The Broken Jack, a novel by T.F. Torrey

It is the end of the summer of 1980 in Kingman, Arizona, and Jack Trexlor is under pressure. He's eighteen, and his father wants him to follow in his footsteps, to go to a major medical university and become a doctor. At one time, Jack, too, thought he wanted this. Now, however, Jack feels drawn to the local community college and a pursuit of art. Jack's mother supports him whatever his decision, but she is acting strangely. Everyone, suddenly, has secrets. The trouble comes to a head when Jack's girlfriend Diane is raped, and she doesn't want to press charges. Jack simply can not accept that the perpetrator will get away with the crime, and he is determined to bring him to justice. Assisted by Diane's younger sister Elizabeth, Jack pursues a variety of schemes to secure justice, but everything gets progressively worse. When all his strategies are exhausted, Jack turns to religion for help—and that's when things really come apart. Jack comes up with one, last, crazy, violent, unbelievable plan to set things right. This is the quest that starts Jack on his lifelong pursuit of lost causes. These are the events that stole Jack's faith and his future. This is the story of how Jack Trexlor went from a young man with a bright future to The Broken Jack.

The book is back from the beta readers, and their valuable feedback is of The Broken Jack is under way, and it is expected to be published soon. Watch this space for character profiles, preludes, and more as the book gets nearer to publication.