The Death Monkey Rides

The Death Monkey Rides is a poignant and touching memoir about the struggle between professional success and personal failure, all the while battling depression and fighting thoughts of suicide. This book is a must read for anyone who is dealing with clinical depression or knows someone who is. The book will be released on September 11th, 2026 and is available now for pre-sale orders. The book will be available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobel or through your favorite bookstore.

Having a “monkey on my back” is an idiom that can describe a burden, a heavy weight to carry, or a problem that won’t go away. For former news man and radio personality, that monkey represented thoughts of suicide that became heavier and more frequent over time. Depression is what provided fertile ground for the monkey to grow. This animal clung to his back for years whispering that all his troubles would go away if he could just work up the courage to kill himself.

With professional treatment most people can learn how to deal with their Depression. This illness can affect anyone, no matter who they are, what they do for a living or what face they wear in public. There is help out there.

Beginning in the 1980’s, for more than two decades, Phil ‘The Bean’ Sisneros, was a familiar voice in the morning on Albuquerque’s KOB-FM radio. He was the funny news guy part of a two-man team, dedicated to waking up listeners and helping them start their day with a smile.
Almost no one knew that the Bean grappled with sometimes severe Depression that often pushed him to that edge that no one likes to think or talk about. This is a message of hope to former listeners and anyone who has dealt with or maybe is still grappling with thoughts of suicide.

Phil Sisneros grew up in Los Alamos New Mexico and spent time as a news reporter in Albuquerque, Phoenix and Los Angeles. Returning to New Mexico, he was a popular radio co-host for 20 years before going to work for the New Mexico State Attorney Generals office and finally retiring in 2016. He lives with his wife Debbie in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.