Abuse Reviews

Toxic Faith

Published in Paperback by Shaw Books (2001-02)

Authors: Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton

List price: $12.99

New price: $7.42
Used price: $4.52
Collectible price: $13.94

Average review score:

thorough

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-07

This book is very thorough in giving the reader an understanding of all the people involved in such a faith. He does a wonderful job explaining some personalities without judging them and leads the reader to pity and pray for these who are harming the flock. I could sense his intolerance for the sin and his compassion for the sinner. Besides we have all been on both sides if we are really honest with ourselves. He does not downplay the hurt and violations we feel when involved with a toxic faith person or church but lifts us up for healing and forgiveness to the only One who is able to give us that heart.

Grace filled and very insightful

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-06

I am basically reiterating most of the other reviews posted for this book, yet I felt it was an important book to review because there are few books on this subject out there.

This is an awesome book for anyone being healed of a legalistic mindset. I also strongly recommend this book for anyone leaving a cultish religious group or if you are helping people you know that are involved in one.

For someone breaking free from a legalism, control, or hyper- religiousness; this book does highlight the need for healthy balance and a true revelation of Grace.

As a person who was involved with an unhealthy movement, I found this book helped me to see more clearly and realize I wasn't the only one. It has a list of the signs of toxic faith, "10 rules of a toxic faith system" that proved helpful.

I believe many Christians would benefit from checking this book out because anyone can fall into unhealthy faith.

Very Insightful, but part cheesy self-help

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-11

This book is really good at pulling out and clarifying ways that religion can go horribly wrong with the best intentions. In seeking God, a person could act based on something else, or could decieve themself and intend to build a healthy biblical community, but really go very wrong, and even trick themself as to who God is. This book identifies flaws that can develope in church leadership for what ever reason - people's childhoods, personalities clashing, perfectionism and a need for control, etc. It is organized around types of situations and traits in a group that might feel wrong, and this really helps to hone in on the portions that are most applicable.

I'm mixed about how I feel about scripture here. The book seems biblically sound, but also draws on worldly wisdom and people's personal experiences which are told in short case studies throughout. Scripture isn't quoted so often, but when it is quoted it is very effective. There would be long gaps with no scripture, and then just as I was starting to feel iffy - bam, some really on topic scripture, to the point where I can still remember the point it was illustrating.

The biggest flaw with the book is that it seems that the authors are running a toxic faith rehab/treatment thing and there would be occasional paragraphs that were all rhetoric about getting into these treatment progams and how toxic faith treatment can help a person break away from their past. These read like gibberish, not so much like ads or something crass. I wasn't reading this book as part of a toxic faith rehab plan, so I just didn't get the labels and specialized rehab vocabulary. These happen pretty regularly and I could skip over them, but they make the book much longer and weaker than it could be.

This is an excellent book to peruse. It is very good at identifying ways that people can twist faith into something very unhealthy. I recommend most Chiristians to check it out, not so that you can be paranoid about your church, but just because it is so clear on identifying common problems that can develope and, as the book illustrates in case studies, can get very bad. Whether or not you are in a bad situation right now it can help to see how to avoid the devil's traps and keep the church healthier.

Toxic Faith

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-14

Every Christian needs to read this book. The last church I attended was toxic but when I was in it I didn't fully realize it. I kept making excuses for the pastor's behavior (and the church leadership's behavior). Leaving that church was like coming out of a fog. Reading Toxic Faith was like reading a play that the church had been acting out. The book explains that in a toxic faith system, there are various roles that each person plays: a persecutor, co-conspirator, enabler, victim and an outcast. In order to keep this system going each person remains in their roles (as in an emotionally unhealthy family). But toxic faith doesn't just begin in a church. Toxic faith begins in our personal lives (usually from childhood) in some way and transfers into our faith system. The book tells the characteristics of a toxic church vs a healthy church. It talks about religious addiction vs a relationship with God. It toook a minute for me to get into the book because right away I was hoping to hear about the bad church system I'd just left, but first the book talked about how toxic faith begins (with us). This book isn't filled with a lot of Bible Scripture, but it's filled with knowledge from two guys extremely gifted by God in their insight and keen discernment. The book helped further my healing after leaving a toxic faith system. Just because a church is big, popular, located all over the world, teaches the Bible extremely well (this is was what fooled me with my church), and started out with good intentions in its early days doesn't mean it's immune to toxicity! I highly recommend this book.

Been There

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-09

Many, maybe even most of us, have been in situations that are not healthy. At some point we realize that the person/group we are with are controlling, manipulative, and/or deceitful. Christianity is supposed to be a place where we have the ultimate amount of freedom inside the structure of personal responsibility and individual responsibility and obedience to God. Because this is a hurting world with many hurting people, many who call themselves Christians are also injured and wounded. When these wounded people become leaders in the church they impart the rigid structures that enable them to feel OK about themselves as truth. It is at this point it becomes a religion instead of a relationship with God. It is also the point that the Christian religion begins to become sick.

This book discusses the injuries sick church leaders do to their followers. It discusses how to identify the characteristics and parameters of a sick church group. In so doing, it frees the reader to identify the sickness and liberates them to leave these types of groups. This is a very well done and unfortunately needed book. I found it very validating and healing to read.

