After doing time for a murder he committed during an alcoholic blackout, Richard Broom offers the confessions of an alcoholic through his frank, unvarnished, and darkly funny memoir Cocked and Loaded. Paying the ultimate price for his lifetime of addiction - the life of another - this poignant tale takes readers on the ultimate road to redemption; finding recovery and healing inside prison; making peace with the repercussions of his disease and actions; and finding a place and purpose in life after murder. In an ironic twist, Broom finds his way into treatment as both patient and counsellor, while later specializing in treating addicts who work in the field of law enforcement.
Broom's ability to expose himself and admit in gross detail his sins and crimes will both haunt and inspire, as he traces the descent of his life's fortunes, getting booted out of college, the damage his behavior incurred on his wife and family, his withdrawal from friends, and his eroding ability to make decisions based on reason rather than a heat-of-the-moment reflex.
Filled with fascinating details, brutal honesty, and a refreshing bluntness, Richard Broom shines a sharply focused light on the life and mind-set of an addict, and shows, through his own bump-filled journey, how anyone can plot their own path back from the brink of self-destruction.
