Breaking Dad Hardcover – April 25, 2019

Breaking Dad was a excellent weekend read. the book takes you on a roller-coaster of emotions. the writing style is fluid and engaging.

What a story! And to think it’s all true, you’d really think this could only be fiction at times. The beginning of James’ story alone is enough to hook any reader because his dad AND his mum each drop the big secrets they’ve kept for years on him on page 4 of the book already. They have nothing to do with drugs but as I see it, maybe the drugs were a consequence of this liberation for his father.James Lubbock and Warren FitzGerald are great writers and I really liked the style the book was written in. James writes honestly and with such great wit about his life and his family. I can hardly believe we must be around the same age and that he had to deal with so much while I was hardly aware of the existence of drugs in a world far away from mine.He doesn’t paint a picture of his father as a saint, he doesn’t make any excuses for him, and neither does he make him the biggest sinner there is, he’s just his dad who he loves with flaws and all. He shows his father’s ups and further along the line his downs too without flinching. I felt his worries, the care for his father and his reluctant acceptance that he couldn’t do anything more and that it would end badly for his father if he didn’t stop his drug habit and his dealing.His father is certainly not the stereotype you might have in mind for a drug kingpin. He used to be an Earl Grey, opera loving father who didn’t smoke or drink and thought drugs were evil. He liked making deals and he was a good businessman though, so in hindsight it’s not even that big of a surprise that he saw an opportunity and tried to make money from it. He started small of course, but I guess he was quite good at doing business. I had to stop myself already halfway through this novel from googling and seeing the man in a picture for myself. But then I would also learn how it would end – although I had a fairly good idea about that already – and I wanted to see for myself how it would go.There were 35 short and sweet chapters, most of them headed with a mono-syllabic chapter title that begged me for context and made me me want to dive right in and find out how they fit into the story. Even though Breaking Dad is a story of addiction and the becoming of a drug lord, you will never have read about a drug lord like this. It’s not like in the movies people, this is how it really is. Real people, real emotions, bad decisions… you’ll look at the headlines differently from now on, and with much more understanding for the person behind the headline and his family.

This is really quite a mind-bending story. The author James is done with University, just trying to have a normal life, work at a good job, meet girls, all the typical things that guys his age want. But he’s been worried about his parents lately. They’ve been fighting a lot, way more than usual, and they recently announced that they are splitting up. Then they each hit him with some personal news that really shook his world.  I won't tell you what it is, you'll have to read the book to find out.  But this family is dysfunctional with a capital D.And on top of that, James has noticed that his coin dealer father has suddenly begun selling weed out of his home office he’s set up in his new place. James is having a hard time wrapping his head around that since his father has always been a teetotaler, non-smoking, anti-drug person with very high morals. So who is this new person? The one who goes to hot clubs and dances, drinks, carrying on like guys James’ age, partying all night.This book is really something, with the son trying to advise the father to be careful, fearful of what he’s getting into, like a reversal of roles almost. James really wants his father to quit his crooked ways and go back to being the honest coin dealer he’s always known him to be.  But Daddy Dearest seems bent on going off the deep end with his new single life, experimenting is far too many areas all at once.  It has James worried as can be!  If you read the book, you will understand why.It would be good for those who like intense memoirs. It’s quite edgy, and sarcastic and it gets really serious when James finds out that his dad is also dealing hard drugs too like meth and cocaine. And he also seems to have an addiction problem. What can he do to get his dad off the hard stuff, if anything? Now his mom is seriously ill and things are really a mess with James not being able to rely on his dad. This book covers some serious subjects and gets emotional too. This was far more engrossing than I ever dared hope for. It was a read-right-through type of book.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.For 18 years, my family lived a normal life in a respectable suburb… until one day, my dad gave up his successful career, and unexpectedly became Britain's most wanted crystal meth dealer.Broken people living in a broken world.

Found out about this book via a 2 page article in "The Week", ordered it and started reading almost straight away.The role reversal - dad acting like a tear-away teenager and James having to deal with it as best he could - is intriguing. It's not every father who goes out clubbing until breakfast time & gets into hard house "choons" :)Sometimes laugh out loud funny, other times sad.Don't think I'd have coped with this situation anywhere near as well as James did - and very glad I didn't have to find out.

This is such a surreal story but all the more fascinating for it. You really get to know the family and it is very frankly written with some great black humour. Definitely worth reading.

This was a great book. Often I’ll dip in and out of books but this kept me engrossed and I finished it in a single session.I really recommend it.

A refreshingly different story told with honesty, humour and poignant sadness. Exposingthe fragility of life and what it throws at us.

One of those books you have to read. Funny. Tragic. All at the same time. You keep checking that this was real life it seems so surreal. Life can be strange. Don't let 2020 pass you by without reading this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book which I originally read a synopsis of in a Sunday magazine. I liked the style but was concerned that in reading the article I had read the best of the book . I was so wrong. written in a genuine and natural style it tells a story of an unconventional family . it has tears and laughter and I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend.

This was a very difficult book to read.If I’m being honest, I couldn’t get past chapter 6 as i felt it was very far fetched & the author was over emphasising certain areas.It wasn’t for me.

James's honest account of events, is an insightful, rollercoaster ride from page one all the way through. There are pages that make you laugh, others to make you cry, some to make you cringe, and many to make you do all three.An extremely easy read, and one that should be read by all (of an age!)

Wow what a book, well written, funny and sad. It must have been interesting in a car crash coming any moment kind of way and I recommend it to anyone.

If I hadn’t heard the interview that this father and son gave on the radio, I would never have believed it to be a true story- incredible!!Very good book

A fantastic book - so well written, gripping and eye opening. A must read ! We are going to discuss at our book club.

I really enjoyed James’s book. Witty, amusing, addictive, well written, read in one day. Looking forward to the sequel! Thanks

Excellent read,grabbed me straight away and held me to the end.Highly recomended.

Great honest read and strangely uplifting. Amazing to be able to come through all those trials and tribulations and still have a sense of humour about it all.

Super book