By Lisa Black
I wasn’t intending to. Cults can be controversial —a condition I avoid like Ebola—since one person’s cult is another’s life belief. They can be amorphous, largely hidden, misjudged, misrepresented. And as a plot device they can be done to death almost as much as serial killers who have an uber-specific pattern.
But I happened to read my #1 choice below, and that started me off. Jim Jones ostensibly followed Christ, Moonies follow the Reverend, Nxivm followed professional success, Scientology follows aliens named thetans. Those details can vary wildly, yet all cults dance to the same rhythm—a person presents a new way, they get others to agree, the agreement goes to their head and the temptation to see just how far they can push the boundaries of their control eventually overwhelms.
The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn. In the 1950s, Jim Jones, a minister blending gospel and Marxism, led the racially mixed Peoples Temple. In California, he became a political leader, but his life was marked by extramarital affairs and fraudulent healing. When US authorities got too interested, he sent his followers to hack out (literally) a camp in South America. Four and a half years later, over 900 followers voluntarily drank cyanide.
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright.
Lawrence Wright investigates Scientology through over 200 interviews and extensive research. He explores its origins with founder L. Ron Hubbard and successor David Miscavige, the church’s tactics to recruit celebrities, and its unique and often uncomfortable practices.
Scarred: The true story of how I escaped NXIVM, the cult that bound my life by Sarah Edmondson. Nxivm, founded by Keith Raniere, was marketed as a self-help organization that manipulated members, particularly women, through psychological tactics, forced labor, and sexual exploitation. Raniere was convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering, exposing the cult’s abusive, controlling practices. Far from lost souls, his victims were intelligent, professional, successful men and women.
Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult by Jayanti Tamm. As the Beatles had the Maharishi, celebrities in the ‘80s had Sri Chinmoy in New York City. When Jayanti’s parents walked in, the two strangers were told to wed and later that Jayanti was the Chosen One. But adulthood ushers in a new perspective and thus began the difficult task of divorcing the only life she knew.
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall. This is also a story of someone raised from birth in a situation which gradually got worse as Warren Jeffs turned a religious outpost into his personal biosphere. Forced to marry a hated cousin at the age of fourteen, Elissa finally escaped four years later. The day to day details of life in Jeffs’ world are horridly fascinating and sometimes unexpected.
After all my reading, watching, and finally writing my book Not Who We Expected, I believe that most cults are best summed up in the words of Cynthia Erivo’s character Darlene in Bad Times at the El Royale (written by Drew Goddard). “Let me guess: it’s some man who talks a lot. He talks so much he thinks he believes in something. But really… he just wants to f— who he wants to f—.”
I can’t say it better than that.
Lisa Black is the New York Times bestselling author of 19 suspense novels, including the Gardiner & Renner series. Her works have been translated into six languages, optioned for film, and shortlisted for both the inaugural Sue Grafton Memorial Award and the Nero. She is also a full-time police department CSI, has been a consultant for CourtTV and was a Guest of Honor at 2021 Killer Nashville. Please visit her at www.lisa-black.com.
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