What do you think?
Rate this book
The Psychotic Break #1
5150: A Transfer
Set in San Francisco's Tenderloin district in the 1980's, 5150 depicts a failure in the rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood. When young, gay Ethan Lloyd awakens to tremors he is first convinced they are little earthquakes. They turn out to be a forewarning of a psychotic episode that lands him first in jail, and then transferred or "5150'ed" to the mental hospital. Told in the first person with an extremely unreliable narrator, the book drags the reader into the world of madness and mental hospitals, with only the occasional gasp for air in the agreed-upon common reality most of us share.
Ethan's struggle to regain his sanity is pockmarked with psychosis and cigarette smoke intertwined in a coffee-ringed world of hairspray, dyed black hair, hobos, and hospital gowns. Were it not for society's waterlogged safety nets, he might never have returned to share his tale of survival.
Ethan's struggle to regain his sanity is pockmarked with psychosis and cigarette smoke intertwined in a coffee-ringed world of hairspray, dyed black hair, hobos, and hospital gowns. Were it not for society's waterlogged safety nets, he might never have returned to share his tale of survival.
184 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 10, 2013
12 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Duncan MacLeod
11 books9 followers"I write medical fiction, adventure stories, magical realism, occult fiction and dark humor to comfort the dispossessed and help them feel lighthearted in the face of adversity." --Duncan MacLeod
Duncan Allan MacLeod was born in Oakland and raised in San Francisco, CA. He is fluent in five languages, sings early American hymns, and is the author of the “Psychotic Break Series.” He makes his home in Southern California with his husband.
Duncan Allan MacLeod was born in Oakland and raised in San Francisco, CA. He is fluent in five languages, sings early American hymns, and is the author of the “Psychotic Break Series.” He makes his home in Southern California with his husband.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 27, 2020
5150 is a short, fast-paced, and suspenseful novel with a highly sympathetic narrator. I'm not qualified to judge whether the author's description of psychosis is realistic, but his descriptions of queer San Francisco in the 1980s were spot on.
April 1, 2015
Absolutely brilliant! Heartbreaking journey into the brain of someone who is losing touch with reality. The fact that I know Duncan makes it all the more astonishing! I knew him pre-psychotic break and have the pleasure of knowing him now...but was not aware of this episode in his life. This book blew my mind...and I can't wait to read more novels by him in the future.
April 16, 2016
Now available on paperback from Amazon.com.
ISBN-13: 978-1506186450
My opinion is probably not important, but I think this is the best book I have ever written. Between 12/10/14 and 12/25/14 the book is available for free (or whatever you wish to pay) via Smashwords.
If you buy the Kindle edition, I cannot offer it for free, but I can promise it will be just as good as the Smashwords edition.
If you know someone languishing in a mental ward at County Hospital, or a gloomy teen obsessed with nihilism and 1980's goth, it will make a perfect gift for them. If you would like to know what is going through their heads, I recommend you read it for yourself.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
ISBN-13: 978-1506186450
My opinion is probably not important, but I think this is the best book I have ever written. Between 12/10/14 and 12/25/14 the book is available for free (or whatever you wish to pay) via Smashwords.
If you buy the Kindle edition, I cannot offer it for free, but I can promise it will be just as good as the Smashwords edition.
If you know someone languishing in a mental ward at County Hospital, or a gloomy teen obsessed with nihilism and 1980's goth, it will make a perfect gift for them. If you would like to know what is going through their heads, I recommend you read it for yourself.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
January 9, 2015
(Minor spoilers, but only if you have no idea what this is about)
I finally read this and I loved it. It was very funny and terrible at the same time. It just felt very real. It took me so far into the thought processes of mental illness that I started experiencing some of the same (spoiler:) paranoid delusions (end spoiler) as the main character. I love it when a novel has that much power.
The main character's gradual ascent out of the depths was beautifully done. It was so subtle and, again, realistic. You could feel those minor flashes of reality as they were happening.
The ending left me wanting more and yet fit perfectly.
It had some parallels with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, due to the setting for much of the novel and the brutality inherent in that setting.
I finally read this and I loved it. It was very funny and terrible at the same time. It just felt very real. It took me so far into the thought processes of mental illness that I started experiencing some of the same (spoiler:) paranoid delusions (end spoiler) as the main character. I love it when a novel has that much power.
The main character's gradual ascent out of the depths was beautifully done. It was so subtle and, again, realistic. You could feel those minor flashes of reality as they were happening.
The ending left me wanting more and yet fit perfectly.
It had some parallels with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, due to the setting for much of the novel and the brutality inherent in that setting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2023
When I was first given this book, I didn’t understand the title, 5150. Once I learned that 5150 meant being put on psychiatric hold, I realized that was what ‘being formed’ meant where I live. The title fits the book perfectly!
There is not much outer dialogue but a huge amount of inner dialogue. 5150 is written in first person, giving insight into Ethan’s state of mind that second or third-person viewpoints would not have been able to provide. It was the perfect choice for this book.
Seeing the world through Ethan’s eyes as he slowly falls deeper into his psychosis is heartwrenching. He has no idea what is happening to him and has strangers (doctors) telling him what to do. He didn’t even know he was ill.
5150 is a must-read for anyone interested in the mental health field.
There is not much outer dialogue but a huge amount of inner dialogue. 5150 is written in first person, giving insight into Ethan’s state of mind that second or third-person viewpoints would not have been able to provide. It was the perfect choice for this book.
Seeing the world through Ethan’s eyes as he slowly falls deeper into his psychosis is heartwrenching. He has no idea what is happening to him and has strangers (doctors) telling him what to do. He didn’t even know he was ill.
5150 is a must-read for anyone interested in the mental health field.
Want to read
November 15, 2022The library doesn't have this to loan. But by way of a review, I write the following: I am young, gay, live in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, and have never been hospitalized on a 5150. That sentence contains a single lie. Pick the correct one, and win a prize.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews