A riveting psychological thriller

In the depths of the historic New York City Blackout, the ultimate betrayal occurs. A riveting psychological thriller, City Dark is a probing drama that will anchor you to your seat until the bitter end.

—David Swinson, author of The Second Girl

Entirely Thrilling

A mix of police procedural and legal drama, City Dark is entirely thrilling. Roger A. Canaff asks how far we can trust our loved ones... and if we can even trust ourselves. This twisty, devious story kept me up until all hours, frantically turning pages with white-knuckled fingers.

—Hilary Davidson, bestselling author of Her Last Breath

A pulse pounding thriller

A pulse pounding thriller from a New York insider. When NYC goes dark, two brothers' lives are forever altered. Part legal thriller. Part police procedural. City Dark will thrill every reader.

—Robert Dugoni, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author

Keeps the reader guessing

Canaff keeps the reader guessing to the end about what happened to Robbie on that fateful night. This character-driven family drama satisfies.

—Publishers Weekly

Like the story lines and the characters

I enjoy this series because I like both the story lines and the characters. Equally important, I also like what I read about the work this author has done and continues to do in his life outside of writing books. Thank you, Mr. Canaff...on behalf of all those who are victimized by predators as well as those of us who enjoy a great read.

—Lynn E.K.

Gripping thriller

Gripping thriller. Hard to put down! I love how sensitive Roger is to victims, while still being a tough prosecutor! Great book!

—Tracy B.

Deals with many important issues

This is the second book in the Alec Greco series and it did not fail. Twists and turns enlivened the plot and kept me interested to the very end. Deals with many important issues...sexual abuse, child abuse, gender issues.

—Bobbie J.

Great book!

Great book! This book drew me in from page one and I could not stop reading. Roger's experience and knowledge of the courtroom and it's proceedings really shines through in the book. His main character, Alex Greco, is very relatable and his own experiences being mingled in with the case were a nice refresher when certain areas got intense. Overall I was very intrigued and entertained by this book. Can't wait to read book two!

—Jennifer L.

A disturbing but intelligently crafted crime drama

A disturbing but intelligently crafted crime drama.

—Kirkus Reviews

Canaff weaves yet another unforgettable legal thriller/mystery.

In this second installment of the ADA Alex Greco series, Canaff weaves yet another unforgettable legal thriller/mystery. As you are taken deeper down the rabbit hole of Alex's past, you are also left on the edge of your seat as a new case takes shape that leaves you guessing right til the very end. I enjoyed this one just as much as the first and cannot wait to see where this series goes next.

—J. LeBlanc

Couldn’t put it down!

Couldn't put it down! Among the Dead by Roger Canaff is an intriguing novel that I couldn't put down! Alex Greco, the Assistant District Attorney, has more than his share of demons, but his character drew me in. The book description says "For the prime suspect, a choice. For ADA Alex Greco, a calling." Roger's first calling was serving as a prosecutor for special victims. I believe he's found his second calling as a writer. I can't wait to find follow this series and see what Alex will do next!

—Judy C.

Don't miss this book!

Don't miss this book! It's hard to believe that I was lucky enough to find another outstanding book this year for such a bargain price. After I read "My Name Is River Blue," I didn't think I would find so much book for the money again, but "Copperhead Road" is that book. I like books with many rich characters, and subplots woven masterfully throughout and tightly connected to the main story. If you decide to buy this book, set aside some uninterrupted time because you won't put it down for long.         

—Devon J.

I was drawn in by the very first page and finished within the week.

First in what I hope will be a long series. I read this book at the insistence of a friend, and am glad I did. I was drawn in by the very first page and finished within the week. From A.D.A. Alex Greco to Joseliz, the community college student, this cast of characters are easy to picture in your mind's eye as the story unfolds. Readers of Harlan Coben and of good crime mysteries in general will enjoy this story.

—Reina M.