The Underground Empire: Where Crime And Governments Embrace

Published in Hardcover by Doubleday (1986-05-13)

Author: James Mills

List price: $22.95

New price: $489.34
Used price: $2.12
Collectible price: $45.00

Average review score:

How to Destabilize the International Economy without even trying

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-03

When one reads this book, it is like dropping into the hole of Alice in Wonderland, or falling into one of Carlos Castenada's peyote trances never to come out again. One arrives unprepared at a station in a new dimension of human existence. It is an odyssey "across," "within," "through" and ""around" the world of where drugs, and the drug Kingpins that traffic them, meet with our non-existent "shadow government."

Both are overlapping "nether worlds" that we are told do not exist, but exist they do: as partners in crimes at some place well above our heads. Not only do they exist, but if one can believe the expanded paradigm of the U.S. government put forth by Berkeley Professor, Peter Dale Scott, the drug cartels and those agents and agencies of government that intersect with them -- which promote or passively allow them to ply their trade -- make up the "Sixth Estate" of our government (with the "Press", the mob and other organized crime cartels being the Fourth and the Fifth).

This book is a tale of such staggering proportions that were the facts not all in perfect alignment with the reality we see in the ghettoes where the drug trade is mostly plied, one would believe it to have been invented: made from whole cloth like a fairy tale. However, once the motive of money, unimaginable amounts of money, enters the picture, then our senses begin to tell us that this is not fiction, no fairy tale at all: but the outer limits of what can happen when greed and the pursuit of money are let loose, unbridled, unrestrained to seek its own logical path and endpoint.

As but two examples, during the 1970s, before the "real" drugs crisis with "crack cocaine" ever got off the ground, there was so much money in marijuana trafficking that the drug kingpins bought, all along the Atlantic coast, from New Jersey to Miami, all of the available multi-million dollar beachfront mansions they could find. The purpose of this vast investment: To use them as storage houses for transshipments of the vast amounts of marijuana: A whole class of U.S. property was used only as storage sheds for marijuana.

As another example, in order to support their defensive needs, the drug Kingpins, would "let" contracts for the development of new equipment needed to support their smuggling efforts. Things like new guns, radar equipment, night goggles, submarines, excavation equipment, poisons, etc. were procured through private contractors just as the military does with new weapon systems.

And as always, their biggest problem was never finding buyers for their product, but how to transport and launder staggering amounts of money, which with the advent of cocaine, weighed more than the drugs that were sold, and was much more difficult to conceal and dispose of. The sophistication with which large sums of money was laundered and otherwise invested in the normal economy, even in the days when this book was written, still are enough to amaze the best Phds in economics: setting up and "breaking out" bonding houses, issues stocks, setting up shell companies, etc., ad infinitum. During the 1980s, for instance, 85% of all Miami paper money tested positive for trances of cocaine.

Given that the amount of money involved is enough to destabilized even the largest governments in the world, it is easy to see why governments were able to rationalized being and staying involved in the drug trade: better to regulate and give order to it than to allow random criminals to destabilize the entire world.

This book tells the complete story of how a handful of drug cartels and renegade drug entrepreneurs, did almost that.

Five stars

A fantastically well written and informative book

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-10

Highly recommended for anyone who wants a true grasp of the power that drug cartels wield on the national and even international arena.

The best book written so far on illegal drugs in America!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-20

This is the best book written so far on illegal drugs in America.I am surprised this book is out of print. It would make an ideal book to study in a college class. This book goes far beyond the simple minded mainstream media "reporting" and takes investigative journalism to a higher level. This book will chill you and amaze you in its thoroughness of how dangerous illegal drugs and their dealers are to our society.

Government Crime Pays Very Very Well

Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2003-01-27

There are two kinds of government crime against the taxpayer, and both are wide-spread and costly to the taxpayer. There is corporate corruption, the buying of politicians, such that decisions are made that in effect transfer the taxes paid by individuals (who carry every government's costs) to unethical corporations focused on profit at any cost (to others). This book documents the second kind of crime: where government agencies charged with protecting the taxpayer from drugs or crime or terrorists or other threats, themselves become allies with criminals, and seek to profit from crime while permitting field officers to go bad, steal money, and become nothing more than officially sanctioned criminals. If and when each Nations cleans house within its "secret world," the ethics of intelligence, and how to police the police, will be among the most fearsome challenges to be addressed.

This extraordinary book, at 1165 pages (1974 edition) is a deeply documented, thoughtful, credible account of the second kind of corruption. It is strongly recommended for purchase by anyone who pays taxes.

The most intellectual and realistic book on illegal drugs

Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-21

Wow, this book should be required reading for an educated adult, this could be used as a university text. This book is hard hitting, realistic and well written about the illegal trade and alliances between Narco-trafficers and governments, whether willing or not. This book exposes the facades and uncovers startling and incredible truths about the impact of illegal drugs on America that the mainstream media just glosses over. I wish this book was still in print. There needs to be more investigative reporting like this to resurrect journalism.

Abduction!

