Detour from Normal

On April 14, 2011, devoted family man Ken Dickson stumbles into a hospital emergency room grimacing in pain. What happens next is downright frightening.

Surgery saves Ken's life but improper care sends him spiraling into madness. Unable to fend for himself, his wife Beth takes charge. She does her best to save him but the unyielding stigma of mental illness hampers his recovery at every turn until he is beyond hope.

Desperate to get Ken the help that he needs, Beth makes a heartbreaking decision: she brands the man she loves a "danger to himself and others" and commits him to psychiatric treatment. A police SUV then delivers him to a high-security facility where the real nightmare begins.

Plagued by the pitfalls of contemporary psych wards, Ken struggles through living hell. Nevertheless, as the days stretch to weeks, he finds solace by befriending the lost and forgotten and helping patients with worse problems than his.

Featured in Amazon Prime Reading and spotlighted as Great on Kindle, Detour from Normal will touch your heart in ways that you never imagined and make you question your faith in our medical and mental health systems.

What readers are saying:

"A massive amount of emotion rolled into a page-turner."

"An enlightening and dare I say frightening glimpse into the world of mental health care."

"This is a story you will want to share with the people you know and love."

"Scary, life-changing and inspiring!"

"Powerful and gripping."

"A psychological thriller, medical mystery, and compelling drama--made all the more vivid because it actually happened."

Ken Dickson lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Beth, four lovable dogs, a rescue rat (who in a former life survived being fed to a python), and a goldfish saved from certain death after a college research project. He has two daughters attending college who never cease to amaze him.