Cliff Dorfman is a man of many hats. He began his career as an actor with arcs on shows like Beverly Hills 90210 back in the ‘90s, before penning 14 episodes of Entourage, co-writing the Tom Hardy-Joel Edgerton MMA film Warrior, and writing for both DC Comics and Sega. But, despite past attempts, he couldn’t find it in him to write a book. That is, until he was shocked to discover something personal—and painful—to write about.
Dorfman released his debut novel, Crime Family, in July. The book follows Chase, a man living and working in Hollywood, who is pulled back into his family’s organized-crime empire and uncovers distressing secrets that make him question everything.
It’s a story inspired by Dorfman having to come to grips with his own family secrets. The writer learned later in life that he was adopted through Louise Wise Services, which worked with child psychiatrist Dr. Peter Neubauer for a controversial experiment that separated adoptive Jewish twins and triplets, placing them in different homes as part of a nature vs. nurture study. Neither the parents nor children were told about the experiment.