Hat Tricks From Heaven: The Story of an Athlete in His Own Prison of Addiction

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 Kate Genove's fourth published book, Hat Tricks From Heaven:  The Story of An Athlete Trapped in His Own Prison of Addiction" is a precise - and supportive - story, an important story, which lays bare the quote, The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic."  

    Christopher John "Geno" Genovese is a tragic story which is told by a registered nurse who knows "Geno" better than most, his own mom.  

    Though Kate's previous books touched upon family issues, Hat Tricks from Heaven, goes the deepest, and it has to.  As a message and a memoir.

     The placement of Geno's birth chapter next to the chapter on his passing was a jolt for this reader. To me it made clear how precious, and short, life is. It's a wonder how an author is able to come up with such a distinctly different approach under such stress? 

     Let's look back at Kate's published work to get an understanding of where this new work fits in the chronology:

1)Thirty Years in September

Kate Genovese’s first published book, Thirty Years in September: A Nurse’s Memoir –  a chronicle of thirty years of Kate’s nursing career, is a sad, funny and political romp that focuses on her patients, personal stories, anecdotes and demise of our health care system. Drawing from her vast life experience, Genovese talks frankly about her own past drug addiction, loss of nurse’s license and recovery.  Keep in mind this was published in 2000, nine years before actress Edie Falco’s celebrated Showtime TV series, Nurse Jackie.

2)Loving Joe Gallucci

Loving Joe Gallucci is the second book from Kate Genovese, released in 2003 and now the basis for a film script.

3)Two Weeks Since My Last Confession

The third book from Kate Genovese, a fictional story about the O’Brien family focusing on Molly O’Brien and her brother Sean, covering thirty years of Molly’s tumultuous life; the damage of her Catholic upbringing, teenage pregnancy, sexual abuse and eventual drug addiction portraying a strong woman who overcomes the obstacles and returns back to the roots of her family’s religion.

http://kategenovesebooks.com/books-by-kate-genovese/

If someone passes at 30, or someone passes at 100, there just doesn't seem to be enough of life.  Death from old age is a tragedy too that we are forced to accept, but this Opioid crisis 

is having a devastating impact on society.  Kate's journey with the book has introduced her to people who have also lost loved ones, and others trying desperately to help those they care about from this epidemic.  She touches upon very private details of her own life, marriage, travels, and  makes the reader more comfortable with a story that is very uncomfortable.  And that's part of Kate's gift for speaking plainly and resolutely about life situations.