Junkie Love

By: Joe Clifford

Narrated by: Timothy McKean

Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

From the cow fields of Connecticut to the streets of San Francisco, Joe Clifford's Junkie Love traverses the lost highways of America, down the rocky roads of mental illness to the dead ends of addiction. Based on Clifford's own harrowing experience with drugs as a rock 'n' roll wannabe in the 1990s, the book draws on the best of Kerouac and the Beats, injecting a heavy dose of pulp fiction as it threads a rollicking narrative through a doomed love triangle, lit up by the many strange characters he meets along the way. Part road story, part resurrection tale, Junkie Love finds a way to laugh in one's darkest hour, while never abandoning its heart in search of a home.

©2013 Joe Clifford (P)2017 Cherry Hill Publishing, LLC

WOW! an inside look into an junkies mind

Wow! This book was crazy and intense. Definitely lets you look inside of a addicts mind on how he or she thinks. Many people don't understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. ... In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting usually takes more than good intentions or a strong will, sadly. I guess if it was easy, we wouldn't have any addicts around.
I loved learning how he thought, and how it was all about his next high. It didn't matter what the costs were. it really helped me understand their point of view on things, and its sad.
The story was excellent with a few gross parts. It really takes you deep into their mindset. I would highly recommend this book to anybody. Especially to those that would love to know more about how addiction works and how they think. This is an easy listen in the nonclinical setting, easy-to-follow, and a real-life story. well worth the credit
I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Riveting - Hard to Put Down...just WOW!

How to begin??? WOW! This story is a hard read/listen and even harder to put down!!! Incredibly well written and expertly narrated by Timothy McKean. Junkie Love is not the typical romantic love story but a hard-core look at life thru the eyes of an addict. Their relationships with addiction, those they love, those who love them, and everyone in-between, including themselves. I appreciate Joe Clifford’s sharing his personal story, raw, gut-wrenching and unforgiving, I needed to hear it…we ALL need to hear it! My eyes have been opened to the enormous involvedness of addiction and my heart aches for all who are touched by it.

I recommend this book to absolutely everyone…

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Intimate portrait of an addict

This one was difficult for me to hear because, like so many other people today, someone I love very much has fallen headfirst down the rabbit hole of heroin addiction. Otherwise, it is very well written and expertly narrated. Joe Clifford's Junkie Love held up a magic mirror to me, so that I might grasp the guilt, the inner turmoil, and the neverending chase an addict undergoes with the dawning of each new day. I very much appreciate the sharing and telling of this very personal story, even when the rawness of Clifford's experience scraped over my soul like sandpaper in a fresh wound. I needed to hear it -- all of it. Because what if the addict in my life doesn't live long enough to get clean and share their own story?

(I was provided a free copy of this audiobook by the narrator. Many thanks to the narrator for this opportunity!)

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Powerful!

If you could sum up Junkie Love in three words, what would they be?

What A Story!!!

What did you like best about this story?

The honesty of the author. And, of course that the author landed on the other side alive.

What about Timothy McKean’s performance did you like?

The narration was perfect. I had to keep reminding myself that it was not the author doing the narration.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not only one moment, many moments. His ties to his mother that were strained at times, but ultimately they were good. Family wins out sometimes.

Any additional comments?

I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via Audiobook Boom.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A journey out of despair and into deliverance

This memoir is a raw presentation of dreams, destruction, despair, and finally deliverance from the living hell that is addiction to heroin or any other substance, for that matter. Only a person who has walked in those shoes could so accurately portrait the day-to-day, year-after-year, struggle that addicts (particularly those hooked on the needle) must endure.

Relayed to us in the steady and smooth narration of Timothy McKean, the listener is taken deep into the levels of despair, to the brink of suicide, that is the life of a junkie. Dealing with shattered dreams, lost families, crime, homelessness, sexual exploitation, deteriorating health, and complete hopelessness become an everyday occurrence unto the point that death seems to be the only escape. All of these maladies, many self-incurred, are described in excruciatingly honest detail by the author who obviously lived through it. It is obvious that Joe Clifford lived through these things, not only because he is still around to tell of them, but with the feelings that could only be invoked by one whom has experienced them first hand. As a matter of fact, the author addresses this very topic in his "note from the author" section by speaking to the challenge of mining precise memories along the continuum of time though the haze of opium induced years. However, as he states, "the really disturbing scenes, the ones that make you gasp and shutter and feel that you need to take a shower . . . or say 'no way that's true," 99.9% of the time happened just the way I said it."

While this is certainly not a book that I could say they enjoyed, I would highly recommend it for anyone that has, or had, a friend or loved one deal with the perils of addiction in order to get an accurate glimpse into their life, their struggles, their defeats, and hopefully their victory. Also, anyone that has walked through the battle with drugs and/or alcohol will certainly be able to empathize with the author.

In the end, this is a story about one person's search for that which was missing in their life. It is the story of the search that we all deal with; some (myself included) just look in all the wrong places to find that missing piece. The search does not end until one finds redemption and peace in their soul . . .

I was afforded a complimentary copy of this audiobook by the narrator in exchange for my honest review of this book. That being said, I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in this subject matter; the honesty and transparency of the author make the book a compelling listen/read.

I hope this review is found to be helpful to those considering whether to purchase this book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Definitely one of the best books I've listened to!

Would you listen to Junkie Love again? Why?

I'm sure I would. This is a real life story of this horrible addiction and tells it like it is. Nothing pretty to sugar coat anything, just flat out honest.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Junkie Love?

The scene with the mouse droppings on the top of the refrigerator was really gross but it was a good example of the depth of this addiction.

What about Timothy McKean’s performance did you like?

The narrator was excellent for this. I have no complaints at all.

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher. I appreciate the opportunity to listen to this story. It was heartbreaking, yet gives hope that a person can get through this addiction and find a life again. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the raw truth of this addiction.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

True or not, this listen was so real!

Any additional comments?

I listened to this book and the entire time I kept asking myself, is this a true story? At times, I decided that it couldn't be, Then it resonated so real that I was back believing that it must be. At the end, it really didn't matter. It read true and that made it true.

There are some really unpleasant things that happens in this book.. Most of it at the hands of the main character, Joe. Joe made some very bad decisions. They were rational, well, junkie rational, but bad nonetheless. That's what made the book so real. None of the things that happened to Joe or the reasons behind them seemed forced or unnatural. None of the situations he found himself in, as bizarre as they were, seemed unrealistic, even the rat poop.

This book is also incredibly well-narrated. I listen to quite a few audiobooks and I'm not sure that anyone I've listened to in the past could have handled this material. It took a deft hand (tongue?) to make Joe real, to make his struggle real, to make his pain real. Maybe the narrator had a lot to do with why this listen felt real.

Whatever the reasons behind it, this is a really good, uncomfortable, hard-to-believe listen and is well worth your time.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Telling it like it is.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. The story was heavy, just like life of an addict is. Got down to the nitty gritty. Interesting read, would recommend to anyone with an addiction problem or who knows someone with an addiction problem.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Junkie Love

Well told tale that’s all too familiar, with me at least. Kept my interest and l would like to know how Joe Clifford is doing today. Maybe a follow up? Hopefully we will hear more from the author.

A True Journey

I feel like I stepped into a world that is so distant to my own and learned what it is like to be no one, nowhere, for no reason. Great read.