The Easy Way Out - Hardcover

Measure 961 has been passed. Now, the terminally ill can choose to end their lives in dignity, in the presence of loved ones . . . and a healthcare professional, of course.

Enter Evan. An experienced nurse, he now spends his hospital shifts sitting with patients as they drink the Nembutal and experience their last moments of consciousness. It may not be everyone's idea of a dream job, but Evan feels uniquely qualified.

Evan is a life-long drifter, something he picked up from his formidable mother, Viv. Following the (more classic) suicide of Evan's father, Evan and Viv spent years moving from town to town, never stopping long enough to put down roots; never getting close to anyone but each other.

But now Viv is ill, not terminally so, just a regular old soul-destroying, dignity-robbing, quality-of-life-impairing illness. And she's keen that Evan's professionalism, not to mention his grief, do not get in the way of her right to choose her own way out.

A funny novel about life's saddest moments, The Easy Way Out asks the most difficult questions most of us will ever have to consider.