Published in Paperback by Puffin (2006-04-20)

Author: Peg Kehret

List price: $6.99

New price: $2.25
Used price: $1.19

Average review score:

That is a good one

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-04

Yes I can follow this one. It is crystal clear. I like the plot and the story of the delivery man. I don't like stuffy things. I like this book. It is not heavy like 2012. Easy easy does it. I enjoyed it a lot.

Kelsis Review

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-13

Matts dad, Denny Thurman, dresses up as a UPS Delivery man and goes to Matts school and kidnaps him so that he can take Matt to his sisters and make his sister feel sorry for him and want to give him money. At the same time that Denny is taking Matt to his sisters, Bonnie is leaving her school to go get Matt from his. MAtt and Pookie, his dog, are nowhere to be found in this great book. It was the best book i have ever read! I didnt want to put it down!

Abduction

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-04

It all started when Denny went to Matt's house to get a dog in Matt's so he could make come to his car by telling him that the dog has been runned over.Later Matt wanted to go to the restroom Denny left the dog tied on the post with Matt not noing.The other day Denny told him if he Matt wanted to go to the baseball game he said yes.Bonnie's friends told her if she wanted to go to the game she said yes. When Matt went to the game Bonnie saw Matt,but Matt did not see her.Then they tried to escape from Denny but Denny saw them leave so he got them back.Denny tried to get Bonnie killed, but Matt did not let that happen.The police took them back home safely.

Abduction!

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-21

The Amber Alert goes off. You turn on your T.V. faster than a man running across hot coals. Someone has been reported missing. Abduction is a scary thought, especially when you are very young. Most of us have been told to never to talk to strangers. Unfortunately, an eight-year-old boy named Matt encounters this situation in Abduction!
Matt was excused to go to the bathroom one day at school. On the way, he met a stranger. The stranger lied to him and told him his dog Pookie was hurt. He said Pookie was in the car, and Matt went into the car. He doesn't realize his father kidnapped him.
The eight-year-old struggles through many hard times while he was a hostage to his dad, who also was his mom's ex-husband. Matt realizes his father gambles often, and because of that, he loses money frequently. His dad tells another lie, saying his mom and sister were in a car accident and died. In Abduction!, the author shows the importance of family and not talking to strangers. This book is filled with adventure, sadness, and happiness. It teaches a valuable lesson to go along with the twists and turns of the exciting plot.

Excellent Introduction to Real-Life Suspense for Young Readers

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-17

ABDUCTION is an excellent suspense novel with a lot of good information about what families go through and can do in the event of an abduction. Peg Kehret combines a tremendous amount of facts throughout the tense narrative, such as the fact that most kidnapped children are taken by non-custodial parents and how an Amber alert works.

But the story is the real draw here. Matt, a kindergartener, goes missing from his school. His kidnapper is his biological father, a man he's never laid eyes on. Denny Thurman, Matt's dad, is a gambling addict whose latest scheme involves "borrowing" money from his sister and brother-in-law to raise his son.

Thirteen-year-old Bonnie, Matt's sister, gets caught up in the search for her little brother. Kehret pulls the reader into Bonnie's world, sharing her helplessness and frustration as well as the sharp fear that fills her.

The pacing is frantic as the reader flips back and forth between the scenes involving Bonnie, Matt, the kidnapper, and a few extra characters (like the elderly couple that finds the abandoned family dog, Pookie, and decides to take him home).

The climax of the book is exciting and uses a lot of the Seattle setting shown in the novel. Bonnie is a true heroine, but she's not of the Wonder Woman variety. She uses her wits and her heart, and stands her ground with the kidnapper to protect her little brother.

ABDUCTION is a great read to share with a pre-teen or even to be read to an aggressive third- or fourth-grader who likes being read to. My son and I enjoyed this book a lot, but some of the tense scenes made him nervous. He couldn't stop thinking about Matt and his situation until we turned the last page. More than that, he knows more about Stranger Danger and that there are a lot of agencies that look for missing children.

American Meth: A History of the Methamphetamine Epidemic in America

Published in Paperback by iUniverse, Inc. (2006-02-06)

Author: Sterling R Braswell

List price: $15.95

New price: $9.89
Used price: $7.98

Average review score:

An excellent first-person account

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-08

As another reviewer's pointed out, in American Meth the author intersperses his own tragic story of losing virtually everything he had to his spouse's meth addiction with intermittent chapters addressing the history of methamphetamine. I found the historical sections interesting - they were short, clear and to the point. But even though the author is reticent to the point of gentlemanliness about the details of the almost complete destruction of his life and family that came from his being unlucky enough to love a wife whose meth addiction came to blot out everything else in her life. However, the downward trajectory is clear, and we are able to fill in the blanks ourselves.

What I respected about this book is that the author didn't depend on sensationalism or lurid details, because, really, he doesn't need to. And it is precisely that kind of not-quite-but-almost objectivity which makes this account so chilling, and so real. The sense is that of hearing a witness account of seeing his house fit by a category F4 tornado. It's horrible, and it could happen to anyone.

When I finished the book I felt a terrible sense of loss. I would recommend this book. If you're unfamiliar with the subject of meth (not that I am; I'm not), it seems like a good place to start.

