My Swim with the Sharks

Richard Taylor
PublishAmerica (2005)
ISBN 1413782698
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (12/06)

“My Swim with the Sharks” is a story about a personal battle with a drug and alcohol addiction. Addiction is an insidious disease; it destroys people’s health, families and breaks down our society. Richard knew this, yet he found himself unable to stop drinking or doing drugs. In spite of everything that he was experiencing, Richard knew it was wrong, he knew it was destroying him and his friends, and he battled hard to overcome it.

Richard is a machinist. He drinks and smokes pot. As he notices his co-workers work performance failing, he discovers that they are heavily involved with drugs. He also gets caught up in it. He sees how destructive it is. He decides to gather information on the dealers and take it to law enforcement agencies. The law enforcement people that he deals with make a lot of false promises and don’t really seem interested into getting to the heart of the problem. It seems that they like to make little busts to keep their records strong, yet fear if they go to the heart of the problem, then they will no longer have the little busts to make.

Richard keeps trying. He gets further into his addiction. Dealers and druggies start hanging out at his home. He finds his personal possessions disappearing. The people in his crowd do everything that they can to set each other up and to steal from each other. If a drug user turns someone in, he can get a monetary reward which will buy him more drugs.

Richard goes through many jobs and relationships; he attempts suicide several times. He turns himself in to the police hoping that they will help him. He also has a father that is more interested in being in control of his life than actually helping him. Finally, he gets into a treatment program. It wasn’t quite what he expected. He is able to continue with his habit there.

A stroke changes him. While he is recovering in the hospital, he has a special visitor in the form of an angel. This angel helps heal him of his addiction. He knows that he is changed after this experience. He rapidly recovers and prepares to get on with his life. He meets his soul mate. He also renews his relationship with his mother and sisters. They help him break away from his father. He finds his life renewed.

I appreciate the author, Richard Taylor, for sharing his story with us in “My Swim with the Sharks.” He battled hard to overcome his addiction and he won. His experience with the angel or what he refers to as “The All,” is inspiring and gives hope to people that feel that they have none. His story should be read by people at risk for addiction or already involved in it. It will really open your eyes to what happens in that world. It seems like he needed to go through what he did so that he could inspire others into believing in hope.

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