I like learning and reading about cults. They fascinate me. However, this book, which I feel should have been good, just wasn't. The characters were so forgettable. I didn't like Nay, who really got on my nerves, and the story wasn't engaging.

The premise of this book was interesting, but I didn't necessarily like its execution. It fell flat in several areas, and it left much to be desired. There's definitely a lot of potential there, but the book simply didn't live up to what it could have been.

Fascinating subject matter and a clever way of bringing real life cases and scenarios into a fictional setting. It’s a short book and I wonder if there was more that could have been covered. Certainly thought provoking and Adler’s writing is always enjoyable.

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.

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.

The Review

When a story like this comes along, the thing that always separates the well-written from the more sensationalized storylines is how the story impacts the conversations they stir up. This novel really did an amazing job of creating buzz-filled conversations that pushed the limits of what we think about when it comes to religious freedom vs indoctrination.

The character growth was so layered and complex that it really drew readers into the narrative. The novel introduced a story that felt very real, due in large part to the conflicted and flawed protagonists and antagonists of this narrative. The question of morality comes into play so strongly that readers will be forced to analyze how they would approach this emotional and mentally challenging subject. While saving our loved ones from indoctrination seems like a simple enough task, the means by which we do so and the consequences for those actions are what the characters here are forced to deal with.

The Verdict

A brilliant, complex, and engaging read, author Warren Adler’s “Cult” is a fantastic read. It allows readers to understand the challenging and emotional task of losing loved ones to fanaticism and cult activity, while also exploring the consequences of our choices. The concept of choice is a major theme in this novel, and the twists and turns both halfway through the novel and in the end will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

The description of this book had me really intrigued and I was looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately for me this story fell short.

I am sorry to say i dnded This book at 33 %. I Just did not understand IT. Maybe IT was. Too political for me

I was so excited about this book simply because of the name but honestly it was a let down. I get that it's a short book but it would have been a game changer if the author had spend more time on the cult.

I received a copy of, Cult, by Warren Adler. I really wanted to like this book, it sounded like it would be a great read, but it was not.

I love a good cult story so much I’ll often settle for an average one. Cult is just one of those themes, like circus or magicians, that immediately grab my attention. Plus I’ve read Adler’s short stories before and quite enjoyed them, so this was an easy choice.
So is it a good cult story or an average one? Well, more of the latter, I’m afraid. There was something definitely missing here, as one might have expected from a book so unimaginatively named.
When I try to nail down exactly what that something is…it isn’t quite the not very likeable characters, it’s more of the inflexible and unyielding moral rigidity of the novel. Very black and white tonally. The author’s ascribes high EVIL categories to things foregoing moral nuances all too easily and frequently.
Or maybe that wasn’t it. Maybe it was the main characters themselves. I just didn’t like them very much.
But once upon a time they liked each other very much, Naomi and Barney. A Jewish liberal dogooder and an Irish apolitical moneycentric businessman. Please note I am only mentioning the characters’ religious/cultural makers because the author makes such a huge deal about it. They loved each other so much, but it just wasn’t enough for Naomi to ignore the fact that Barney didn’t miss out on any sleep over the many social injustices that she would so intensely obsessed over. So, they split up and Barney like a proper man of his ideals and ideas married a pretty young thang and had a baby with her. And when several years later the pretty young thang ended up in a cult, Barney came crawling back to Naomi to use her political connections to try and get her out.
Since this specific cult is properly legal, this goes against much of Naomi’s ideology, but nevertheless she proceeds to help Barney, because she’d never miss out on the opportunity to do good. And also, she never really got over Barney.
And so it becomes a great stand off. On one side Naomi with her good intentions and Barney with his hired deprogrammers and on the other side a bunch of thoroughly brainwashed cultists willing to die for their cause. Guess who wins. Well, the correct answer would be no one, it’s too ugly of a game for proper wins.
There’s a local sheriff involved too, but that’s fairly extraneous. The main plot is Naomi/Barney against the cult. The main character is really Naomi and the main theme is how much she’s willing to compromise her principles. Is brainwashing the brainwashed back to normal too much? She thinks so. And I suppose Adler meant her as an admirable character, but her nuanceless rigid morality is tedious, she’s the liberal people hate when they hate liberals, so dedicated to taking the high road she’s willing to ignore the road signs. She’s slappingly obnoxiously moralistic and to highlight that there’s a constant juxtaposition to the moralfree bottom line money wielding kinda guy that Barney is, which is all too unsubtle and obvious.
The thing is Adler was a genuinely good writer in that he had that organic storytelling quality to his narratives, it’s the plot here that leaves a lot to be desired. It’s almost like it’s too didactic or pedantic or something, what other reason there would be for such fablelike strict moral codes. It means well, but it’s just too blatantly self righteous to enjoy outright. The components end up arranging themselves into something that tends to veer into a slightly hysterical melodrama. Reads quickly, though. Thanks Netgalley.