A Thousand Lives

The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown

By: Julia Scheeres

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

They left America for the jungles of Guyana to start a better life. Yet what started as a Utopian dream soon devolved into a terrifying work camp run by a madman, ending in the mass murder-suicide of 914 members in November 1978.

In A Thousand Lives, the New York Times best-selling memoirist Julia Scheeres traces the fates of five individuals who followed Jim Jones to South America as they struggled to first build their paradise, and then survive it. Each went for different reasons - some were drawn to Jones for his progressive attitudes towards racial equality, others were dazzled by his claims to be a faith healer. But once in Guyana, Jones' drug addiction, mental decay, and sexual depredations quickly eroded the idealistic community.

For this groundbreaking book, Scheeres examined more than 50,000 pages of newly released documents that the FBI collected from the camp after the massacre - including diaries, crop reports, and letters that were never sent home - as well as hundreds of audiotapes of Jones addressing his group.

Scheeres's own experience at a religious boot camp in the Dominican Republic, detailed in her unforgettable debut memoir Jesus Land, gives her unique insight into this chilling tale.

Haunting and vividly written, A Thousand Lives is a story of blind loyalty and daring escapes, of corrupted ideals and senseless, searing loss.

©2011 Julia Scheeres (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Chilling and heart-wrenching, this is a brilliant testament to Jones's victims, so many of whom were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." ( Publisher's Weekly)

"Scheeres shows great compassion and journalistic skill in reconstructing Jonestown’s last months and the lives of many Temple members (including a few survivors).... [A] well-written, disturbing tale of faith and evil." ( Kirkus)

"Julia Scheeres' A Thousand Lives... tells the tragic tale of Jonestown - in its way, a peculiarly American apocalypse." ( Los Angeles Times)

Engaging and disturbing

The author followed the stories of individuals who started to follow Jim Jones to pursue a dream and found themselves living in a nightmare. I was a teenager when the Jonestown tragedy unfolded and I never knew much beyond the headlines. The author painstakingly laid out the whole history of the People's Temple and the charismatic insane leader

Jonestown Horror

Shocking story of Jim Jones tyrannical years as head of The People's Church in San Francisco and its eventual suicidal collapse in the jungle of Guyana. Cautionary tale of fanatic religious practices that reminds of ISIS today.

Horrible story - Well told

Where does A Thousand Lives rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Because this is a true story it would be hard to compare it to fiction. If this was fiction I don't think it would be believable.

What other book might you compare A Thousand Lives to and why?

Helter Skelter. Another true story one would wish was a figment of someone's imagination.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The entire book moved me.

Any additional comments?

I was in my teens when the horrors occurred in Jonestown. I remember the headlines but never realized the depths of his (Jones's) depravity. I had always assumed the murder/suicides had been spur of the moment. It was not until I listened to this that I found out he was planning this long before he moved his church group to Guyana, lying to his followers the entire time and forcing earlier followers to lie so more would come. I hope this is never forgotten.

Fascinating!

I couldn't stop listening to this audio book. It was so interesting that I listened to all 11 hours of it in less than 48 hours.

excellent overview

If you could sum up A Thousand Lives in three words, what would they be?

incredible and hard to believe it happened

Who was your favorite character and why?

It is hard to pick only one character

Have you listened to any of Robin Miles’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, I have not listened to any other performances

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, totally- one does not want to forget any of the characters

Any additional comments?

I could not put it down!!!

You think you know the story...

It's easy to say the victims of Jim Jones were a bunch of crazy people who killed themselves for their leader. But the truth is so much more. They were lied to, tortured, sleep deprived and malnourished. Most did not commit suicide, and instead were flat out murdered. They were prisoners in a nightmare they couldn't escape from. Jim Jones was a monster who got so power hungry and unhinged that it was inevitable they would all end up dead.

The book is a nail biter, and even though you know the ending, you will still pray for the lives of these people.

Worth your time, twice!

Would you consider the audio edition of A Thousand Lives to be better than the print version?

I thought this was a wonderful composition! The detail that is revealed in the book is unbelievable and makes you question why it was not made public knowledge from day one. How sad to know the amount of opportunity our government had to put a stop to this. I highly recommend. I purchased this becuase I know someone who was present to stop it on the day of the massacre. Wow, the people you meet and what they bring to your life.

Haunting Story of Real People

I remember the morning that I switched on the television and heard the news from Jonestown. It was truly unbelievable. How could this happen? This book put me inside Jonestown, standing next to the victims, feeling their hopes and dreams turn to confusion then fear.

The author had unprecedented access to written and audio information. She also was able to talk to some of the survivors and others involved. I can't imagine the challenge of sorting all this out and deciding what to include. But she did a great job.

Instead of just an overview, we follow several people who were there from the time they joined until the end. We are able to see their motivation and meet the charismatic Jones through them. We are on the journey with them.

Because these are personal stories, the ending is even more tragic. There are the hundreds of senseless casualties. There are the haunted survivors and relatives.

This is also a study in how the power hungry exploit the vulnerable. A psychological prison is much harder to escape than a brick and mortar one.

The lesson from this is that real people were drawn to a charismatic man who offered them Utopia. We have all been hoodwinked in lesser ways by advertising that plays to our weaknesses. In this situation, could we also have been a victim?

Jonestown Understood

I am in my mid fifties and remember the horror of the many senseless deaths, so many of them babies and children. I now can empathize a little with the innocent deluded people who were trying to do good things and sacrificed everything to a psychopathic drug addict. I like that it followed a few people in depth and I ended up Googling a survivor's list because I began to care so much about them before I finished.

Amazing, gut wrenching account of Jonestown

i have become a Jonestown junkie over the past few years, reading Raven, Road to Jonestown, watching hours of documentaries and listening to hours of Jim Jones audio tapes. This book is the most personalized version yet, it really tells the story from the point of view of the doomed participants. does a great job of weaving together the various tales of the tragic lives that were trapped in the jungle by a charismatic pastor turned paranoid madman. after all the other info ive consumed, i still learned a lot of interesting details...especially fascinating to hear about the survivors and how many continued to suffer cursed lives.