from the Bay Area Book Reviewer's Association (BABRA):

Hooked is one of those books that guarantees you will never see the world in quite the same way again.  In telling the story of five San Francisco addicts struggling to get clean of drugs through a maze of city-sponsored drug treatment programs, Shavelson reveals them fully as individuals with a complex set of problems, not the least of which is the manner in which government-mandated programs attempt to free them of their addiction.  The author follows Mike, Darlene, Darrel, Glenda, and Crystal through their contacts with intake agencies, psychiatrist's offices, treatment houses, courts, and mental health facilities, and during their time in "homes" in locals like China Basin and Hallidie Plaza.  Their stories demonstrate the counterproductiveness of costly bureaucratized and uncoordinated treatments offered to addicts who suffer as much from mental illness, past and present trauma, poverty, and homelessness as they do from the effects of drugs.  At the same time, Shavelson offers hope when he shows that, contrary to received wisdom, closely followed, court-mandated "forced" treatment programs do work.