Cult: A Novel of Brainwashing and Death [Hardcover]

Warren Adler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

A thriller with a chilling climax that shows how the power of sinister forces using mind control techniques can turn innocent people into weapons of destruction. Barney Harrigan, a successful computer entrepreneur, discovers that his young and impressionable wife has been lured by her fanatical sister into the "Glory Cult," a ruthless and powerful group in Oregon run by a charismatic "Guru." Finally able to make contact with her, he learns just how much control the cult and its members now exert over her. Determined to free his wife from the cult’s grasp and return her to him and their four year old son, he prevails upon an old lover in Washington D.C., Naomi Forman -- a human rights activist -- to use her political connections to help him. After her initial reluctance to become involved, Naomi eventually enlists in his cause, despite her own conviction that people make their own choices and that "brainwashing" is a myth. She will soon come to realize how wrong she is. Barney and Naomi travel to Oregon and team up with a pair of tough, cunning deprogrammers. They plan to kidnap Barney’s wife from the cult. However, they soon find themselves in a deadly cat and mouse game with Jeremiah, the "David Koresh" like leader of the Glories. Their rescue attempt triggers a surprising and horrific climax that will keep the reader absorbed and on edge throughout this page-turner of a novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this frighteningly timely novel, Adler attempts to show how easily people can be drawn into a cult, brainwashed by a charismatic leader, and programmed to do almost anything including committing suicide. Barney Harrigan'a young wife has left him for the Glories, a mysterious group approved by the IRS as a religion. In desperation, he turns to a former lover, a human rights activist with political connections, and to a deprogrammer who was once a Glories member. Barney uses his four-year-old son as a pawn, but his plan to bargain for his wife goes tragically awry in a deadly struggle with Jeremiah, the cult's leader. Adler (War of the Roses) has published 22 novels, two of which have been filmed, and enthusiastically promotes the electronic publishing of his works. This book won't win many new readers in any format, however. It's a thinly disguised polemic on the dangers of cults, with flat characters, awful dialog, and a wishy-washy heroine who vacillates about her principles. Not recommended. Roland Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

Warren Adler writes with skill and a sense of scene. -- New York Times Book Review

Warren has a fine ear for dialogue and a remarkable ability to plumb the depths of human obsession. -- Nelson DeMille

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 270 pages
• Publisher: Stonehouse Pr (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971704902
• ISBN-13: 978-0971704909
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,429,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Deserves NO STARS!, November 16, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Cult: A Novel of Brainwashing and Death (Hardcover)

This is quite possibly the worst novel ever written.

Cliche after cliche has you cringing.
Shoddy, pop psyschology characterization.
Discursive plot.
Clumsy sentences, just awful.
And as the forward suggests, a transparently dumb attempt to
link a bad idea with a 9/11 marketing notion.

Too bad, because it's a subject that a good novelist might make
really interesting.