Shards: A Young Vice Cop Investigates Her Darkest Case of Meth Addiction—Her Own - Softcover

The “honest, introspective, and harrowing” (Kirkus Reviews) true story of a young female cop who almost loses everything in a downward spiral of addiction—a career she loved, colleagues who respected her, and the island that was once her personal paradise—before finally seeking redemption.

As a beautiful, ambitious, and fearless young woman, Allison Moore had everything going for her: She had been the star student of her recruit class and was quickly promoted to vice cop at the Maui Police Department, while earning the respect of her colleagues and a stellar reputation. But when a doomed love affair with another cop led Allison to seek desperate escape, her life took a sudden and violent plunge.

Using her position of authority and skills of manipulation, Allison hid her addiction from her lover and her department for as long as possible. She fabricated an elaborate story that she had cancer and needed to seek treatment on the mainland, while actually traveling to get a steady supply of meth from a brutal Seattle drug dealer. When her intensifying dependence on meth put her at the mercy of the ruthless dealer, he made her a prisoner in his house, subjecting her to unthinkable physical and sexual abuse, and monitoring her every move through a web of hidden surveillance cameras.

Astounding, gripping, and astonishingly candid, Shards spares no detail of Allison’s horrific experiences and the tangle of addiction and betrayal that cost her nearly everything.

Allison Moore is a former narcotics officer with the Maui Police Department. A native of New Mexico, she served a one-year sentence in the Federal Correction Center in Oahu for drug-related felonies. She is currently attempting to make amends to all those she has hurt and find her way back to life.

Nancy Woodruff received her MFA from Columbia University, and she has taught writing at Columbia, Purchase College, Richmond, the American International University in London, and New York University. She is the author of two novels, My Wife's Affair and Someone Else's Child. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband, sons, and daughter.