{"id":24496,"date":"2013-07-07T19:00:26","date_gmt":"2013-07-07T23:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=24496"},"modified":"2016-09-30T16:03:22","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:03:22","slug":"heres-a-different-protagonist-for-a-thriller-a-deacon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/07\/heres-a-different-protagonist-for-a-thriller-a-deacon\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s a Different Protagonist for a Thriller: a Deacon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Details:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

He has worked all over the world, from foreign relations assignments to speech pathology to motivational speaking, but another career path has embroiled Redlands resident Roger Burgraff in murder, blackmail, and the darker side of the human soul.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>That career is in fiction, fortunately: In May, Burgraff published a thriller, \u201cDeacon\u2019s Winter,\u201d about a Catholic deacon who struggles with crime, dirty politics and his own faith in the tough Chicago neighborhood where he grew up.<\/p>\n

The opening words of \u201cDeacon\u2019s Winter\u201d set the scene:<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment a bloody and battered woman came into my church for refuge, I was drawn into a web of blackmail, torture, murder and corruption of the highest order in Chicago politics. I\u2019d have to put aside my own crisis of faith and help her. It was a necessary part of my calling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burgraff is a cradle Catholic who grew up in Chicago, and a longtime fan of the thriller genre \u201c\u201d but in recent years he has been throwing books away half-read because the protagonists haven\u2019t grabbed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to thinking that a Catholic deacon would make a wonderful character because of the ways they come in contact with the community,\u201d Burgraff said.<\/p>\n

He likes to write about the things he knows, he said, and the places where he has a feel for the environment. The book\u2019s protagonist is a product of the Chicago streets, Burgraff said, \u201cand the contacts he\u2019s retained \u2014 as well as the moves he learned as an MP in the Army \u2014 help him survive, and, in his own way, do the work of the Church.\u201d <\/p>\n

He said Deacon works within a secret society that has developed \u201ca unique system of ridding the church of sexual predators.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman who takes refuge at the church turns out to be a high-end madam who is blackmailing mayoral and gubernatorial candidates. Bad guys discover her hiding place, injure Deacon and take the madam with them. She is later found murdered, wearing Deacon\u2019s shirt, and he becomes a suspect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Details:\u00a0 He has worked all over the world, from foreign relations assignments to speech pathology to motivational speaking, but another career path has embroiled Redlands resident Roger Burgraff in murder, blackmail, and the darker side of the human soul. That career is in fiction, fortunately: In May, Burgraff published a thriller, \u201cDeacon\u2019s Winter,\u201d about a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-deacons"],"yoast_head":"\nHere's a Different Protagonist for a Thriller: a Deacon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Details:\u00a0 He has worked all over the world, from foreign relations assignments to speech pathology to motivational speaking, but another career path has\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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