"Regardless of a person's crimes... if you live with them long enough, a relationship forms." This is the first lesson psychiatrist Stephen Seager (The God Gene) learns when he starts working in Unit C of Napa State Hospital in California. Nicknamed Gomorrah, the forensic mental institution houses the criminally psychotic, and Unit C has the worst of the worst.
Seager details his year, during which he learned the procedures for dealing with violent outbreaks, received 10 stitches in his head, was threatened with a shank and heard about the death of his predecessor due to injuries by a patient. He says, "These guys are like human IEDs, and you don't want to be around when they explode." Yet Seager is around when they explode, and despite the terrifying anxiety felt each day by the doctor and his family, he continues working with a determined outlook. For many of the patients, he believes something can be done (he just needs to discover what that something is).
In this real-life account that progresses like a suspense novel, readers will not only bear witness to the doctor's anxiety but also Gomorrah's more comedic side, such as a visit from Santa Claus, played by one of the patients. Seager provides background to help readers accurately comprehend the various workings--and limitations--of Napa State. It may be impossible to fathom how the staff continues working in such an environment without experiencing it personally, but Behind the Gates of Gomorrah may well provide the next best option. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts