Broken

By Dean Skinner

A contemporary short story about the ageless battle between good and evil, Broken explores themes of self-doubt, darkness, and the supernatural, while weaving in elements of horror and hope. It's an easy, quick paced narrative with an "Aha moment" ending. If you like M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, you will love Broken.

Dale has it all by today's standards. Good job, good looking, and recently single. He's a hot-shot art director in the hottest ad agency in Cleveland. A big change from his roots in small town West Virginia. Yet, Dale is miserable and has no idea why, what, or who is influencing his happiness and ultimately, his destiny. There is war going on. The battlefield is Dale's mind. The prize is his soul.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dean Skinner
• Release date: Jul 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393671824

Dean Skinner

Dean is an artist and an author of supernatural thrillers. His last book, Healed, was number one on six of Amazon’s best seller lists and remained within the top spots in multiple categories well over a year since it was published in 2021. And his first book, Broken, held multiple top ten spots, including number one in Horror Short Stories, four years after its release in 2019.  Dean is also an artist who has painted over one hundred large-format portraits. His work has been featured in galleries throughout the US and UK and he has been commissioned by numerous NFL athletes, including Derrick Henry, All-Pro running back. If you’d like to see Dean’s artwork, please visit instagram.com/deanskinner. In November of 2018, Dean went to 20Books Vegas, a yearly gathering of some of the publishing industry’s most notable self-published authors. Here, Dean was so moved and inspired by this talented group of people that three months later, he finished writing his first draft of Broken and published it later that year.  Dean is originally from Bridgeport, West Virginia and now lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife, two children and giant, fluffy Sheepadoodle.

Book preview

Foreword

Dean Skinner knows how to tell a story in a way that grips any listener. I was hooked after the first paragraph. His words paint a picture about life, true life, and struggles, true struggles, that many of us have by choosing the path of security instead of the path of our true passion. Broken illuminates this decision through the main character, Dale, and captivates how we can all ultimately change to enjoy life again. Change, it’s a funny word that often evokes fear, but it is through that metamorphosis that we can see what we were truly created to become, to be. Dean Skinner has brought this concept and these characters to life in Broken and hopefully, you will understand your own journey to coming back to life as well.

Michele Fry MA, MS, LPC; Hope Behavioral Health; Professor at Notre Dame College; Adjunct professor at Clarks Summit University

Every act of creation begins with an act of destruction.

– Pablo Picasso

Chapter 1 – The Battle: Part 1

Get up. Get up. You have to get up. Not because you want to, rather than, laying here after you’ve awakened from the wonderful sleep that takes you away from this world. This world. This gray, cold mother-fucking world. Laying here just makes it worse.

Get up. Get moving. Find a distraction. Today will be a good day. Today will be a good day. I just know it. Just be happy. Be happy to be alive. Today will be a good day.

As I sit up in my bed continuing my mental motivational mantra, dreading the day-to-day tasks of today and this life, I hear him. I already hear him. At this hour of the morning. Early. Too early. Dark. Because with my mind, this mind, me, my depression, I don’t sleep. Want to sleep. Can’t. And apparently neither does he.

I arise. Reluctantly. Pee. And stumble into the kitchen. He’s already there. Waiting. Showered. Shaved. Meticulously manicured and dressed in his designer everything, skinny tie, and shiny black wingtips. I, on the other hand, am in my usual Xbox flannel pajama bottoms and WVU t-shirt that is older than most of the people I work with.

I don’t look at him. Don’t notice him. Don’t want to notice him. On the contrary, he is looking at me. Staring at me. I can feel it. Peering at me over the glow of his laptop. Earpiece affixed. Always. Always working. Always cutting deals. Devin is my roommate and my best friend. Well maybe he’s not my best friend, but at least he’s always been there. I’ll give him that. Grade school, high school, college, fiancé, another fiancé, jobs. Everything. Always. I can’t even remember meeting Devin. I just know he’s always been there.

Wow. Don’t you look like shit, Devin zings.

Thanks, asshole, I strike back.

As I make my way to the coffee pot, coffee that Devin has already made earlier this morning, Devin continues to stare at me. Sizing me up for his next zinger. His next take that. His next roast of me in whatever I’m doing. Whatever I’m wearing. Whatever I’m saying. Whatever.

Did you dream about all of the women you’re missing out on because you’re still hung up on that whore? Wow. Nothing like coming out of the corner swinging, particularly on a Monday morning. But even this crossed the line for me. Always does when he talks about her like that. And he knows it.

Fuck off, man, I say and I do genuinely fucking hate him right now.

I’m just bustin’ your chops man, he tries to recover, Don’t be such a pussy. 

I roll my eyes at him and shake my head as a sign of unspoken forgiveness. He laughs back. He’s not wrong. I mean, I guess he’s just really looking out for me and knows how bad Jenny hurt me. Really hurt me. I guess I should be happy that I have a friend like Devin who’s looking out for me. I guess.

What’s today got in store for you, hotshot? Devin genuinely asks but I’ve learned to tread carefully here. I answer briefly, being sure not to give him more ammunition to use against me. I know he will. He always does. He always says he’s joking but it’s still a dig. A stone thrown. A well-aimed arrow shot. Some days I can handle it. Some days I can’t. Some days I wish he’d just shut the fuck up and go away.

Work. You know. What pays the bills. Another day of selling my creative soul to pay the rent and eat, I say matter-of-factly and fairly certain I didn’t set myself up for a jab.

Hey man. Least you have a job that pays well. Be thankful for that, He says uncharacteristically positive as I think, Where did that come from?

And you like your work, too. That’s more than most pieces of meat on this planet. You’re one of the lucky ones man. Be grateful, he continues.

I guess, I say and feel like an ungrateful dick. I also think, and am fairly certain, that is first time I’ve ever heard him say the word grateful. Ever.

You’ve got the world by the balls, Dale Devin continues his rant, "Good looking. Single now. Bringing home a big ole fat paycheck. Working in a big, successful, sexy ad agency. You’re a catch man. You can do whatever you want. The world is yours for the taking so go and fucking take it man. Take it all. It’s

Reviews for Broken

[Graham Downs · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the second of Dean Skinner’s books that I’ve read, the first one being Healed (I think he published Broken first, though).

The man can tell a good story. Where Healed was overtly Christian, Broken is not. There are still strong Christian themes, but it’s not actually spelt out until the very end, and even then, it’s just a reference that’s so obvious that you’ll get it unless you’ve literally never heard of Christianity before!

I think, since he published Broken first, the author was probably nervous about coming out and referring to God directly, whereas by Healed, he was a lot more confident.

The two books have similar themes: there is inexplicable pain and suffering which is revealed to have a purpose, or the person eventually overcomes it by faith and channelled and used to do great things.

Man, it’s just a pity about the editing. As I mentioned in my review for Healed, it’s just... not as polished as one would expect of the professional work. There are lots of typos, misused words (again, “site” instead of “sight” comes to mind), run-on sentences and fragments. It’s very difficult for the pedant in me to overlook.

The lack of the linked table of contents is a bigger issue. A linked table of contents is very important in an ebook because it lets you know how far you’re into the chapter you’re currently reading, and you can easily skip ahead and back. In print, you can do that by physically flipping back and forth; in an ebook, that’s significantly more difficult. (Note: I read the Scribd edition. Perhaps that’s not an issue for some of the other retailers.)

Without those things, this is easily a five-star book.