Heartbreaking

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-19

VERY painful read. Living in SW Missouri, where there are burned out meth houses in every block in the poorer areas of our community, I found this book to be very realistic. WARNING: NOT for younger readers. Don't give it to your 10-year-old.

unprecedented and vividly personal

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-15

A brilliant synthesis of little known history intertwined with a very believable yet painful relational experience. This book simply sheds light in dark spots in our own lives that we did not suspect ever existed.

Did this drug alter the course of history?

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-22

We are all being affected by the growth of Methamphetamines in America. Whether you need a cold capsule and have to present full proof of identity and sign a form to get it or you live near a neighboring house that frequently smells of cat urine (and no cats reside there) or you suddenly realize that your entire savings has disappeared along with your spouse's sanity, Meth is out there, everywhere. In Sterling Braswell's non-fiction book, "American Meth," we discover where it all started, where it is going, and how deeply this epidemic has spread through our culture. We also see the very personal and real story of Sterling's own life being controlled by the drug use of his wife.

The subtitle of the book, "A History of the Methamphetamine Epidemic in America," really describes it well. In alternating chapters, Sterling gives the relatively unknown and sordid details of how this drug came to be, and the story of his own life dealing with the use of it by his wife. The history is an eye opener, to be sure. The first commercial use came in the form of an inhaler for congestion - each containing the equivalent of fifty-six amphetamine tablets. As appetite suppressant and a boost to the metabolism, this substance found a purpose, and later was also found to help children with ADHD by helping them to concentrate more easily. The stage was set, healthy people were hooked, and the epidemic began.

Did this drug alter the course of history? I'd say, in more ways than one. Perhaps we are paying for that now. Hitler received daily shots of Amphetamines from his personal physician. In 1940, as England faced the onslaught of Germany, with a severe shortage of pilots and planes, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding understood that more could be gotten from each pilot if a measure of control over the body clock could be achieved. 73 million amphetamine tablets, "Bennies," and inhalers were made readily available. On the other side, similar measures were being taken for Kamikazie pilots and Japanese soldiers. By 1949 millions of inhalers were being dismantled by recreational drug users to get at the amphetamine soaked strips inside. Yet, the U.S. assistant Surgeon General testified in 1955, saying that as far as he knew, amphetamine was "not addicting in the true sense of the word."

The clock ticks on and the story evolves into the raging addiction that millions of Americans face today. The personal story of Sterling continues too, and we see how his wife found a source so close to home for her high that it was right under Sterling's nose. Her addiction affected every aspect of his life, and while mistakes were made along the way, he was truly helpless to change the course of events. Perhaps that is the purpose of the book, to change the course of events from here on out.

Every American who could become affected by Methamphetamine drug use, every spouse, brother, mother, cousin, co-worker or friend, should read this book. Every politician who claims to be on the front of the war on drugs, every police officer who IS on the front lines, and every judge hearing cases of possession, distribution, and the manufacture of these substances, absolutely need to read this book. One person at a time can again alter the course of history.

One book, two stories.

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-09

With American Meth, you get two things. The first is the author's personal story with methamphetamine. And the second is a brief history of the drug. The chapters alternate between these two subjects throughout the book. The obvious strength of this book is the former, the author's ordeal with methampetamine in which his wife is an addict. His story is so horrible, unlucky, and honest that I quickly began skipping the historical chapters. This turned out to be to my benefit since the historical aspect of this book, while interesting, came across as suspect. No matter how well researched his information, the author is biased due to his personal experience, and in addition, he lacks the authority to write this kind of historical record as his previous career had been in the software industry. Overall, I recommend this book strickly as a real life document to the horrors of methamphetamine, in that respect, it really is an amazing story.

The American West at Risk: Science, Myths, and Politics of Land Abuse and Recovery

Published in Hardcover by Oxford University Press, USA (2008-06-05)

Authors: Howard G. Wilshire, Jane E. Nielson, and Richard W. Hazlett

List price: $35.00

New price: $23.43
Used price: $19.77

Average review score:

Not just the West at risk

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-28

This may be one of the most important books ever written. The title and cover photo don't do justice to the alarming thesis that our entire civilization is at risk, with a multitude of problems coming to a head this century. My children, ages 7 & 4, may face such gigantic problems by middle age as to make one despair. But never despair; these problems have been created by humans and we can grapple with them and solve many. But planning is critical, lest we once again be like naked people in a dark room with a hot stove in the middle--bumping into the stove and then each other, reacting only to the moment. Many of us do live for the moment and that could be our downfall as a species. We need to shift gears to a new mode of thinking that abandons continuous growth in all areas--easier said than done!

Our common destiny

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-08

With great good fortune and apparent wisdom the United State became a magnificent country from sea to shining sea. How tragic that our enormous, fertile and bounteous western lands should be so ill-used that, indeed, in many cases, they are crumbling and disintegrating before our very eyes. We have not been good stewards of our land and its resources; this book tells the story. Backed by years of experience at the U.S. Geological Survey, the authors make a meticulous, reasoned, well-documented and comprehensive argument. If we don't pay attention we are in danger of squandering our natural bounty to greed, mismanagement and indifference. Every federal, state and county policy maker, every earth science professor, every geologist and ecologist, every library, indeed every citizen who has the barest inkling of what's at stake should have this book. Halting and reversing years of land, water, waste, mineral and air mismanagement will not be easy, but must and can be done. This reasoned and thoughtful book proves that we are on a collision course with a tragic destiny if we don't begin to care and care properly for our land. This cry and program for better land stewardship gives us the technical know-how and the hope that it can be done.

