Candace Fleming’s meticulously researched account of Jonestown is a gripping and unsettling read. The same week our government moved to dismantle Voice of America, I was reading about Jonestown cult members secretly tuning into VOA on contraband radios—only then beginning to realize they had been brainwashed by Jim Jones’s propaganda. Chilling.

Candace Fleming does it again! Death in the Jungle is a deeply researched and engaging account of Jonestown. And though she said she didn't want to write about Jim Jones, you can't tell the story of Jonestown without examining his life and his power over his followers. This is a dark, sad story, but it is an important one that encourages young people to think about group think and the power of peer pressure. I was hooked from page one and couldn't stop sharing what I learned with everyone around me. This will appeal to fans of true crime and cult stories.

Once again Candace Fleming has taken a dark historic event and gives it context, depth and humanity.

Candace Fleming's book Death in the Jungle is the tragic true story of the deaths in Jonestown. This book gives an excellent view into the beginning of Jim Jones' life and how he built his cult following. Fleming interviewed several survivors as well as referenced numerous news sources to give a detailed account of how a small time preacher grew to be an influential political and social mover in the 1970s. Jones used and manipulated the marginalized as well as the religious to create a following in the thousands. Through reading this book you get a clear understanding how isolation and disinformation led to the death of hundreds in Guyana. I highly recommend this book for those who lived through the 1970s and remember the horrible event as well as those who may be interested in social science and psychology.

Content warning: sexual assault, blackmailing, gaslighting, physical abuse, mental abuse, coercion, forced imprisonment, drug abuse, being drugged, suicide (by choice and by force)

Rating this on research alone, this would be a 5 star read. Fleming did an amazing job and DEATH IN THE JUNGLE has a wealth of citations and suggested further reading at the end for anyone who wants to continue learning about Jones and Peoples Temple. However, the first half of this book is a slog to get through and I'm not sure this will work as a YA book. Nonfiction is tough to get teens to read, but for those who like deep dives into cults will definitely be interested in this one.

While I knew about Jonestown and where "they drank the Kool-Aid" came from, there was a lot leading up to Jonestown that I had no idea about. I didn't know that Jones took advantage of the racial divide in the country to become a performative ally in order to gain wealth and power. This is a frustrating and heartbreaking read and a lot of what happened can be compared to the current political climate and how masses of people so easily believe the propaganda from a snake oil salesman.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Anne Schwartz Books in exchange for an honest review.

Well researched piece about Jonestown. I appreciated the care she took with the survivors' stories and their input. It was thoughtful and empathetic to the events they experienced and survived. I also found her work into Jim Jones as a developing leader and beginnings of Peoples Temple interesting and developed in such a way for younger readers to understand and digest. A good piece to add to robust nonfiction collections.

A powerful account of Jim Jones and the People's Temple and how he led his followers to commit mass suicide in Guyana in 1979 by "drinking the Kool Aid."
It is sure to impact the reader into understanding how one person can cause others to violate their personal truths and believe him instead.

