Prophet's Prey

My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints

By: Sam Brower, Jon Krakauer

Narrated by: Jonah Cummings

Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Despite considerable press coverage and a lengthy trial, the full story of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints has remained largely untold. Only one man can reveal the whole, astounding truth: Sam Brower, the private investigator who devoted years of his life to breaking open the secret practices of the FLDS and bringing Warren Jeffs and his inner circle to justice.

In Prophet's Prey, Brower implicates Jeff in his own words, bringing to light the contents of Jeffs's personal priesthood journal, discovered in a hidden underground vault, and revealing to readers the shocking inside world of FLDS members, whose trust he earned and who showed him the staggering truth of their lives.

Prophet's Prey offers the gripping, behind-the-scenes account of a bizarre world from the only man who knows the full story.

©2011 Original material by Sam Brower. Preface © 2011 Jon Krakauer. Recorded by arrangement with Bloomsbury USA. (P)2011 HighBridge Company

Absolutely diabolical CULT and "MAN"!!

Having listened to a number of books that have outlined all the atrocities of the FLDS, I knew I had to pick this one up as well. Thinking I had "heard it all", I was shocked that I had not. Sam does an excellent job with a bit more insight into Warren himself in this book. All of them have been great & the more I learn, the more I want to hang this man!! I am so glad he is being held now to pay for all the damage he has done, but there is so much more to be done. How can this type of situation still be happening in our modern day? It's baffling, frustrating and heartbreaking to hear all the pain these women & children have to endure at the hands of this "man". (I use that term lightly) I understand the government's point of view with friends in CPS, but at the same time, it's frustrating with what little they are doing to help these families. I live in South Dakota & will continue to follow this and other stories as I do not want their compound they have established in western SD!! I intend to become as involved as I can in either saving those that want out or helping to destroy this cult.

Great Listen

I was living in a neighborhood near the property where the Alta Academy was build. I went to Public School in Elementary Grades with the Steed children. They were very well behaved and quiet but did interact with the teacher and many of us very limited. In gym the girls sporting their Prairie Dresses wore shorts underneath to participate in tumbling etc. All of a sudden they all disappeared. This was the beginning of the Alta Academy. The walls went up further on the compound. A helicopter would leave in the morning over our home and return at night time. I never knew where they were going for years. This book is very accurate to what I witnessed growing up next to what we called The Compound.
In later years I became a Police Officer and Patrolled the very area I grew up in including The Compound. One night the dispatch received a call from The Compound claiming a intruder was inside the Alta Academy. I was dispatched to handle the call. When I arrived I was greeted by some not happy Men and Boys at the gate. They were not happy that I was a Female. In the mean time my backup arrived who was a male. The group of men and boys quickly scurried to the male officer. He quickly told them they had to deal with me. Myself and area partner explained that they could not come inside while we cleared the building. They were not happy but complied. No intruder was located inside the building. We proceeded to then walk around outside and were quickly approached by the same men. They asked us to leave. After listening to this book it really shook me about what went on inside the Alta Academy and to the girls and boys I once shared a classroom with. Utah continues to ignore these crime family’s. Excellent Listen!!

Great book, narration meh

This was a great book, having just finished Under the Banner of Heaven it provided a different story of the FLDS church. It was hard to get past the narration though, I persevered but it definitely took away from the story.

Informative But Really Not a Story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, the book was informative but there was really no story. The book just blurts out a lot of a information and doesn't really hold anything back and let you wonder. I was really looking for something that played a bit more coy with the reader.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The ending was just kind of blah. If you keep up with the national media coverage for the FLDS, then you already know the ending.

What three words best describe Jonah Cummings’s performance?

Consitent, pleasant, expected.

Could you see Prophet's Prey being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I think this TV Series was already made- BIG Love.

Any additional comments?

This book really shows that the family oriented, straight laced persona of the FLDS is only a front to hide the crimes of the few men at the top. It is fascinating to even think about people who still live like this in the Western US today.

Fascinating and Horrifying

You don't know what you don't know about this group of pedophiles. You also don't know how little the government cares that these children continue to be abused and molested. Religion has nothing to do with it. Listen, and then do something about it

Sam Brower is a true hero

The dedication to help someone who was done wrong broke open a society of victims and a few very bad men. Most of the women in the priesthood are the kind of example of humanity. They were born into a very solid religion that some men abused there beliefs.
My mother was 13 when she got married and had her first child, so don’t act like it’s an abomination of Christ, but it’s sad true. It is wrong to prey upon young women. Please keep in mine that they are all the victims of evil men and shouldn’t be viewed as pedophile foder.
This book give a very accurate account of the events that destroyed thousands of live of still suffering victims. These ppl that lived in the crick, are displaced into a world they’ve feared and don’t understand. There sanctuary the home they’ve known for hundreds of years and the UEP , treat them as criminals. Good book I’d read it ten times

Disappointed that there's not more Jon Krakauer

I'm a fan of Krakauer's writing, esp. "Into Thin Air" - this was apparently written by Mr. Brower and I didn't find his writing as compelling.

Wondering about Sam Brower

Would you be willing to try another book from Sam Brower and Jon Krakauer ? Why or why not?

yes

Which character – as performed by Jonah Cummings – was your favorite?

Someone from Utah should have listened to and edited this. There are multiple mispronunciations of common Utah places.

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

yes, one long drive

Any additional comments?

Okay I can't believe Brower and Krakauer are completely in agreement on this. Brower professes to be a mainstream LDS Mormon but Under the Banner of Heaven goes to great lengths to document how Mormanism led to some of the crazy activities that the FLDS have perpetrated. I just can't believe the Brower dismiss the past of the church he is a member of. I of course applaud his dogged pursuit of Jeffs for being the creepy pedophile that he is.... but but but, how can he still pass off the sins of his own church that helped beget the FLDS?

wow

Well written and I was impressed with the narrator. I am fascinated by the polygamist cult of the FLDS and sickened by the demons who seek power of the vulnerable people...

Non-fiction that is actually a "page-turner."

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This book is so incredible, I listened to it twice. That this stuff happens, in this country, blew me away. It is simply a fascinating unfolding of a story that ought to be fiction, but isn't. Couldn't put it down, and kept pulling my headphones off to say "listen to this," to my husband.

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

Too long to read in one setting, but I really hated to interrupt my listening for anything.

Any additional comments?

The single best non-fiction writing that I've ever read, and the reader was very good.