"My Dead Friend Sarah," written by Peter Rosch, is a suspense novel set in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous in New York City.
The story follows Max, a newly sober alcoholic, through these rooms, and listens to him as he justifies in his mind the strange things he does, including following a woman named Sarah in order to warn her of impending doom.
He has dreamt of her, and has seen her in his dreams before he sees her out in the street and proceeds to warn her that she will be abducted and murdered.
Of course, that in itself sounds like an insane person justifying his actions, but then it gets worse.
He never actually tells her the thing he knows will happen to her.
Instead he has lots of coffees with her, dates, and leads her to believe he is in love with her.
She then begins following him to the rooms of AA.
In doing so she begins to see things in herself, as one inevitably will if they attend twelve step meetings.
Max attempts to cut off the relationship with Sarah, after which time Sarah disappears completely.
Max becomes a suspect in her disappearance and or murder.
The strange loopholes and rationalizations that Max uses to justify his actions are typical of an alcoholic.
The relationships he has with his family and friends is something they call co-dependent, and Peter Rosch does an excellent job of showing these kinds of tangled, manipulative relationships.
The bonds between people in the meetings of AA can become very deep and intense very quickly.
These relationships can often threaten the family bonds that exist between the alcoholic and say his or her husband or wife.
Jealousy is often the result of these deep friendships.
The alcoholic often feels that the friends and family outside the AA program simply don't understand him.
This is certainly the case with Max.
However, Max is not connecting to another alcoholic in his friendship with Sarah.
Sarah has begun attending these meetings in order to find Max, after he has cut off the relationship, giving their friendship a quality of those same connections formed in meetings.
Anyone who has ever attended twelve step programs will immediately identify with all the terminology and instructions found in the program.
If you have never been to a meeting, you will learn a lot about AA by reading this very interesting, very informative novel of suspense about a relationship formed in the program.
Even if one is already familiar with the program of AA, they will encounter a very interesting world of meetings in a city as large and diverse as New York.
New York city AA seems in some ways just like AA in any other city, only more so.
When you go to meetings you see the same people in different meetings.
You encounter gossip, perhaps even more gossip than in the real world, partly because everyone is constantly talking about things that are deeply personal and private.
The constant airing of dirty laundry makes the group fertile ground for gossip and rumors to flourish.
AA members often feed off each other's misery, and Peter Rosch does a good job of showing that aspect of the self-help program.
He also shows the importance honesty in working a program, and he shows that alcohol is just a symptom of a much deeper problem in the typical alcoholic.
I highly recommend this book, as it has a great story, along with an interesting landscape or setting.
You can find "My Dead Friend Sarah" on Amazon in both kindle and paperback.
The story follows Max, a newly sober alcoholic, through these rooms, and listens to him as he justifies in his mind the strange things he does, including following a woman named Sarah in order to warn her of impending doom.
He has dreamt of her, and has seen her in his dreams before he sees her out in the street and proceeds to warn her that she will be abducted and murdered.
Of course, that in itself sounds like an insane person justifying his actions, but then it gets worse.
He never actually tells her the thing he knows will happen to her.
Instead he has lots of coffees with her, dates, and leads her to believe he is in love with her.
She then begins following him to the rooms of AA.
In doing so she begins to see things in herself, as one inevitably will if they attend twelve step meetings.
Max attempts to cut off the relationship with Sarah, after which time Sarah disappears completely.
Max becomes a suspect in her disappearance and or murder.
The strange loopholes and rationalizations that Max uses to justify his actions are typical of an alcoholic.
The relationships he has with his family and friends is something they call co-dependent, and Peter Rosch does an excellent job of showing these kinds of tangled, manipulative relationships.
The bonds between people in the meetings of AA can become very deep and intense very quickly.
These relationships can often threaten the family bonds that exist between the alcoholic and say his or her husband or wife.
Jealousy is often the result of these deep friendships.
The alcoholic often feels that the friends and family outside the AA program simply don't understand him.
This is certainly the case with Max.
However, Max is not connecting to another alcoholic in his friendship with Sarah.
Sarah has begun attending these meetings in order to find Max, after he has cut off the relationship, giving their friendship a quality of those same connections formed in meetings.
Anyone who has ever attended twelve step programs will immediately identify with all the terminology and instructions found in the program.
If you have never been to a meeting, you will learn a lot about AA by reading this very interesting, very informative novel of suspense about a relationship formed in the program.
Even if one is already familiar with the program of AA, they will encounter a very interesting world of meetings in a city as large and diverse as New York.
New York city AA seems in some ways just like AA in any other city, only more so.
When you go to meetings you see the same people in different meetings.
You encounter gossip, perhaps even more gossip than in the real world, partly because everyone is constantly talking about things that are deeply personal and private.
The constant airing of dirty laundry makes the group fertile ground for gossip and rumors to flourish.
AA members often feed off each other's misery, and Peter Rosch does a good job of showing that aspect of the self-help program.
He also shows the importance honesty in working a program, and he shows that alcohol is just a symptom of a much deeper problem in the typical alcoholic.
I highly recommend this book, as it has a great story, along with an interesting landscape or setting.
You can find "My Dead Friend Sarah" on Amazon in both kindle and paperback.
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