An Ideal Environmental Studies Text

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-06

This book is an ideal source book for environmental studies programs at the university level. It provides objective, largely dispassionate discussions of a broad range of human activities that have fundamentally shaped and degraded the natural landscape of the American West. These activities include: logging, mining, minerals exploration, oil and gas production, road building, military training, chemical and nuclear weapons manufacture and testing, waste disposal, water diversion, grazing, and motorized recreation.

The authors provide comprehensive discussions of the more significant environmental impacts of each of these activities; general scientific background for understanding the nature and interrelations of these impacts; and historical/political insights for understanding how these adverse environmental situations have developed through time. Each discussion attempts to provide an even-handed treatment of these complex and often controversial issues. Moreover, the book is very well documented. It includes a 23-page glossary of terms, a 25-page index, 45 pages of factual appendices, and 150 pages of clearly referenced footnotes.

In summary, The American West at Risk is an excellent guide and text for the serious study of environmental issues in the western United States.

Can the West Be Saved?

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-05

The authors bring science into the political discussion of our consumptive use of the arid West and spare no sacred cows. We are carelessly and systematically using up and destroying the natural resources that make the West the unique and wonderful place we love; replacing wildlife with domestic animals and off-road vehicles; making sacred places into dumps and mining the water that provides life to both the desert and ourselves.
This is a must-have book for conservationists, teachers and anyone who cares about understanding our impact on these rugged but fragile lands.

This book never made it onto my bookshelf

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-05

'The American West at Risk' never made it onto my bookshelf. It is still on my desk, months after buying it, and I expect it will remain there for some time as my frequently referenced, easy-to-understand guide to the environmental problems facing the American West. What's truly valuable about this book is that the information that the authors distilled into it is so pertinent and relevant yet usually impossible to find in one place with such clarity and detail. The average person usually has to grapple with lengthy, convoluted and sometimes misleading environmental assessments and impact statements regarding the extent of damage that projects of the DoD, DoE and other federal agencies have caused or may cause the land and health of peoples in the West. Wilshire, Nielson and Hazlett have distilled the thousands of pages that the beginner or amateur researcher - whether farmer, rancher, downwinder, transplant or even politician - would normally have to page through to get a handle on a controversial Western land-use issue. The authors, deeply concerned about land abuse in the West, have taken the time and effort to put together this themed-reference guide that no one else has done. They did a 5-star job at it.

Beyond The Lingo

Published in Paperback by Cold Tree Press (2004-02-28)

Author: Devon Anthony Blackwood

List price: $16.95

New price: $13.93
Used price: $12.35

Average review score:

Very helpful book

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-29

I heard Devon on a recent radio show in my home town of Baltimore, and as a registered nurse, I do the best I can to help my patients give up alcohol and drugs. It's very hard work for them but Beyond The Lingo helps me gain new perspectives and approach that I wouldn't have thought of. Furthermore, it is a well written book that can help family members cope.

A real practical book

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-29

I heard about this book from a friend of mine and ordered it. So far, I find it very enlightening and helpful. I will pass it on to others. Maybe it can help them too.

Well written book!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-27

Beyond The Lingo will help me understand addictions and how it can be stopped. A well written book.

Exceptional Book

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-27

This book is highly informative. My mom recommended the book to me and it has really been very instrumental in helping me to gain a greater understanding of a problem that plagues many people.

Great helper

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-27

I am a addictions counselor in Detroit, Michigan and find this book extremely helpful to the field. I have recommended it to my clients, my colleagues and everyone at my office. A must read!

Black-Eyed Suzie

Published in Hardcover by Boyds Mills Press (2002-03)

Author: Susan Shaw

List price: $15.95

New price: $7.40
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $32.00

Average review score:

Beautifully-written

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-27

Chilling and riveting, angering and thought-provoking. We start off meeting Suzie, the "box" she puts herself in, and the "cloud" she floats on. A safe, quiet world. A world where her mother can't make Suzie talk...because if Suzie can't talk, then she can't say things to anger her mother and cause her mother to hurt her. Suzie stops sleeping. She stops talking to her mother, her sister, her father, her best friend. Everyone. She stops walking. The one thing she can't stop doing is crying. She retreats into this safe box, those safe clouds, hiding, until she is finally taken get help.

This is a beautifully written that book takes takes a frank look at the family dynamics of co-dependency and abuse, and leads the reader on a journey through Suzie's healing process. The reader will root for Suzie as she opens up and starts to trust. After a dramatic breakthrough, Suzie alters the lives of her sister and herself forever.

"Some words hurt like fire"

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-25

Twelve-year-old Suzie has just been dropped off at St. Dorothy's mental hospital after she stops walking, sleeping, or speaking. The only time she feels safe is when she is inside her 'box,' and that's usually how she stays all day long, sitting in a chair with her knees up to her chin, unmoving. Her Uncle Elliot, disturbed by her ever-worsening behavior, initiates her eventual stay at the hospital.

