Book excerpt: When Papo, a tough-talking Puerto Rican hustler from the Bronx, meets Brian, a frightened young lawyer from the Midwest, Papo begins to glimpse the possibility of a romantic escape from his life on the streets. At the same time, Bobby, a 17-year-old runaway who has been repeatedly raped by his older brother, offers to take care of Papo and moves in with him in his fleabag hotel room. It is then when Papo suddenly finds his defenses melting and his heart torn in two directions. TRAFFICKING IN BROKEN HEARTS is a gritty, urban love story. "Playwright Edwin Sanchez makes a promising New York debut with TRAFFICKING IN BROKEN HEARTS, a grim, streetwise and bracingly compassionate work ... he convinces with the honesty of his writing and a canny, thoughtful grasp of his trio of characters. The playwright does an especially effective job in penning the gray shades of his characters ..." -Greg Evans, Variety