Review by Taekwondoqueen -- The Cult Next Door

[Taekwondoqueen]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Cult Next Door" by Elizabeth R. Burchard, Judith L. Carlone.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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For my review, I’ve read The Cult Next Door. I give this book 4 out of 4 stars and would highly recommend this book to somebody else. I am typically not a nonfiction type reader, but this book was so well written and engrossing that I simply could not put it down. This book is an autobiography written by Elizabeth Burchard and Judith Carlone. I thought this book was good because it was incredibly well written and I found very few typos, if any at all. I could not believe that the things in this book were actually real, it seems so improbable and really shows people that this can happen to anybody. At the beginning of the book, it stated common myths and misconceptions of cults. People will often think of a cult as people in cloaks creating strange symbols and saying spells. If I had come across this group mentioned in the book, I would have never guessed that it was a cult.

Elizabeth Burchard, nicknamed Liz, did not have the most pleasant childhood. Her mother would beat her and say very nasty things to her and it quickly became clear her mother was not the most loving type. Her father was the only way that she could escape from her mother and her mother’s abuses. When she was eight, her father passed away, erasing her freedom from her mother. She experienced love at first sight when she met a boy her age named Joe and they soon became engaged. When Liz’s mother took her to see her doctor, Dr. Rogers, she also went into a session with a man working there named George Sharkman. She became deeply engrossed with his methods and teachings and continued to see him. When she convinced Joe to see him, George discussed “female mind games” with him, so much so that, after a certain amount of sessions, Joe refused to see Elizabeth. He got hit by a train shortly afterwards and died instantly, leaving a wound that Georges’ manipulation would control.

George had many disturbing practices for Elizabeth, her mother, and his other patients, such as having them sit naked in his office, having two of the same sex kiss, forcing one to stay in a relationship that was hurting them and was clearly no good, and that is hardly the start of his manipulation. He charged ridiculous amounts per hour, abused them in many different forms, and forced them to do what he wanted them to do. All of his patients were scared of leaving him, despite all of this, because he had the “energy”, exclaiming that they each were god and could live forever. All of the experiences with the energy were easily explained, but nobody in this cult would accept any explanation they did not like. His children terrorized the group as well. Sabrina, his daughter, joined in businesses with Elizabeth and got equal share, even though she was worse than Elizabeth and didn’t pay any of the bills. Thanks to Judith, Elizabeth was finally freed and got a chance to mend.

This book really opens your eyes to what goes on out in the real world and that nobody is ever safe. However, the storyline seemed a bit jumbled at some areas and I had to go back and read it again to make sense of the plot. When Judith first meets Elizabeth, that part of the story is very small and makes you quickly forget all about Judith, until she turns up in the rest of the novel and becomes a large piece of the story. There were parts of this story where I felt real heartbreak and sadness at what this poor girl had to go through, and I am so grateful that she had Judith with her to guide her away from that evil man. It is easy to see at the beginning of the book why George’s manipulation worked on Elizabeth, she was in deep depression and George promised her something better, giving her just enough of his lies while he kept on cheating her out and making her life miserable and saying her depression was her own fault. He never took the blame for anything, even when something was clearly his fault.

All in all, this is a wonderful story that is magnificently written and should be on the bestseller list. To Elizabeth and Judith, I applaud your wonderful work and wish you better times ahead.

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The Cult Next Door
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[Rosebella]

What? That is basically my reaction to reading what the book is about. I 'm intriguing by people who so easily manipulate others. This book is getting on my must read list.
This is a great review.