A novelistic look at the serious issue of teen suicide, Suicide Tango walks us through the relationship between a young woman who wants to end it all and the psychiatrist who wants to keep her alive.
Doctor Jon Moore, a-just-okay-psychiatrist considers himself an expert on the issues surrounding teen suicide. One day a tall, beautiful girl, Tripsy South, strolls into his office without an appointment, lights a hooter (a joint) and tells him she has only a year to live. She intends to get rid of herself sometime soon. Her attitude is defiant with the overarching theme apparent: she is sick of her life.
Exploring who South is and who she might become takes one year, 52 sessions all recorded, even the ones South sleeps through. Moore points out that going from infancy to physical adulthood in only fifteen years is a massive endeavor that some may view as cataclysmic. The notion of suicide might provide solace to someone trapped in that maelstrom, especially since, to the young, it’s hard to envision a future beyond the moment. There is much opposition expressed to over-medicating and “big pharma,” and a leaning toward a simpler, more eclectic view of mental deviation through the vexing, ever-changing personality of South.
She is styled as an “indigo child,” more perceptive than her peers and more intelligent. These differences cause her to experience painful social alienation. At times the doctor becomes the student, and the patient becomes the teacher. South suggests, for example, that people like her need to talk to people like her – potentially suicidal peers. And by the time her therapy year has been successfully completed, Moore’s life has been upturned and needs examining.
This is a well-written book that slaps the reader upside the head with the snark of a young woman thinking of doing the most devastating act possible. And while the Suicide Tango is classified as Satire, it must be noted that Tripsy’s longing to commit suicide and her observations about it seem intensely honest and therefore able to speak to teen readers.
South presents a few practical ideas that may resonate with those who are at war with themselves. She is brash, unapologetic, and in-your-face in a way that demands and holds your attention, uncomfortable as that may be.
The best observation is from the dedication page: “…for Every Beautiful Soul who struggles with personal demons and, on occasion, slays the fuck out of ‘em.” Amen, Tripsy South. A-men.
The suspense in Larry Temple’s excellent, haunting, global thriller, 100 Days of Terror, begins as a seed planted in the minds of the main characters and the reader. A torched car is found in a field in New Jersey. Residents in a town in Idaho wake to find green water gushing from their faucets. A small college town in West Texas is vandalized. And, then, three trucks explode on a highway in Los Angeles, and the clues linking the explosion to the other incidents are undeniable. The FBI knows that these aren’t random acts of isolated violence but an escalating series of terrorist incidents designed to disrupt life in America. During the next few months, multiple bridges will be bombed, airports will close, many highways will be unnavigable, communities will suffer power outages, and groups of children will stop attending school. The Dow Jones Industrial Average will steadily drop and the entire nation will be wondering what and where the next attack will be. Who is wreaking this havoc on America? To determine that answer, however, another question must be asked: Why?
At the tender age fourteen, Thomas Cheke is kidnapped in the dead of night by Barbary pirates from his home on the Isle of Wight. His widowed mother and sister are left behind, but Tom doesn’t know if they survive the surprise attack. During the next six years, his life will take more twists and turns than he could ever have imagined, and the resulting story is one of the most fascinating ever put to page.
