This is a Leonberger blog but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers, and in those cases it is books that I really like and that I want to recommend. This is another one of those. I recently read Induced Coma Paperback – by Tanya Taylor Morris.
- Paperback – December 11, 2023, ASIN : B0CQ6CY13Q, ISBN-13 : 979-8218304096, 150 pages, Item Weight : 8.8 ounces, dimensions : 5.5 x 0.34 x 8.5 inches, it cost $10.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
- Kindle – December 7, 2023, ASIN : B0CPTQMK6L, 146 pages. It is currently $4.99 on Amazon.com or free with Kindle Unlimited. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Amazon’s description of the book
The true story of a mother’s desperate attempt to save her family from the deadly grip of drugs and the destruction of her family. Intelligent, handsome, and loving Austin chooses drugs at a young age. After a tragic accident at seventeen and many attempts to overcome his addiction to Heroin and Methamphetamines, he succumbs to the “monkey on his back”.
He is determined to beat his addiction, but he has another addiction affecting his family. Their drug addiction leads to a broken family, a divorced mother, suicide and the loss of their dreams.
My Amazon Review of Induced Coma
A Series of Very Unfortunate Events and One Woman’s Impossible Fight
I briefly met the author at a book signing event. She is a very nice lady. In this intense book she is sharing her personal and very painful story about how drug addiction destroyed her family. The book starts out with her husband of 20 years wanting a divorce. Soon after that unexpected revelation, she finds out that he has a much younger girlfriend, who is a drug addict, a prostitute, and a criminal and she is going to jail. As it turns out, he is also a drug addict, he commits crimes, and he is a drug dealer and a pimp, and he also goes to jail. Gone are all the plans they had for the future.
He lies to her, betrays her, tricks her, steals from her, accumulates debts that are in the hundreds of thousands (they were middle class), destroys the business they built together, and he is cruel to her. One of his prostitutes accosts her publicly and the police must save her. All her former husband seems to care about is getting money for the next fix, no matter whom he hurts in the process. After all that, things got a lot worse. She tries to make things OK again, and she seems to still love him despite it all, and she writes about his positive qualities. Eventually she learns to protect herself. Their son is also a drug addict who committed a couple of horrific crimes that landed him in jail for a very long time. She writes lovingly about him despite his actions, which some may find problematic. However, the way I see it is; that’s the way mothers are, and it’s the way we want them to be.
The author certainly went through hell, and she did her best to turn things around. Despite that fact, some family members were hostile towards her. I am not too surprised. It is very difficult to see things from a different perspective than your own self-serving perspective, which is why victims often are victimized again by judgmental people and it is also why families fight with each other, and blame each other, instead of supporting each other. The author is certainly a very brave and strong woman.
The book was a real eye opener to me. I knew about the devastation drugs are causing in the United States, but this book made it more personal to me and it made it clear to me how devastating it can be. Drug addiction can turn normal people into monsters who are a danger to their families and to society. The author warns parents about the danger of drugs, especially Fentanyl and she states that between 2000 and 2022 one million Americans died from overdose. Drug overdoses increased by 255% between 2000 and 2019. To that I can add that according to Wikipedia 41,034 people have died in the war between the drug cartels and the Mexican government since 2006. I have never taken an illicit drug, which some think is being a killjoy, but considering the devastation drugs are causing in the US we could probably do well without any recreational drug use. I highly recommend this book because it is a great read, a real page turner, but it also has an important message to us all about the drug addiction pandemic ravaging the land.
Leonberger Life 
Wow, it sounds like an emotional read. Compelling review, Thomas!
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Thank you so much Priscilla. Yes it was an emotional read. I felt so sorry for her, but she seems like a strong woman.
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Thanks for a compassionate and moving review. The author’s story is unique and, sadly, all too common.
Until one has dealt with an alcoholic or drug addict in one’s own family, it is difficult to understand the hellishness of addiction, not only for the addict themselves but for those close to them. In one account I read, a woman said her father told her, “I love you, but I love drugs more.” That succinctly sums up the problem, I believe.
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Yes that is one thing this book made me understand better. It is not just the addict, but the rest of the family who suffer, as well as innocent third parties who get hurt. It is a devastating situation.
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Too awful to consider, and it happens daily. Sound of Freedom broke my heart.
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Yes there’s a lot of tragedy in the world.
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Sounds very harrowing.
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Yes you have to be very strong to take so much bad news thrown at you, one thing after another.
