  We present an analysis of the \rosat and \asca spectra of 21 broad line AGN
(QSOs) with $z\sim 1$ detected in the 2-10 keV band with the \asca \gis. The
summed spectrum in the \asca band is well described by a power-law with
$\Gamma=1.56\pm0.18$, flatter that the average spectral index of bright QSOs
and consistent with the spectrum of the X-ray background in this band. The flat
spectrum in the \asca band could be explained by only a moderate absorption
($\sim 10^{22} \rm cm^{-2}$) assuming the typical AGN spectrum ie a power-law
with $\Gamma$=1.9. This could in principle suggest that some of the highly
obscured AGN, required by most X-ray background synthesis models, may be
associated with normal blue QSOs rather than narrow-line AGN.
  However, the combined 0.5-8 keV \asca-\rosat spectrum is well fit by a
power-law of $\Gamma=1.7\pm0.2$ with a spectral upturn at soft energies.
  It has been pointed out that such an upturn may be an artefact of
uncertainties in the calibration of the ROSAT or ASCA detectors. Nevertheless
if real, it could imply that the above absorption model suggested by the \asca
data alone is ruled out. Then a large fraction of QSOs could have ``concave''
spectra ie they gradually steepen towards softer energies. This result is in
agreement with the \bepposax hardness ratio analysis of $\sim$ 100 hard X-ray
selected sources.