There are already several summaries up for this book, so I think there really isn't a need for me to give another one; plus, I don't want to spoil anyone. I do want to say that Susan Shaw's debut novel is a very beautiful, sweet, and sad story that follows Suzie's struggle to distance herself from the world as she has been doing, and the eventual revealing, through her, of what happened and why she has become the way she is. I was very drawn into the story and her relationships; from her mother, a former singer, her father, her sister Deanna, Karen, a girl in the institution, her uncle Elliot, aides: Marie, Stella, and Bill, and Moses and Joshua, two other children in the institution. The story was moving and powerful, with moments of quiet as Suzie gained a new view of her world and shattering revelations, with characters to care about and hope the best for.

I think this is a wonderful story, not to be missed. It is one of the best books I have read all year long.

A Great book!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-18

I haven't read this in a while, but I intend to read it again soon. This book is extremely intresting, it wraps you up, so that you're forced to turn the page. It almost makes you feel as though you are in the mental institution with Suzie. I do remember that her recovery was suprizingly quick, but Suzie also says that her problem is not completely solved, making the book very realistic.
I love how Suzie defines talking by how you express yourself, not by the actual words.
Hating pineapple is talking...Wearing Peacock feathers is talking...

Perfect.

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-04-16

Black Eyed Suzie is one of the best books I've pulled off the shelves yet. For one thing, it is just a wonderfully written story. True, believable character that you can simpathize and relate with on a totally amazing level. The plot is one that drags you and and forces you to keep reading, no matter what. And after you finish it, you'll end up taking it out and rereading it again and again.

I think troubled teens should give this story, or one like it, a shot. It helps to bring the thought that 'Hey, I'm not the only screwed up person out there.' Over all, a wonderful read that I will return to every chance I get.

I wish I could talk but I can't!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-04-16

The book I am reading is called Black Eyed Suzie by Susan Shaw. Ever since Suzie's mom abused her, Suzie stopped talking. Eventually Suzie's Uncle Elliot saw her and made her go to a mental hospital. At the mental hospital people try to get her to talk but she can't. She feels she has no words.
The conflict in this book is that Suzie can't talk but people try to force her to. At the mental hospital she has conflicts with only one other girl, Karen. Karen pushes her down and breaks her possessions, but Suzie can't do anything because she is too weak. Often, when people at the hospital help her, they're a little too late. After a while in the mental hospital she thinks, `well maybe if I start talking they will let me go to be with my family.' The conflict starts, like I said, when her mom beats her and her dad is never home. The conflict is not easy to resolve for Suzie.
I think that Black Eyed Suzie is good for teenagers who have a problem, who want to learn what kind of problem people have, or just want to read a good book. I think almost anyone would enjoy this book, but I think really teenagers would enjoy it most. I would tell you the ending but I think you can read it and find out.

Carousel Music

Published in Paperback by Infinity Publishing (2004-08)

Author: Rick Moskovitz

List price: $17.95

New price: $11.35
Used price: $9.90

Average review score:

Fascinating and well written!

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-19

An amazing look into Borderline Personality Disorder, recovered memories, and the impact of those memories on the patient, family, and physician. Highly recommended.

Stephanie Moulton Sarkis PhD NCC LMHC
Author and Psychotherapist

Highly entertaining book, excellent presentation

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-10

Dr. Moskovitz presents a great case study, and a great analysis of a malpractice case. He also gives an excellent presentation of a psychotherapy case. Dr. Moskovitz sets the stage carefully and then the blook takes off and goes flying. I particularly enjoyed the vivid descriptions of Boston. Dr. Moskovitz's book brings about intriguing speculation about repressed memories. I highly recommend this book.

Carousel Music

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-18

This engrossing book is for anyone who is addicted to the court-room, Law and Order-type suspense genre. As the drama unfolds, the author provides a sometimes disturbing window into the minds and hearts of each of the characters with even-handed, reportial detail.

"Carousel Music" dramatic, insightful and instructive...

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-30

As a psychiatrist, I found Dr. Moskovitz's novel, "Carousel Music" both entertaining and believable. His treatment of the controversial repressed memories and confidentiality issues is sensitive and insightful. They are addressed in the context of a mystery story complete with a surprising twist at the end. The development of the intricate characters and their interactions is very realistic, and I found the most interesting dialogue occurring during the courtroom scenes.

The reader is challenged to predict the outcome not only of the trial, but also of the novel itself. This is a well-researched page-turner, which clearly shows the complex thought processes of a psychiatric patient, her relatives, the treating physician, and the attorneys who become involved. I look forward to Dr. Moskovitz's next book.

Fred Miley, M. D.
Immediate Past President, Florida Psychiatric Society

Intelligent, Intriguing, Insightful

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-04

The author's easy writing style takes the reader through the trauma and drama of the abuse, the courtroom, and the anguish of mental illness. I read this novel from cover to cover in just one night which is no small feat considering my busy lifestyle, but I just had to know how it all turned out.

Richard Moskovitz develops his characters well and brings them to life with compassion, intelligence and skill. Having worked closely with victims of abuse I can say that this novel is right on the mark. Therapists and suvivors should read Carousel Music.

