Once an Addict: The Fascinating True Story of One Man's Escape from the Murky Drugs Underworld

Unusually `Once an Addict' is exactly what it says on the cover - the story of an out and out addict. These stories only ever end one of two ways: either the person o/d's or they damage their health in some way that causes premature death. This story is radically different. Barry isn't just an addict; he is everything that non-addicts caricature as an addict. He is selfish, a thief, occasionally violent, undependable and eventually mentally ill. If you have never been involved in or close to the drugs scene you will learn a new vocabulary - you will learn the difference between draw, whizz and brown. The reader gains an insight to the seedy underbelly of British drug culture. The story is earthy, gritty and at times unpleasant; but it is the true story of a man changed by his encounter with Jesus. Christians may become uncomfortable as they approach the end of the book and are still hearing graphic tales of the state that Barry got himself into - but that is the point of the book. To understand the magnitude of the miracle that took place in Barry's like you have to see just how low he had sunk and what a state he was in. Barry was `beyond redemption' and on an inevitable journey to a drug crazed death. We read the seedy decades of drugs so that we can appreciate the awesome miracle that God did when Barry let Him. For the Christian this book has three main benefits : it will educate as to the sort of life lived by many in our towns and cities, it will remind us that no-one is beyond the reach of the Lord Jesus, and it will motivate you to pray for those in a similar state. For the non-Christian (and in my opinion that is who the book is primarily aimed at) it gives credibility to Barry's message about Jesus by detailing exactly the level of change that he has experienced. If you have contacts with people living in the drug culture this is definitely a book you could pass on to them. If you don't have such contacts, then you could ask yourself 'why?' Once an addict, always an addict? No, even an addict can change when they meet Jesus.