Title:  Break the Chains

Genre:  Memoir

Author:  Jay D Roberts, MD

Website:   www.jdrobertsmd.com

Publisher:   Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC

Purchase link:  http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-62746-758-2

SUMMARY:

If you were abused over and over again, would you become an abuser? Or would you learn to forgive? Dr. Jay Roberts had to go to prison to learn the answer.

In 1999 Dr. Roberts was in at-home hospice care preparing for his own death from a neurological disease. At the point where he finally gave up, he experienced a spontaneous, overnight healing. It was not the first time he had “cheated” death. He had survived a fifty-foot fall from a cliff, a plane crash, and attempts on his life by rebel insurgents in remote areas in the Philippines in 1970s. This near-death escape was different though, because it was the culmination of a turbulent lifelong dialogue with God which started when he was a child being bull-whipped by his alcoholic father. Yet even after his complete recovery from disease, it would take a maximum security prison environment to reveal to him the mysterious power of forgiveness.

In the telling of his fascinating story—of extreme abuse, of the compulsion to become a pain and wound care specialist, of medical school in a third world country against a dangerous political backdrop, and of his return home to deal with the demons he’d left behind—Dr. Roberts tackles the big questions illuminating physical, mental, and spiritual growth. Break the Chains affirms faith in both God and the human spirit. It is as revealing and inspirational as it is truthful and poignant.

About the Author:

Jay D Roberts MD is a board-certified physiatrist, specializing in the treatment of physical disabilities with a focus of adding quality to life. He is currently in private practice in California. He is a member and lecturer at national and international conferences related to his specialty, a contributing author to Current Trends in Physiatry, and author of various scientific papers. In addition to his career, Dr. Roberts volunteers as part of a Christian ministry in maximum security prisons. He and his wife, parents of two grown sons, live in Indian Wells, California. Break the Chains is Dr. Roberts’ first book. Following in the long tradition of doctors who combine their passion for saving lives with their passion for writing, Dr. Roberts is currently at work on a novel, concerning children forced to work in mines.
Break the Chains by Jay D Roberts MD

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is another difficult one to review due to a myriad of factors. Overall, the book is fairly decent, and for the most part, I would recommend it. It is full of amazing anecdotes, miracles, multiculturalism, and overcoming major obstacles. I found that the more I read it, the more I was intrigued. I was compelled to keep reading so that I could understand the true significance of this story and its various elements. In the end, it is about forgiveness–something for which we humans need rigorous lessons and practice to do effectively. It was enjoyable to read about things with which I was somewhat familiar (I can remember Sonny Bono, and his skiing accident does figure into the story.) I also was repulsed by historical details that were shared, but at the same time, I am much more enlightened. I knew virtually nothing of the history of the Philippines, and now I feel a little more knowledgeable.

My complaints involve language and writing style. I don’t fault the details that were shared. All were important to the story as a whole. This is an adult book, and so one would expect disturbing details. The spiritual element figures into the book strongly, but I struggled due to the profanity in the book. I realize that it was not rampant as some, but I don’t like a book being inspirational and practically Christian on the one hand and filled with unnecessary profanity on the other hand. These do not go together in my book. There was sex implied, and I would question some of the morals of some of the leading characters (at least in the early years), but the profanity was most disturbing to me.

On a lesser point, I also struggled with the writing style. Although the date was always clearly marked, at times, it was a veritable struggle to decipher the sequence of the story. I found myself getting lost more than once, but the book did improve as it went along. I wish that the author would have told the story from start to finish without all the random juxtaposition of facts. But that probably goes back to my brain that is always putting things in sequence–even the alphabetization of books, CD’s, and more.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

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