beedubz's review
4.0
First read this in 2009 and recently found it again hidden away in one of my boxes of books and thought I'd read it again. I have to be honest and say I skimmed through a lot of it this time around....as soon as I started reading it I remembered how depressing and shocking the stories are (well let's be honest, it is a book about ice so naturally there aren't any happy endings here). Don't let that put you off though, this is a well researched and interesting book and it covers a lot of people's stories (although only a few of them are first hand, most of them are obviously taken from court cases/police files....like I said, no happy endings here). I would be interested to know some of the statistics of ice use in Australia these days, the book only covers up until 2007 when ice had started to get a bad name, but it is definitely still around. A lot of people around Australia are still very much using it and it's had a devastating effect on quite a few regional towns. It's a good book, read it, but you have been warned, the stories inside are truly awful and very sad.
lizbarr's review
3.0
Sometimes I have a hankering for true crime. It’s a bit shameful, yes. Anyway, this is a look at methamphetamine from a number of points of view — casual users, addicts, victims of ice-related crime, police, cooks. The only point of view not represented is that of the kingpins responsible for overseeing the manufacture and sale of large quantities, and I’m guessing they weren’t much for talking.
It’s an interesting book that argues that, while users of other drugs generally commit crimes only when in need of money for another fix, there seems to be a particular link between meth use and violence.
It’s an interesting book that argues that, while users of other drugs generally commit crimes only when in need of money for another fix, there seems to be a particular link between meth use and violence.
More...