Cottonmouth Kisses

Published in Paperback by Manic D Press, Inc. (2000)

Author: Clint Catalyst

List price: $14.95

New price: $5.95
Used price: $3.11

Average review score:

love-love-loved it!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-31

I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of this book as a gift!
Just like Clint, this book is not for everyone. But if you have an open mind, you should really enjoy it!

Clint has an amazing way with words that draws the reader in. Full of emotion & very moving... I finished this book with a quickness & now I am ready to read it all over again.

This review does not do Cottonmouth Kisses justice, you simply MUST read it!

xo

Profound and Beautiful

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-04

"Don't judge a book by its cover!" they scream as I hang my head in shame. Once again I have proven to myself how narrow minded and judgmental I can be. This brilliant little book is packed full of surprises especially for those who have developed some preconceived notion as to what it's about. Starting with the title which, now that I know what it means, I think is brilliant. I was picturing two pot heads making out with a sort of latte-esque foam covering their mouths which I'm sure is exactly what the author wanted me to believe. Then turning past the table of contents I came upon the explanation of the title and was immediately transported back to my youth in Florida and my fear of the tall grass. I won't say more about that in order not to ruin this very pleasant little surprise for others.

Then the first story "Some new kind of kick" is pretty much exactly what I was expecting. A very dark and seedy tale of Goth clubs, speed and sex, although one thing I didn't expect was to really like it. Something about the way Clint Catalyst casts his penetrating stare into this so called "Goth" scene is so incredibly revealing of not just the Goth scene, but any scene that's gotten old and tired. And it's in this first story that I began to realize that the scenes and the players are all the same. It doesn't matter what scene you were in, because we all got tired and we all ended up alone. The scenes all lacked something, or as the author so eloquently points out, we ourselves lacked something in ourselves that our "scenes" or distractions could not replace; well, not for long anyway.

So I guess it's clear that I'm not a "Goth". And while I did think they were cute in the mid eighties when they were still known affectionately as "Death Rockers" I've never been into things "Goth". I've also never been into speed of any sort. Of course I've done speed and had so called "Speed Sex" which contrary to the name takes hours, but I've never been into the whole "gak" experience if you know what I mean. So despite hearing the rave reviews of "Cottonmouth Kisses" I put off actually reading it, thinking it was fifty percent Goth and fifty percent homoerotic speed induced sex. Not my cup of tea exactly.

But from that first story Clint Catalyst just blew me away. His insight into moms, wanna-bees, punks, straight boys, art school girls, alleged bisexuals, strippers, bag ladies, in fact everyone he encounters and most importantly himself is nothing short of stunning. This book is crammed with fascinating stories which in and of themselves are great but without which you would still be left with an incredibly insightful book about people and our inner truths and fears.

Stories I particularly like are "Party Favors", "Conversation with what once was a friend", "To Push Away or to Clutch" and "Taking Care of".
Poems I particularly liked are the beautiful and charming "First Person Third Person First", the dark and direct "Guess I should talk about sex", the dark and funny "Truth about Modeling", the grim foreboding "Inky Bloater" and my favorite, "At the Edge" which to me was like an updated and slightly more optimistic take on Langston Hughes' "A Suicide Note".

Overall, I read this book too fast and have had to re-read it twice to catch up with the brilliant and still racing mind and prose of the enigma that is Clint Catalyst.

Catalyst at his Best!!

Helpful Votes: 25 out of 28 total.
Review Date: 2000-11-28

This is a great selection of essays and poetry from Clint Catalyst. They deal with gay relationships, adolescence, and out of control drug addiction. These subjects are dealt with in such an honest, clear and edgy way. The lives of these unconventional characters are brought to the page so intensely with all their flaws clearly exposed. You'll feel their thoughts and feelings. The artistic language used in this book make it a pleasure to read right through to the last page. No matter how dark and trashy these characters get you'll want to read more.

This was my first introduction to the author's writings (thanks,Sheldon) and I truly enjoyed this book. I think what really made this book special was the poetry in-between the essays and fiction. These poems were so easy to read and what I mean by that is they were very understandable. You don't have to spend all day figuring out what the author is trying to say. They are a joy to read. I look forward to this author's future work. Highly recommended.

AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT TO THE GOTH TRIUMVIRATE

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-31

which I deem:

1) "What is Goth?" by Voltaire
For spelling out the basics to looky-loos, kinderbats, or insiders who aren't afraid to laugh at themselves (for fear of exposing the adhesive-stripes along the gumline of their fake fangs)...

2) "Cottonmouth Kisses" by Clint Catalyst
For its sinister and gorgeous first-person account of life within the nightclub netherworlds. I've known many a Goth girl over the years who's had her share of Clint "pin-ups" and "shrines," and the fact that he's lived a life so far beyond the margins of Hot Topic and mainstream acceptability (and SURVIVED it) is more "Goth" (i.e., barbaric -- i.e., AUTHENTIC) than any paint-by-numbers impostors out there...

3) "21st Century Goth" by Mick Mercer
For its role as an informative compendium of the international scene in all its varied shades of shadow. There is no easy answer, no singular attempt in this book to pigeonhole Goths -- in fact, it does the opposite. Plus, I mean, it's MICK MERCER, who's been reporting on the scene longer than most batpackers these days have been alive. Pay your respects to the grandaddy of Goth!