Captures the potential terror faced by teenagers

Not since Stephen King’s “It,” can I remember a book that so well captured the potential terror faced by teenagers about to enter the “real world.” But “It” involved an other-worldly monster drawn from King’s rich imagination. There are monsters, too, in “Copperhead Road,” but these monsters all have human faces. They interact freely with their neighbors in the community and conceal their depraved acts behind a facade of normalcy and friendliness. As his book makes crystal clear, Roger Canaff is all too familiar with this kind of all-consuming, penetrative, evil. But to his credit, his novel demonstrates that love is stronger than hate, and that friendship sometimes, not always, creates bonds stronger than those forged by trauma. This is by no means inevitable, but it is always possible. Roger Canaff teaches that this--the elevation of love over hate--must be the goal of all of us who have been affected, directly or indirectly, repeatedly or just once, by the insidious horror of childhood sexual abuse. It is far easier said than done. But it is well worth the effort.

— K. Mulhearn

An Engaging & Talented Writer

An engaging and talented writer, Roger Canaff pens crime thrillers with an authenticity born of years of work in the field. He knows his subject and delivers with sincerity and truth.

—Edward Conlon, New York Times Bestselling Author of Blue Blood

Yes, an FBI Investigation into a Very Old Sexual Abuse Allegation is Still Worthwhile. This is Why.

 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley released a statement last week claiming “no reason for any further delay” regarding a hearing about a sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Says Grassley, “Dr. Ford’s testimony would reflect her personal knowledge and memory of events. Nothing the FBI or any other investigator does would have any bearing on what Dr. Ford tells the committee.” Nothing yet has been said about the second person to make allegations, but it seems apparent that the attitude toward those allegations is the same.

   Grassley is dead wrong. I know this because as a career special victims prosecutor I was able to corroborate accounts decades old, frame indictments narrowed to a relevant time period, and develop far more detailed testimony in support of allegations of child and adolescent sexual abuse. But I didn’t do it alone. I was assisted by competent and compassionate detectives and victim-witness specialists, men and women who assisted me in helping victims of sexual abuse become their own most powerful advocates for justice.

   Particularly in my early days as a prosecutor in late 1990’s Alexandria, Virginia, we were ahead of our time. But the measures we employed were being developed and practiced elsewhere, and thanks to our collective efforts are becoming standards. The FBI is familiar with them.

   What’s known so far about Christine Blasey Ford’s account is that she believes it occurred in the summer of 1982, when she was 15, around the end of her sophomore year at the all-girls Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland. She recalls that it took place at the home of a friend not far from a familiar country club. The idea that the FBI could not assist Dr. Ford in developing more details about her allegation, including potential other witnesses and a more precise timeframe, is nonsense. I’ve done this myself with the assistance of other professionals many times.

    The most pertinent example was a case I handled in the early 2000’s, involving a victim in his 30’s who came forward to report sexual abuse at the hands of a family member in the mid-1970’s. Virginia had no statute of limitations on these crimes, and eventually a partial confession obtained from the defendant allowed the case to be charged. The defendant was convicted of decades old sexual offenses against a minor, but not solely because of the partial confession. In fact, the most powerful evidence came from the victim himself, who testified eloquently and compellingly about what he experienced.

   How? Because he worked painstakingly with a marvelous detective who helped him to narrow the indictment period and then to recall crucial elements and facts. They looked through family photos and yearbooks, news clippings and even old weather reports to determine the timeframe in which events of abuse occurred. I was able to bring the case across the finish line. But it was really the detective and the victim who produced, through patience, courage and mutual respect, the details that gave it merit.

   It was not a fast process. In order for an investigator to help a victim of a past traumatic event unearth details and provide tools for corroboration, the investigator must employ what’s now commonly known as a “trauma-informed” approach. Among other things, this technique allows victims to feel relaxed, protected and not judged as they recollect and relate. Ford has stated she was literally afraid for her life, and that the attack haunted her well into later life. There is no doubt in my mind that a trauma-informed investigation, using other materials from her life at that time, would yield information that would either further support or perhaps even cast doubt on her allegation.

   As Linda Fairstein, the legendary sex crimes prosecutor and former chief of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Sex Crimes Bureau stated to the Washington Post earlier this week, “I stand to believe there’s no such thing as a ‘he-said-she-said’ case.” Fairstein and I differ on some methods of investigation, but we agree on this point. My mentor in child abuse prosecution, Victor Vieth of the National Child Protection Training Center, puts it similarly: There is always corroboration if responders are willing to think creatively and search for it. In this crucial case, the FBI should be tasked to do exactly that.