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Oh gosh, what a horrifically tragic story. So many are suffering and on the streets with their addictions. It is overwhelming. I’m not sure I’ll be reading this, but thank you, Thomas, for sharing as you have. 💙
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Yes I thought it was a good learning experience for me and an eye-opener. Before reading this book I did not know how a situation like this would be like, but it made so much sense reading this. I can also see how it can be too difficult and tense for some.
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I just saw your very kind review for my Leonberger book. Thank you so much Gwen.
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I was a wonderful read, Thomas. I enjoyed every minute of it. 😊
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Thank you so much for your kind words Gwen
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Wow! What a tragic story. Thanks, Thomas, for sharing this one.
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Thank you so much Jan. Yes it was a tragic story and a warning to us all about the dangers of drugs.
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Such a sad account of living with a drug addict… It is hard for those of us who have not experienced the devastation which drug addicts can have… I know from a friend of a friend, whose Son was an addict.. They sent him to rehab, he started drugs when he came out again. and then later on he said he was clean, after being estranged from him for a few years, he seemed to have sorted himself out. So, they trusted their son and allowed him back home as he said he was now homeless. Being near Christmas they did the charitable thing.
Where that Christmas he waited till the presents were under the tree, robbed them with his drug buddies , As he sold items and used the cash he robbed from them, for drugs… How awful for a parent then to put the police onto their Son..
Sometimes Thomas no matter how you wish to help a person, they have to be willing to help themselves…
Such a sad story indeed ❤ 🙏
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What a disappointment for the parents. Unfortunately, that is often the way things happen. I am sorry about your friend’s friend. I’ve heard similar stories from friends and then this book made it very real as she presented her sad situation in a very personal and honest way. After 20 years of marriage her husband revealed (intentionally and part unintentionally) his new criminal and crazy life. What a shock that must have been. The betrayal must have been terrible, both for this author and your friend’s friends. You are right, if the drugs is what someone choses for themselves and they don’t want help, then it is almost impossible to help them.
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It must have been devastating for her Thomas, and all credit to her, as she wrote her true story . Like you said, what strength she showed,… Thank you for sharing, we have to have walked in another’s shoes to know the extent of her loss, and suffering, and to still love her Son, despite it all.. ❤
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You are right and yes a mother’s love knows no bounds and that’s a good thing despite that it sometimes seems unrealistic.
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It is exactly that Thomas… ❤
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Thank you for this touching review! Author’s tragic story is an eye opener to drug addicts. I have seen how miserable life a drug addict leads.
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Thank you Kaushal. Yes it is very tragic. People need to be aware of how dangerous and devastating drugs can be.
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I agree with you, Thomas. Thanks so much!
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Oh my goodness. That’s incredibly rough.
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Yes, some people are given a lot of burdens in life.
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Addiction. The equal opportunity destroyer. Addiction has plagued my life since the day I was born. Both of my parents were mentally ill, and my father was also an alcoholic. My first fiancé was a drug addict and drug dealer. I had to leave the state in the middle of the night to escape him. My husband is part Native American with alcoholism in his family. During the Great Recession he began struggling with alcoholism, which lasted for over 16 years until his heart doctor finally told him to stop drinking or he would die. He stopped, but it took almost 2 years for him to recover from the damage alcohol had done to his body. Addiction destroys everything it touches. My heart goes out to the families of addicts. I know all too well what they are struggling against.
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I am so sorry to hear this. You must have suffered a lot. I am happy to hear that your husband is in a better state.
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Yes. Decades of chronic trauma, which resulted in depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. All gone now, thanks to my strong faith. It literally saved my life. My only regret in life is that I did not become religious as a teenager. Not until I was 34. But no one approached me about it in high school, even though all my friends went to church. I desperately needed a strong lifeline like that at 15 and 16 growing up in such a crazy home. It would have completely changed the trajectory of my life. But all is well now, and I have learned a boatload of valuable life lessons, so I consider myself blessed that I only have one regret in life. lol!!
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That was a very difficult start of your life. It is great that your life is so much better now.
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Hi Thomas, what a tragic story. It gives me the shivers. I couldn’t read this book, too upsetting but thank you for this insightful review.
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Thank you Roberta. Yes it is a sad book, but I think it is a reality we need to have insight into, especially young people who can be tempted.
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Yes, I know. Drugs are a huge problem everywhere. It is a good book to read.
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