Candace Fleming has outdone herself with this book, digging into the cult of Peoples Temple, Jonestown in Guyana, and the murder and suicides of over 900 people. Jim Jones started out as a neglected child, running around his town dirty, naked, hungry, and local church going women would take him in, clean, feed, and clothe him when his working, drunken mother didn't seem to care and his father fought the lung disability from fighting in a war. Jim learned very early how to use charisma and manipulation to get what he wanted and began to study the local preachers, white and black, and Hitler's rhetoric on socialism and communism. As he grew older, he knew he wanted to be a dynamic preacher, a faith healer, and draw people to follow him without question. He married young, and his wife helped him in his deceptions and setting up the first Peoples Temple that was all about community, racial acceptance, and God though even at this time Jim have left any faith in God behind. His magnetic pull drew people to him and his church where they moved from Indiana to California where he became part of the housing governing committee, and then to Guyana to create Jonestown, his Eden, where he could be god to the members of the Peoples Temple. Over the years, many defeced, or tried to, and he would find ways to bring many of them back. Jim became drug addeled, convincing the congregations, or cult followers, about communal socialism where they gave everything they had to the church and they were cared for. And, yes, in some ways they were, but things turned brutal with punishments that began as public beratings, to belting, to even worse torture. Even before Jones started Jonestown, he began talkng about suicide which forced even more to leave and others to stay in fear for family the didn't want to leave. Though there were those that left, the Gang of Eight, family members that just couldn't take the rhetoric, abuse, and drugging of members, many remained which led to Congressman Leo Ryan and the press to investigate Jonestown and the Peoples Temple overall. That is when Jones did what he had been preachnig - mass sucide with drug and cyanide laced kool-aid like drink and the murder of those that refused. Fleming draws people in by sharing the charismatic and magnetic personality of Jim Jones, his fall into drugs and pscyopathy, though she highlights his tendacies at an early age, and how he convinced so many people into 'revolutionary suicide'. The addition of black and white photos show members of the congreagation and the research is impecable on Fleming's part, leading readers to do their own digging to find out more about what happened. It's a hard read for those that aren't into cults, but it a deep look into the beginnings and endings of such horrific beliefs.
Hide entir

A full and well researched picture of one of the most horrifying events imaginable. An excellent springboard for discussions of unchecked power, megalomania and skewed religious fervor.

Well shoot, I learned way more about Jim Jones and Peoples Temple than I ever thought I would know. This was a great biographical narrative! It was engaging and so interesting, and there weren’t any info dumps or slower portions.

I liked how it was ordered chronologically and focused on ten or so major players. Sometimes the names were confusing and it was tricky to keep everyone straight, especially since there are so many Jims and Timmys. Sweet Hyacinth was my favorite person to learn about.

Overall - a fascinating and quick read! It almost read like a prequel/villain origin story.

A nonfiction favorite for any budding cult-documentary enthusiasts, or even adults unfamiliar with the Jonestown saga.

Going into this book, I knew the only the basics of Jonestown, and Fleming did an excellent job of not only giving me more information but also of putting faces and emotions to the tragic story. Following a select group of Temple members gives context to how an event like this could take place. Fears and devotion were shown equally, humanizing members and making them relatable.

While this book is certainly appropriate for young adults, it reads as extremely well informed, and should have equal appeal for adults who are interested in the topic.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of Death in the Jungle.

Honestly, Candace Fleming very rarely misses for me, and this one is no exception. Jonestown is the first true crime story I remember hearing about, even though we weren't really calling it true crime then. The events at Jonestown happened prior to my birth, but I remember hearing about it somewhere along the line (maybe around the time things went down in Waco?) and being fascinated about the psychology of this group. What made people follow him so wholeheartedly? Why did he think he was so special? Death in the Jungle gets into all of this and more.

I work with an English teacher on a nonfiction unit at the high school level, so I'm always looking for additional texts that might pique the interest of our students. There were a couple spots where I skimmed, but I was never out of the book. I think Death in the Jungle fits the bill for our project.

A masterful look at a fascinating topic for all ages. Fleming has once again crafted a gorgeous, narrative look at an engaging topic in history. Perfect for tweens and teens that are interested in true crime or looking to learn more about high control groups, this narrative examination of the rise and fall of the Peoples Temple and Jonestown will engage nonfiction fans and reluctant readers alike. A definite recommend for true crime or Fleming fans. Give to teens who enjoyed The 57 Bus, Murder Among Friends, or those looking for a nonfiction pairing after reading about fictional cults in books like Agnes at the End of the World, The Project, or The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly.

I've consumed a fair amount of media about Jonestown (even though it blurs the line between my usual preferences-I like reading about cults and scammers but not murderers), so I already knew a lot of the basics here. But I appreciated Fleming's choice to pick a few victims/survivors to focus on throughout the narrative, and I think she did such a compelling job of showing exactly how and why so many people ended up at Jonestown and how tragic it was. Also a decently subtle job of highlighting potential similarities between Jones and some other uhh "charismatic leaders" that come to mind.

Great for high schoolers who are into weird shit as well as adults who want a good solid concise overview of Jonestown.

