"You nearly stopped breathing. Look, if you feel okay, you need to get going." - Joe

Hammered is the factual, or at least remembered, life of the Author when he was under the influence of various narcotic substances. The book takes us through Braun's early introduction to illegal substances, his subsequent addiction to ever increasing amounts of drugs and "harder" drugs, before he finally comes to terms with the need to rid himself of mind altering substances. The book doesn't take a moral stance, it presents the history, it's up to the reader to make his/her mind up about the text. Let's crack into it and avoid anything like a drug related punch line.

Firstly, yeah I know this isn't the sort of material that regularly crops up on ScaryMinds, but it's important stuff and sometimes life can throw darkness at you far greater than the fevered minds of horror Authors can dream up. This is a personal nightmare for the Author, a fear many parents labour under, and certainly the creeping malaise so feared by Politicians when they want to capture that extra percentage of voters to get them over the line at election time. To be honest if you want to teach the young people under your care about the darkness of drugs then toss this book on their beds, and turn off whatever shock jock you currently have on, Braun has lived through the darkness and is alive to tell the tale, the Ron Caseys of this world are just embittered old men with right wing tendencies. Sorry might have digressed there. For the record the hardest substance I've ever given the boot to are the ciggies, bastard of a fourth day if planning on kicking the habit yourself, and yes I've had the odd joint, tried cocaine, and had a couple of tabs of speed in my time. I'm not about to judge Mr Braun and his decisions, we all make mistakes, it's the ability to learn from them that makes all the difference.

For anyone who has read some Braun, I recommend his Santa yarns - awesomely brilliant concepts and prose, then you know exactly what you are going to get, well written text that simply drips off the page. If you haven't read any Braun, shame on you, then be very careful as his writing style is pretty addictive. Damn, was avoiding the drug references. The prose flows in Hammered making the book hard to put down, I pretty much read it over the course of a day when I was meant to be painting a bedroom, don't worry I blamed Braun when my wife asked what I had been doing all day. While the text is from the viewpoint of the Author, remembering this isn't fiction, it doesn't descend at any stage into vast swaths of inner thoughts and feelings, Braun isn't touching his feminine side here, he's telling it like it happened. Is this going to cause issues for younger readers? - hell no, I would urge the various school boards we have in Australia to order a truckload of books and add them to the required reading list.

For readers who might be thinking "here we go again, another book by an ex-addict punching a company line", have no fear, Braun isn't hitting the God botherer line or holding himself up as an example to emulate, very much Hammered is a personal journey through a period in the Author's life. You can draw your own requirements from it; there is no party line on display here. I found that a refreshing approach, and about the best anti-drug message since Christiana F. There are no drums being beaten, the message is simple, soft drugs can lead to hard drugs can lead to crime to fund a drug habit. I particular liked how the Author indicated he slipped into heavy substance abuse while pretty much not realising the path he was on, and having an ability to convince himself he could toss the drugs anytime he wished. So if after a morally up lifting autobiographical account of a road to Damascus then you are in the wrong book, if however you want to learn something real and one man's ability to overcome his addictions then dive on in yo.

I should point out that G. N. Braun is one brave dude, some readers are going to find an incident recounted from his school years pretty fracking harrowing. The Author isn't pulling any punches, he points to the trauma making him predisposed to having an addictive personality, but doesn't simply lay the blame there and use it as some sort of magic elixir for his troubles. This book is candid, thoughtful, and above all rings with sincerity, a remarkable achievement given the witch hunts launched month after month in our "war on drugs", which we're losing by the way, just like the Americans. If the Government wanted to be fair dinkum about things, they would put G. N. Braun on a very solid retainer and send him out to talk to the kids and speak at the various rehab centres. Of course when has a Government ever tried to actually address drug use rather than throwing platitudes to the mouth breathing part of the electorate. Sorry this review is about Hammered, slipping into some political rhetoric, stay on target!

When I got the chance to review the latest release from G. N. Braun I jumped on that chance quicker than Freddie can invade a teenager's nightmare. I wasn't quite ready for Hammered, but ripped through it like the world was about to end, the prose drives the reader onward to the final page. I'm actually quite thankful we're a "dark genre" site rather than an out and out "horror" outfit, as it allows material to be picked up that most people would not associate with the various horror tropes. If for the moment I am allowed an indulgence, then I would compare Hammered to an exorcism novel, albeit we're talking mind altering substances rather than demonic or psychological forces, drug paraphernalia rather than Church symbolism, and a tad more realism than most people want in their reading diet. G. N. Braun brings us a story from the dark side of the Australian urban environment and doesn't pull any punches when doing so. I would recommend this novel to anyone reading, G. N. Braun opens a new front on the war on drugs, and does so from the trenches.

Hammered is available from the good folk at LegumeMan Books for $19.95, plus P&H. For OS readers you can hit up amazon.com for a copy. If after any of the e-book formats than following the link to Legume to pick one of the options. Happy hunting and tell us what you think of Hammered. For Braun fans, the Author has a story being published in Issue 7 of Midnight Echo, laying down a subscription to the magazine on the strength of it. There are also some rumours of longer Braun fiction, keep an eye on Legume folks.

Bit of homework for ya, is G.N.Braun a strong writer due to his journey through darkness or did this simply change his writing style?