Going Where the Children Are: Predators and the Failure of the Federal Government to Protect Immigrant Children from Them

When the notorious Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he replied, "That's where the money is." For sexual or labor trafficking predators seeking access to children, a current answer may be an alphabet soup mix of the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Health & Human Services (HHS), and that agency’s Administration for Children & Families, (ACF) and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). ORR is charged with the resettlement of children arriving at the border unsupervised, and now with the custody of children separated from their parents when the latter are arrested at the border.

            We now know that ORR “lost track” of 1,475 children last year out of over 7,600 (minors not separated from parents, but who arrived at the border unaccompanied). The figure is the result of a survey which failed to reveal their whereabouts. We also know that, under new DHS policy, ORR is charged with at least temporary custody of children taken from their parents as an adjunct consequence of the parents’ arrests. For better or worse, ORR has tremendous power over the lives of increasing numbers of helpless children, more so under the current administration’s “get tough” guidelines.

            The issue is not that ORR should be expected to act flawlessly or work miracles. No family or foster placement can be guaranteed 100% reliable. But in the case of children either arriving at our border alone or taken from their parents, what must be understood is that they are far more vulnerable than children in almost any other conceivable situation. This vulnerability draws predators to them the way Mr. Sutton was drawn to banks.

            Most speak little or no English, possess no ability to electronically communicate, and have no money. Whatever disabilities or special needs they have are likely a mystery to their custodians. None have any legal power. Hence, they may easily be preyed upon—either through the foster system or even the “family” itself, however that’s defined—with utter impunity. A PBS documentary, for instance, avers that at least eight children were released by HHS to traffickers who enslaved them on an Ohio egg farm. As disturbing as that is, it’s likely the tip of the iceberg.

            HHS has countered that survey recipients may still be caring for the children, but didn’t respond for a number of reasons, including fear of deportation. HHS also claims that, in about 85% of the cases, the guardians who take custody of ORR children are family members to begin with. But again, given the remarkable level of vulnerability that separated, non-native children face, these claims beg two questions:

            1. 15% of 1,475 is roughly 221. By HHS numbers, these kids didn’t go to family members. So where did they go? Foster care? As E.J. Montini pointed out last week in a scathing USA Today piece, that isn’t a traditional federal function. So with what indicia of safety were they placed?

            2. Of the 1,253 remaining children, what was the nature of the “family” they were provided to? Were precautions taken to discern whether any family members (or those with access) were dangerous?

            Everything that hunts follows two paths, that of least resistance and greatest security. Child predators are no different. Knowing nothing else about the fate of the missing 1,475, we know there is in most cases an easier path to them and heightened security in harming or exploiting them. The same goes for children DHS is now pulling from arrested parents.

            Yet Trump administration leaders seem utterly unaware or unconcerned about this reality, and the awesome responsibility that accompanies caring for children in situations the administration is itself now adding to. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, when questioned by Senator Kamala Harris last month, couldn’t say if efforts were being made to even minimize the trauma of pulling a child from a parent, and simply equated the separation of children from immigrant parents to that of American children when their parents are arrested. This comparison is either remarkably cynical or stunningly uninformed. HHS, for its part, has stated they have no legal responsibility for these children after the initial placement.

            As Americans, will we take moral responsibility?