This account details the rise of Jim Jones's Peoples Temple cult, beginning with Jones's childhood in Indiana, when he developed a fascination with dynamic, persuasive orators like Pentacostal preachers and Adolf Hitler. It moves through his involvement with Peoples Temple, which began as an unusual church and soon became cultlike in its demands of its members. The narrative is chronological, giving an account of the creation of Jonestown in Guyana, the movement of hundreds of members there, and life in Jonestown. As Jones, who was addicted to drugs, became increasingly controlling and paranoid, he began thinking about mass suicide to avoid accounting for his crimes. The account covers the assassination of Congressman Leo Ryan and the eventual mass murder/suicide tragedy at Jonestown and its aftermath.

This is a straightforward narrative, easy to follow despite the numerous characters. It does not sensationalize the tragedy that occurred, and it speaks of the dead with dignity and respect, asserting that they were average human beings under the powerful influence of a charismatic criminal. The author also discusses the racial dynamics at play; many members were Black women, and despite his claims to be antiracist Jones did not put Black members in positions of power. He also appropriated the style and mannerisms of Black activists and preachers.

This account is well researched, drawing on archival photographs, video, and accounts by survivors, including Jones's son Stephan.

I have been recommending The Curse of the Mummy: Uncovering Tutankhamun's Tomb, Crash From Outer Space: Unraveling the Mystery of Flying Saucers, Alien Beings, and Roswell, and The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II to my students a LOT recently for nonfiction projects, and personally enjoy the subject matter of those a bit more. I am not a fan of true crime podcasts the way some people are. I picked this up because I have vivid memories of picking up a magazine in my middle school library that showed full color pictures of the aftermath of this horrific historical event, but couldn't remember much about what happened before this culminating event. I was not allowed to watch the television coverage and probably skipped over some of the news articles about it, since I was 13.

Fleming does an excellent job at followed Jim Jones from his earliest years as a child with inadequate parenting who became drawn to the church to the bitter end after he forced his followers to kill themselves or be killed. She does this is a very balanced, factual way, and has clearly done extensive research, talking to many survivors and going through news reports and documents. Even the depiction of the "revolutionary suicide" is not sensationalized. The information is presented in the order the events happened, which was very useful. I was discussing this with a friend who also had vague memories of the event who couldn't remember when Congressman Ryan and his entourage were attacked. There was a lot going on, so not having flashbacks really helped.

I especially appreciated that the photographs that were included were NOT of the dead bodies, although there was one of crushed paper cups and stethoscopes that I remember from 1978. There are pictures of life in Jonestown, with children at school, community events, etc., which makes this especially poignant. These are real people who thought through following this leader and going to Guyana. Fleming does a great job of pointing out that while it's easy to say "Oh, I would never do something like that", there are often circumstances behind the scenes that make such decisions seem valid.

This was rather long and slow paced for middle school readers, but would make an excellent addition to a high school library where readers will be more interested in the formation of horrible historical figures who gained huge followings. Very well done.

I Ioved this book - it was super informative and very suspenseful. I loved the photos included, as well as direct quotes from the People’s Temple survivors. I loved the message sent to YA readers on the importance of questioning ideas when it comes to group thinking, as it can be dangerous and destructive. My only wish would have been a more in depth follow up on the survivors and if there was any way the government responded to the People’s Temple and creating more awareness or regulation around cult behavior.

Can good reads add half stars please? This one is 4.5. The author does a great job of laying out the story of Jonestown in a clear eyed and empathetic way. I’ve read everything there is to read about Jonestown and still gained insight from this book. I wouldn’t be able to have students read it in its entirety, but I’ll definitely be using excerpts from it when we cover ‘influence’ in our psychology unit. Hyacinth Thrash is someone I’ve always wanted to hear more about. I am pleased to see her be one of the main voices here. Very well done!

"Death in the Jungle" is a well researched book on an event that is not often remembered. It shows glimpses into the character of Jim Jones. The book is well written and provides insight into the people that followed him. I would recommend a read.