"72 Hour Hold" by BEBE MOORE CAMPBELL is one of the most disturbing books I have read in recent memory. Ms. Moore-Campbell is one of my favorite authors and to a book, I have gobbled up her words, characters and plots. That all changed with the reading of her latest effort.

The skill and talent have not diminished. The difficulty I had was with the subject matter. "72 HOUR HOLD" deals with an African-American mother's effort to get the psychiatric care her extremely intelligent, talented beautiful and bi-polar daughter requires.

Bebe Moore Campbell has taken a bold step to tell a story close to her world as she has a loved one who has a mental illness. There is a great deal of speculation among her readers as to the identity of her relative. That does not matter. What does matter however, is the passion, skill and humour with which Ms. Moore Campbell tells this story.

I don't yet have children, but I did have an extremely close relationship with my mother. I don't know that I have relatives who battle mental illness. But I do have friends who suffer with bouts of depresssion. "72 HOUR HOLD" put me right in the front seat of this roller coaster family and friends ride each day when living with a loved one living with mental illness.

All too often, we joke about someone being crazy or asking, have you taken your meds today? "72 HOUR HOLD" puts this illness into a whole new realm. After reading this book I hope people will regard mental illness in a new light and embrace the caretakers of the mentally ill. It hasn't been that long that people stopped whispering the "C Word" when talking about cancer. Mental illness is still a taboo subject--especially in the African-American community.