 annual writing competition sponsored by the Bellingham, WA-based Public Safety Writers Association. The novel, by Eliot Sefrin, was honored at the PSWA’s annual conference in Las Vegas. The book, which explores a multitude of issues pertinent to law enforcement, was cited as “a wonderfully written book with an excellent plot.”
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