Live Interview

In 2006, when I was dispatched to a massive house fire, I had no idea that my life was about to change forever. Prior to that call, I thought of myself as another “tough guy” police officer and nothing fazed me. That night began a journey that would threaten everything I loved most – my family, my career, my life. Fourteen years after that initial call, I can confidently say that this is a story of hope. But getting here was the hardest thing I have ever done. I fought for myself, and I survived. Today, I am well on the road to recovery. In these pages, I chronicle my journey with PTSD and share candid details about my symptoms, my experiences with therapy, my setbacks, and the ultimate test of my recovery. Telling my story was an important part of my therapy, but that’s not why I have chosen to write this book. Too many men and women in policing – and in other emergency services – don’t get the help they need. If you or someone you know is suffering, this book will give you hope, guidance, and confidence that you are not alone. I hope it serves as a step on your road to recovery.

Ever since Brett Calman was a little boy, he dreamed of becoming a police officer. But over the decades the ordinary progress of life seemed to get in the way of that dream. As an adult, he found himself working as an upholsterer; he maintained a successful business for a few years, but, despite the name he’d made for himself and how far he’d come, something was missing from his life, and he knew exactly what it was. He just had to figure out how to get it.Brett didn’t know anything about the process of becoming a police officer or about policing itself. He didn’t know any cops. But he did know that he wanted to be one, and that he’d do whatever it took.It was ten years ago that Brett came to this critical decision in his life, and, within a short period of time, he realized his dream and became an active member of an Ontario, Canada, police force. My Road to the Badge is the story of how he got where he is today and the incredible insights, experiences, and information he collected along the way.

The last few weeks have been the most challenging of Miami detective Mike Grooms’s career. After being called to assist on a disturbing murder case in a neighboring town, Grooms now finds himself chasing a sophisticated and mysterious killer who is starting to target people in Grooms’s own life. 

Desperate to track down the killer and stop the murders, Grooms takes over the investigation, but there are more questions than answers. How is the killer picking his victims? Why are the crime scenes so light on evidence? And, most disturbing, what is the meaning of the numbers carved into the victims’ flesh?

The case becomes an obsession for Grooms, who will stop at nothing to put the final pieces of the puzzle in place. But, as the murders strike closer and closer to home, Grooms can’t shake the feeling that the killer is playing with his career, his life, and his sanity.

Author Brett Calman draws on his own experience in law enforcement to weave a taut psychological thriller in Ahriman, where the truth, if it exists at all, may be fatal.