And ALL HAIL THE TRIUMVIRATE!

in depth eye opener

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2002-11-13

Mr. Clint has really let all of us, no matter what stage of life we are in, what planet we are from, or the aumont of zeros on our paycheck, look inside his world and gave us a whole new realm of thought. I loved this book. I read it in two days. AND thats with two kids under the age of 4, a hubby and a big white dog. I couldnt put it down. Its an awesome book. I can not wait for his next wonder in print... keep up the good work clint. This is definately a must read!

Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!

Published in Paperback by HarperTeen (2007-04-01)

Author: M. E. Kerr

List price: $6.99

New price: $3.02
Used price: $1.32

Average review score:

a very very very very very good read

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-09-23

this is a very charming tale of this mean girl who adopts this boys cat when his dad develops an allergy.he misses the cat so much he goes over to thier house all the time.one day dinky hockers[WHAT A NAME!]cousin same over and the boy and her fall in love.her name is natalia line.shes a schizophrennic who rhymes all her sentences and words when under stress.its a wonderful story that has a "to kill a mockingbird" like charm to it.not the bad stuff but the parts where the kids are just bein g kids.i fell in love with this story right away.it will always have a place in my heart.

Best of the best

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-01

It has been seven years since I was assigned to read this book for my eighth grade class and I stll think about it to this day. The book has a way of drawing you in to their everyday routine. I am sure I still have the book somewhere in my room, but I just can't find it.

Will touch your soul

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-26

I read this book when I was in junior high school. That was over 30 years ago and I still remember it and how well I could relate to the struggles of teen life. If you are a teenager considering this book or a parent considering buying it for your child, do not hesitate. After all, though I am a pretty smart and well educated person, this is the only book (I'm serious here) that left a lasting impression on me from the K-12 years. It's gotta be special.

One of the best little known teen books in the world

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-10

Books written by adults for adults that talk about politics usually want you to pigeonhole them. Once you understand the gist of the book�s take on life and liberty you can decide whether or not its politics are the same as yours, thereby allowing you to instantly love it or hate it without even reading it. Books written by adults for children or teens that talk about politics also usually want you to pigeonhole them. So went my thinking until I read "Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack!". Ladies and gentlemen, I have just changed my worldview on politics in children�s books. And it�s all thanks to this little number.

A plot synopsis. This is a story about Tucker Woolf, his family, his friends, and his friends� families. In New York city, Tucker is fifteen years old and for the first time in his life he�s seriously interested in a girl. This interest isn�t without its complications. The girl, Natalia, attends a school for the mentally imbalanced. And her cousin, Dinky Hocker, has issues of her own. Dinky is overweight, an unsurprising fact when you consider her negligent, often cruel, parents. From this unlikely set of characters comes a story about dealing with the problems of others, as well as yourself. Kerr could have easily taken the easy route with this book. How simple it would be to turn this plot into an After School Special, complete with everyone a little older and wiser at the end. Instead, the author meets such ooey-gooey sentiments head on, challenging the hypocrisy people exhibit every day. Along the way, other issues are brought up as well. Originally conceived and published in 1972, the book deals with politics. Everyone�s parent is a liberal of the 60s, though how they display this political leaning differs per person. When we meet the radical P. John, Dinky�s brief beau, the reader is suddenly shown a human being that doesn�t fit neatly into any real category. P. John is conservative, racist, intolerant, and honest. To read his character is to question everything the book is saying about the political climate of this country. But if you really read this book, really examine what�s it�s saying, it�s clear as crystal that there is no single political stance taken in this story. People are not all one thing or another. Not all liberals are whining wimps waiting for a handout. Not all conservatives remain unchanging and unsympathetic. I can see how people would love this book and how people would hate this book. All I ask of you is that you find yourself intrigued by this review and decide to actually read this book. Draw your own conclusions. Decide I�m insanely wrong or absolutely correct. The point is, this book should never be forgotten. It is so well written, so interesting and full of great points that I can�t even give you a glimpse of what it really means. You�ll just have to find out for yourself.

Social Aquarium

Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-24

This book starts out as being the story of Tucker Woolf, self-apointed expert on libraries, and cronicler of strange existences. But it soon turns out that it is actually the story of four young teenagers, and, on a broader scale, their parents and their entire society.
Tucker has to deal with having a faher who cares too much about apearances, and drills Tucker into only revealing parts of the truth when dealing with strangers. Tucker is feels somewhat out of place wherever he is, and when he finds a stray cat he imediately bonds with it. When his dad turns out to be allergic, he has to give the cat away. It is this cat who, directly and inderectly, brings him into contact with the other characters. It is adopted by Dinky Hocker, a tragically overweight girl, whose parents completely ignore their daughters problems, in favour of helping drug-addicts and othe worthy causes. Her cousin Natalie, and a boy who shares Dinkys rather enormous problem, together form the core of the story.

The book is funny, the characters quirky and the situations somwhat absurd, but the real fascination of this book comes from seeing how the parents of these children forget them in favour of either their own problems or the problems of strangers. The thing that struck me most is that Dinkys charity-mom is actually one of the most selfish people in the world. I would recomend this book to anyone, even though it is technically a YA-novel. Its a good read, all the same.

Abuse Books