Getting into a cult seems to be an easy process, but it’s even harder to get out, as I learned from Cult by Warren Adler. In fact, nothing is easy when people’s minds are involved.
Thank you to Netgalley, for a copy of Cult by Warren Adler, in return for an honest review. This post may also contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I’ll get a commission and I’m so grateful!
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Naomi Forman receives a call from her ex-boyfriend. He was the man she always thought she would marry, so when he tells her his wife was kidnapped, and he needs Naomi’s help to get her back, against Naomi’s better judgment, she agrees to help him.
This agreement sparks a weeks long journey into the minds of cult members, and what it takes to deprogram someone who has been admitted into a cult.
This book also examines, in a fictional manner, what it means when someone has joined a “cult” of their own free will, and whether it’s ethical, or legal, to attempt to deprogram someone who has joined a “religious group.”
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Even though Cult by Warren Adler is a fictional account, the facts portrayed and the stories told are happening all across the US, and even the world. People get hoodwinked into joining religious groups, only to find later, that it’s impossible to leave, even if they want to.
Most people don’t even want to, since they’ve been brainwashed into thinking it’s all normal. People turn over houses, money, retirement accounts, all to further an agenda that wouldn’t typically be their own.
Excerpt
“It boils down to this,” she said. “The Glories is a religion, bona fide in the eyes of the law. Their status has been challenged by various people – mostly ex-glories, by the way – but on the point of being a legally sanctioned religion, they emerge in the right. Apparently, they have a huge cadre of prestigious law firms on their payroll. They are very, very rich. The fact is that all you need is fifty names and an application to the Internal Revenue Service to declare yourself a religion. If the IRS says it’s okay, presto, you’re a religion.” She suspected she was presenting what was obvious. His reaction was passionate and swift.
“Legal or not, they’re a scam, a fraud. They challenge our vulnerability. They have their greedy hands in most money-making schemes you can think of. They are ubiquitous and powerful. They have these businesses. And their followers work for them, literally, as slaves. Oh, they’re very clever. They know how to slip just under the legal radar. They have Charlotte ding their bidding in the name of their all-holy jackass guru. Working for nothing, selling their merchandise, whatever. They’re also in real estate, media, large-scale business. It’s big, big moneymaking. Tax-free. All religions are tax-free, and they’re one of many. How dumb can our government be to not see through this? They’ve always known the score about the Glories and all these other cults. How come they’re not fighting back? What the fuck are they doing about it?” He shook his head.
I thought Cult was well-written, even though I didn’t really believe Naomi would have done what she did. An ex-boyfriend calls, and she just jumps at the chance to help him? I think she was acting under a misguided notion that if she helped him, she might get him back somehow. Regardless of that, I didn’t think writing from her perspective was the right way to go. I would have loved to read Cult from the husband’s point of view, or even his wife’s.
Even given the disturbing subject matter, I thought the book was well-written. I have another book by this author, that I got from Netgalley as well, that I’m looking forward to reading. Cults, specifically the psychology behind them, have always fascinated me, so I enjoy the research that goes into books like these. Warren has obviously researched what it takes to deprogram someone from a cult, and though it seems like torture, it is sometimes the only way to go. Cult explores this theory and offers practical examples of what is involved.
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Sometimes I think my husband would be a good deprogrammer. What it requires is some not-so-great decisions, that only someone with no emotions could really handle. Part of Cult by Warren Adler is scenes of attempted deprogramming, and lemme tell ya, they are hard to read. In a lot of ways, the deprogramming techniques resemble flat-out torture. I couldn’t be a deprogrammer, no way. The parts of the book that contained these scenes were well-written, especially because they caused an emotional reaction. That, to me, is the sign of great writing, and is a reason that I would recommend this book. It offers insights that even my fascination with cults wouldn’t have offered.
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