Jaclyn Friedman in Teen Vogue: Surviving Rape and Re-engaging in Sex

As a 50 year-old male, no, I'm not a regular Teen Vogue reader. Regardless, there are many things I love about celebrated feminist and writer Jaclyn Friedman's Teen Vogue piece. The two principal ones are here:1. The idea that survivors of sexual violence can use sex as a healing mechanism (or just that they can engage in it again when it feels right for them) is very important.Within the narrow realm of the criminal justice response, investigators and prosecutors are still struggling with “what to do” when a victim of sexual violence reveals, pre-trial, that she engaged in sex sometime after the attack in question, at least when it seems somehow too close to the attack itself. This uneasiness is understandable due to the realities of how typical American jurors think and how juries decide cases, but it shouldn’t be. Prosecutors in particular need guidance of the type Friedman provides to figure out how to explain this to juries.2. I’ve been saying for years (along with many others) that how a culture views sex has everything to do with how that culture responds to sexual violence. I’m not just talking about police and prosecutors. I’m talking about all of us- everyone. The prevailing western cultures are both products and precursors of the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All three of these cultural systems view human sexuality as something that should be 1) male-centered in all respects, 2) cis-gender and heteronormative, and 3) strictly controlled, particularly as an adjunct to controlling the culturally accepted object of desire, the woman.Friedman writes: “Sexual assault is, at its core, an assault on a person’s autonomy. It is an attempted negation of our sovereignty over our bodies and our humanity.”The idea of a woman’s “sovereignty over her body” has been a cruel joke for time immemorial, because she’s been seen as a vessel for life, but not worthy of the honor that should accompany that circumstance. That honor has been denied her exactly because the idea of it threatens so much of the male myth of power, stewardship and godliness.How can men be completely in control, after all, when they share shelter with these goddesses who bleed but do not die? Who bring forth life from swollen bellies and then feed it from their breasts?And, in related fashion, who can control many a man’s every emotion with a smile or a frown?Men fear many things, women perhaps first among them. In the face of that fear, they seek to control women. Sometimes, that means rape. Often, that means murder.Friedman’s piece addresses the former and not the latter. But in figurative terms, it’s sometimes very much the same.

Nihilism and Disgrace: Mo Brooks and Roy Moore

Representative Brooks, you've disgraced yourself. Not only as a member of Congress and a powerful political figure in Alabama, but as a former prosecutor and an attorney beyond that. I have no idea what kinds of cases you were responsible for, either as an assistant in the Tuscaloosa office or the state attorney general's office, but I hope you never had the opportunity to interact with a victim of child sexual abuse.I heard your callous and stupid claim that "as an attorney I know I accusations are easy."I'm an attorney, Rep. Brooks, and I was a victim. I can assure you, accusations are anything but "easy."I heard your baseless comparison of these allegations to the infamous "Duke Lacrosse" case, one brought by a woman so tragically mentally ill she was not prosecuted for false accusations as it’s suspected she might actually have believed them.Most recently, I've heard your increasingly desperate sounding stream of buzz-words ("mainstream leftwing socialist Democrat news media") that you're hoping will embolden the very worst in your own constituents to deny an ugly truth nevertheless as clear as glass.I've spent my legal career fighting the pandemic that is child sexual abuse and exploitation. The allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse leveled against Roy Moore are among the most patently believable, compellingly articulated and thoroughly corroborated I’ve seen in two decades of professional life. The original Washington Post piece detailing Moore’s sexual abuse of Leigh Corfman (and the pursuit of three other teenagers) was a model of thorough, painstaking reporting. Over 30 witnesses, all on record, support the accounts. Since that original piece, Beverly Young Nelson has accused Moore of a sexually violent act against her when she was 16, appearing on camera to recite the attack in heartbreaking, profound detail. Following this, yet another woman, Tina Johnson, reported that Moore grabbed her buttocks on the way out of his law office when she was 28, he 44. That's three completely unconnected women, either apolitical or Republicans themselves, accusing Moore of acts of sexual abuse. Another seven confirm he pursued teenaged girls as a 30-something Assistant District Attorney. Moore himself would not deny dating teenagers as prosecutor despite a risible series of softballs thrown at him by Sean Hannity.  Were Moore’s crimes not barred by statute, I’d leap at the chance to prove them in a court of law.I suspect, though, that you're not nearly as ignorant as you sound. I suspect your true belief and your position in spite of it are likely closer to those of Kay Ivey, the governor of Alabama. Ivey claims she has no reason to disbelieve Moore’s victims. None. She’s simply made it clear—from the bully pulpit of the governor’s mansion—that she’ll vote for Moore because it’s crucial, apparently, to have a Republican vote in the U.S. Senate regarding things like judicial appointments. You, too, have cited the importance of keeping a senate seat away from a Democrat. Any Democrat. Never mind that, long before these powerful allegations, Moore was already a disgrace to the bench as a scofflaw, a theocrat, and a hateful and divisive ideologue. What matters is that he’ll bear the right letter beside his name and toe the party line.God help the both of you.You, Ivey, and every other Republican politician in Alabama and beyond will be remembered for this perfidiousness, this scorched-earth stratagem. Whatever good you accomplish will be overshadowed by this cravenness, this appeal to the very lowest in your own voters. Alabama is already a wounded place, set back decades by the vicious stupidity and attendant violence and murder of Jim Crow. Roy Moore, for the sake of his own ego and abetted by this cynicism, will set it back further.But no one will feel the sting of this faithlessness more than the women victimized by Roy Moore. Following them are the millions of child victims, past and present, both within Alabama and without, who continue to suffer in silence exactly because of despicable choices like the ones being made by you, Morris “Mo” Brooks and your ilk.But you should know this: The time has arrived we'll be silent no longer.  

