“Patricia Roos’s harrowing story of her beloved son’s struggles with mental health and addiction—intertwined with her courageous but doomed fight to save his life—dishes out near relentless heartache. But she persists, revealing the systems that failed her family and inspiring us to join her fight for desperately needed reform.” 

  ~Jessie Dunleavy, activist and author of Cover My Dreams in Ink: A Son's Unbearable Solitude, A Mother's Unending Quest

“An intensely personal and painfully honest story of the loss of a son, the cruelties of American drug and healthcare policies, and the hope that harm reduction can bring. Both a memorial and a sociological analysis, Surviving Alex shows us that addiction is indeed something to fear, but not for the reasons many of us assume.”

  ~David Herzberg, author of White Market Drugs: Big Pharma and the Hidden History of Addiction in America

“Surviving Alex is a beautiful read – engaging, honest, thought-provoking, and relatable. This gripping personal story is contextualized with a thoughtful and clear-eyed characterization of the ravages of mental illness, addiction, and the drug pushers, and also offers a novel exploration of the therapeutic industry and criminal justice system.” ~Deborah Carr, author of Worried Sick: How Stress Hurts Us and How To Bounce Back