Long Live the Suicide King

JD Dilenger is on a mission... to kill himself.  Up until recently he could escape his miserable suburban life by hanging out and getting high, but that all changed when he almost let himself do something so abhorrent that he had to quit.  That leaves him with no way out of the useless cycle,so why continue?  Ending seems a much better route.  

Dying isn’t quite as easy as it sounds, however.  First there is the suicide note - it needs to be profound.  Then there is the method and the place.  He doesn’t want to cause to much trouble for his parents so that must be thought out thoroughly.  In the meantime, life decides to throw him a few lessons on living that might just prove his wasted breath might be more precious than he thought.

This story is dark, depressing and dead on.  Mr. Ritchey inhabits a seventeen-year-old boy so thoroughly that the reader honestly believes JD is, himself, speaking. The voice is on point, the outlook is eerily familiar. Every moment, every choice JD makes is understood intimately.  A few of the situations may be a touch contrived but the lesson is profound. It is genius.   It is also very hard to get through.  The harsh reality of a suicidal teen may not be a topic many will want to muck through - especially when it is presented so realistically and even though redemption is found.  Still, the unsurpassed perfection in detailing such a volatile subject matter makes this book a winner!

Ruth Lynn Ritter