Paranoia Strikes Deep: Ross Douthat, College Rape & Blaming Anyone But Rapists

Paranoia strikes deep. So does male patriarchy.Almost dreamily, Ross Douthat in yesterday’s New York Times bemoans a typical scene in American college life. Alcohol-fueled parties, he says, are a "twilit (or strobe-lit) scene in which many alleged sexual assaults take place.”Fair enough, but he then goes on to say the party environment is "also a zone in which it is very hard for anyone — including the young women and young men involved — to figure out what distinguishes a real assault from a bad or gross or swiftly regretted consensual encounter.”This, he then tells us, is why reasonable efforts, like the 2011 Department of Education's "Dear Colleague" letter providing guidance to colleges on the adjudication of sexual assault claims within the campus disciplinary system, must be rolled back. The issue, he tells us, isn't really about rapists, or a culture that continues to support rape, from a president who has bragged about committing sexual assault on down. No, according to Ross, it's more one of abandoned morality and the nurturing of some new victim class. In short, it's about "liberalism."Garbage.Douthat is a talented writer who often takes reasonable and compelling stances on issues. But what he's offering on this topic is nothing but a new twist on a very old and baseless argument. And I’m tired of hearing centuries old, male-inspired drivel being trotted out as cutting-edge, heretofore unconstructed wisdom.Apparently emboldened by Emily Yoffe, a sometimes iconoclast rape apologist, Douthat has embraced a truly stupid ideology that utterly mischaracterizes the nature of sexual violence, and then foolishly enables predators, demonizes victims, and makes halting an ancient scourge that much more difficult.Like millions of conservatives, Douthat is appalled by changing sexual norms, which he appears to view as a direct cause of both actual rape and his imagined false cries of rape after “swiftly regretted” sexual encounters. He laments the “libertine” but ultimately dystopian hell-scape of American college life where red-blooded young men are ruined by legions of vindictive, or just plain gullible, feminist-twisted, victims in waiting.Never mind that this almost never happens. Never mind that women and men who emerge from situations where they’ve been clearly sexually assaulted-- let alone from some half-remembered or even deeply regretted encounter-- almost always blame themselves and tell no one. Never mind that rape is still dramatically under-reported, that there is almost never an incentive to report rape at all, let alone falsely, and that most women feel zero pressure to experience the brutal, humiliating and traumatizing experience of reporting sexual assault.In fact, never mind reality or common experience at all. Because what Douthat and his ilk feel more threatened by (than the plague of immorality or runaway liberalism) are serious challenges to male-dominated culture. This isn’t to say Douthat or those like him are misogynists; most are not. But they are undeniably patriarchal. They are convinced, not only that unhealthy or immoral college behavior is toxic, but more broadly that women are better off and more in harmony with their God-ordained roles when they avoid giving in to lust or drunkenness. They believe attempts to unbind women from imposed states of chastity and sobriety is unhealthy; that relaxing societal constraints on them leads to the inevitable “confusion,” resentment and regret that fuels false or "misguided" reports of rape.Again, garbage. Women have been raped in the company of men at college since they were allowed to join them. A generation ago, to the extent rape was discussed at all, blame was placed mostly on women themselves for invading a theretofore male-dominated space and upsetting the natural order of things. Now it’s hook-up culture and binge drinking? Please. Predatory and deviant men rape, period. They use whatever tools are in their midst, period. Sixty years ago, they used as an excuse the audacity of women, invading male enclaves and poisoning the developing, maturing male mind with temptation and folly.Now—because it must be blamed on women somehow—we’ll blame it on a leftist, godless culture of sex and gratification, the same one that's created dangerous false victims out of damsels in moral distress.We will, in short, blame it on anything but rapists themselves.