Last Friday, Bob Martin, in introducing our speaker, Bruce Coffin, made note that 47% of all book sales in the United States are in the “mystery/crime” genre. But, one would speculate, very few of these authors had spent 30 years in police work, much less in Portland, Maine, as Mr. Coffin had done as the detective sergeant in charge of homicide and violent crimes with the Portland Police Department.
After a graduating from USM, his dreams of becoming an author dashed by a less than encouraging professor, Bruce Coffin decided to follow the lead of his mentor and uncle, who was a longtime police officer in Gorham. After a long and illustrious career in crime prevention, Bruce retired five years ago and merely dabbled in writing, working full-time in bathroom and kitchen remodeling. With his first book “shelved,” he decided to get to work hiring an agent, which he managed to do in New York City just as Harper Collins Publishing became interested in his second effort at a crime novel. Within weeks, Bruce had hit the big-time, signing a three-book deal and having a short story honored as one of the twenty “best of the year” and published in a very prestigious analogy.
Initially titled “The Reaping,” the first in the three-book series following young Portland detective John Byron was a smash hit....at one point landing the book, now re-titled “Among the Shadows,” on many best seller lists, including a run as #1 in Maine and, for a fleeting moment this past January, as the #25 bestselling book on earth. Bruce’s lifelong ambition has seemingly come to pass with plans for the next two books (at 100,000 words apiece!) set for immediate follow-up to the highly successful first effort.
Bruce offered the Portland Rotary Club a unique perspective into the world of publishing, law enforcement and following one’s dreams. We were fortunate to have him join us and wish him well as he hits “the big time” as police officer-turned-author..JPG)
(Photo L-R: President Don Zillman, Bob Martin and Bruce Robert Coffin.)