When I Killed My Father

Lamar Rose's father, Robert, had terminal cancer and worsening dementia. Robert had begged and pleaded to Lamar, a psychotherapist, to end his life. Lamar's mother had passed 6 ears ago.

One night, Lamar (with a tank of nitrogen gas) decides it is time to grant his father his last wish. Not without a hitch, Lamar's plan to assist his father is complete. Since his father had lived in Chicago, Lamar travelled from New Mexico frequently to visit his dad. After seeing his father die, Lamar returns to New Mexico.

Meanwhile, Lamar's sister, Andrea, gets "the call" from the retirement home to let her know that her father had passed. She is angry. She had finally been communicating with her dad (so she thought) and he was not yet ready to die. An inconvenience for her?

At Robert's memorial service, which is well attended, Andrea announces, from the pulpit, that Lamar killed his father. The mourners (and the press) are shocked. Things really heat up when Andrea meets Paula, an activist against any type of assisted suicide. Paula and Andrea go on TV and the press eats it up- Andrea comes across as an angry, self-serving bitch. This action demands Lamar lawyer up and start a defense.

This where the story really heats up!

Great character development. Superb, unique plotline, and a fast read.

A Must READ!

Many Thanks to IBPA and NetGalley for a super read!

Lamar, a conscientious and moral man, finds himself in a serious moral dilemma when his father, suffering from both terminal cancer and severe dementia, asks him, several times in moments of lucidity, to “help” him die, which, shortly into this wild ride, he does.

Thinking he had a foolproof plan, Lamar prepares for life as usual. However, his plans are thwarted when his sister, Andrea, accuses him of murder - from the church pulpit at the funeral, no less.

Without planning to become a media sensation, Andrea does and the attacks on Lamar from the media are vicious, vitriolic, and unending. Meanwhile, his marriage is falling apart as his wife is in the throes of a deep depression, that not even Lamar, a psychologist with offices in Albuquerque (where he lives) and Santa Fe, cannot break through. He tells his wife that he’s moving out and moves to a fringe community in Santa Fe, a community of mismatched, drug using booze swilling folk who do not want anyone bothering them.

While clearly the underlying message is whether assisted suicide for terminally ill or demented people is a moral issue that deserves more open discussion, and the book is definitely a serious look at the subject, there are parts that are very funny. At several points along the way of Lamar’s strange journey, I asked myself if I were reading a satire.

John Byrne Barry is a terrific author. He makes every character come to life and be relatable. The only other writer that I know of who takes a serious moral or ethical issue and crafts a story around it is the prolific Jacob M. Appel. Mr. Barry has done the same in this book.

Psychologist Lamar Rose is an educated, methodical, thoughtful man who gets pressured into killing his father, by his father. Lamar's father Robert, suffering from cancer and dementia, exerts his forceful personality on Lamar and essentially bullies him into euthanizing him. Andrea, Lamar's sister, an unhappy and somewhat needy woman, figures out that what her brother did. She then launches a full scale attack on him, beginning at the funeral, when she announces Lamar's deed to everyone there. The story goes back in forth in time a bit, but is so well written that it is easy to follow, allowing the reader to understand Lamar better, and how his life has shaped his beliefs and actions. There are several interesting characters, and the story is not really a happy one, but it is truly an interesting one and certainly well worth reading. I strongly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author John Byrne Barry, and the publisher Page-turners With a Conscience Press for the opportunity to read this absorbing book. This is my honest opinion.