Review: Rock crazy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 26, 2014
Written from experience, this novella shows the frightening life of someone with bi-polar condition.Katie McGowan's rapid mood swings from manic to depressive are becoming dangerous for her and for others, and the meds aren't working very well. Her desperate husband takes a six-month contract on the Moon at Rockton base, where he hopes Katie will submit to an implant operation. The surgeon there is the only one performing this operation, and he needs the lower gravity to cope with back trouble.However Katie is obdurate in her refusal to be made into a robot, as she sees it.  When the inevitable row with Scott occurs over her manic spending sprees, he divorces her and only later does she find that she's pregnant.  Now she has to stop the meds completely and she can't get back to Earth. Caring for the baby and herself fills her entire mind and Scott, who still loves her, is a mere afterthought as she works a waitressing job. Can she cope? Can the people around her cope? And can Scott get her back - if that's what he wants?I enjoyed several aspects of this quirky tale. I liked the presentation of the lunar township and the mining and tourism industries. I was unconvinced that convicts would be sent up to run this outpost. While I greatly approved of the presentation of Katie as a strong woman fighting to support herself, retain her identity and care for her growing baby, the sections dealing with her unpredictable behaviour could be difficult to read, in the troubling sense.  This I suppose shows us what a good job the author did of presenting her case.I will be looking out for more from this author.