Review by lucia_kizas -- The Cult Next Door
Posted: 27 Jul 2018, 13:29
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Cult Next Door" by Elizabeth R. Burchard, Judith L. Carlone.]
4 out of 4 stars
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The Cult Next Door by Elizabeth R. Burchard and Judith L. Carlone is Elizabeth’s, who is one of the authors, story of how she got into the cult and got out after two decades spent there.
The book focuses on Elizabeth's life, starting with her childhood and youth. After her parents’ divorce and her father’s death Elizabeth, or Liz, as her friends and family refer to her in the book, is being raised by her controlling mother Rachael, who drags them both from one miracle doctor to another. After Rachael takes her then eighteen-year-old daughter to the biofeedback session, Liz meets doctor George Sharkman and gets lured by his ideas and personality.
When Sharkman decides to leave biofeedback therapy behind, he convinces Rachael, Liz and some other of the female patients of his exceptional powers to feel the higher energy. He also convinces the women to be the only one capable of introducing them to this life-changing and success-attracting energy, if they keep seeing him and paying him, of course. His first patients also get involved in inviting new members, and the cult begins.
The book gives a first-person insight into the world that is mostly hidden from the society's eyes. It sheds light on the tactics cult leaders use to attract, interest and keep their members. Promises of a splendid future, personal relation, false care, gradual intimidation and threats are so vividly described in the book, that at times they make the hairs rise.
This is why I both loved and hated the book. It was so real, that more than once I had to put it aside to have a break. It was emotionally challenging to become part of that world through Elizabeth's eyes. I both felt sorry for her and angry at her inability to see what exactly was going on.
The story was told intimately and skillfully. It made it impossible to stay indifferent to the suffering she endured as an emotionally vulnerable and lonely person. At times it was not easy to apprehend as to why she stayed despite realizing that others were taking advantage of her.
The story revealed a hidden and dark world that not many people get to see. It allowed experiencing what the cult victims have to go through.
I personally have been approached by Moon cult members more than once during my first years at university. They were annoying, to say the least, and I tended to laugh with my friends about them. But this story showed me that the young people my age who were part of that cult were merely victims - lonely people who were looking for some purpose or a place where they could belong.
What disappointed me was the part after Elizabeth left the cult. The whole storyline until then was intense and mind-challenging, but as I kept on reading the rest of the book, I lost that intensity. It felt slow and dragging. Various encounters with her former cult family members could have been all summarized into a single chapter or two.
In the book, Elizabeth mentions her book being published. That means there was an earlier version of the book, and I believe it still should have ended where it did back then. Adding an epilogue to tell what happened during the upcoming decade with her and other cult members would have been enough.
The entire book was professionally edited with merely a few typing errors, and I loved the authors' style of story-telling. Despite my personal opinion that the events of her life after leaving the cult and publishing the book could have been summed up better, I would give the book 4 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to explore the hidden world of a cult, and who wants to better understand people who get dragged into that world, and their desperate struggles to survive. Be warned though - it will surely trigger all kinds of emotions inside, but it will undeniably keep you involved.
******
The Cult Next Door
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The Cult Next Door by Elizabeth R. Burchard and Judith L. Carlone is Elizabeth’s, who is one of the authors, story of how she got into the cult and got out after two decades spent there.
The book focuses on Elizabeth's life, starting with her childhood and youth. After her parents’ divorce and her father’s death Elizabeth, or Liz, as her friends and family refer to her in the book, is being raised by her controlling mother Rachael, who drags them both from one miracle doctor to another. After Rachael takes her then eighteen-year-old daughter to the biofeedback session, Liz meets doctor George Sharkman and gets lured by his ideas and personality.
When Sharkman decides to leave biofeedback therapy behind, he convinces Rachael, Liz and some other of the female patients of his exceptional powers to feel the higher energy. He also convinces the women to be the only one capable of introducing them to this life-changing and success-attracting energy, if they keep seeing him and paying him, of course. His first patients also get involved in inviting new members, and the cult begins.
The book gives a first-person insight into the world that is mostly hidden from the society's eyes. It sheds light on the tactics cult leaders use to attract, interest and keep their members. Promises of a splendid future, personal relation, false care, gradual intimidation and threats are so vividly described in the book, that at times they make the hairs rise.
This is why I both loved and hated the book. It was so real, that more than once I had to put it aside to have a break. It was emotionally challenging to become part of that world through Elizabeth's eyes. I both felt sorry for her and angry at her inability to see what exactly was going on.
The story was told intimately and skillfully. It made it impossible to stay indifferent to the suffering she endured as an emotionally vulnerable and lonely person. At times it was not easy to apprehend as to why she stayed despite realizing that others were taking advantage of her.
The story revealed a hidden and dark world that not many people get to see. It allowed experiencing what the cult victims have to go through.
I personally have been approached by Moon cult members more than once during my first years at university. They were annoying, to say the least, and I tended to laugh with my friends about them. But this story showed me that the young people my age who were part of that cult were merely victims - lonely people who were looking for some purpose or a place where they could belong.
What disappointed me was the part after Elizabeth left the cult. The whole storyline until then was intense and mind-challenging, but as I kept on reading the rest of the book, I lost that intensity. It felt slow and dragging. Various encounters with her former cult family members could have been all summarized into a single chapter or two.
In the book, Elizabeth mentions her book being published. That means there was an earlier version of the book, and I believe it still should have ended where it did back then. Adding an epilogue to tell what happened during the upcoming decade with her and other cult members would have been enough.
The entire book was professionally edited with merely a few typing errors, and I loved the authors' style of story-telling. Despite my personal opinion that the events of her life after leaving the cult and publishing the book could have been summed up better, I would give the book 4 out of 4 stars.
I would recommend it to anyone who wants to explore the hidden world of a cult, and who wants to better understand people who get dragged into that world, and their desperate struggles to survive. Be warned though - it will surely trigger all kinds of emotions inside, but it will undeniably keep you involved.
******
The Cult Next Door
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like lucia_kizas's review? Post a comment saying so!