Cult

By: Warren Adler

Narrated by: Toni Lewis

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Cult is a thriller with a chilling climax that shows how the power of sinister forces using mind control techniques can turn innocent people into weapons of destruction. Barney Harrigan, a successful computer entrepreneur, discovers that his young and impressionable wife has been lured by her fanatical sister into the "Glory Cult", a ruthless and powerful group in Oregon run by a charismatic "Guru". Finally able to make contact with her, he learns just how much control the cult and its members now exert over her. Determined to free his wife from the cult's grasp and return her to him and their four year old son, he prevails upon an old lover in Washington DC, Naomi Forman - a human rights activist - to use her political connections to help him.

After her initial reluctance to become involved, Naomi eventually enlists in his cause, despite her own conviction that people make their own choices and that "brainwashing" is a myth. She will soon come to realize how wrong she is. Barney and Naomi travel to Oregon and team up with a pair of tough, cunning deprogrammers. They plan to kidnap Barney's wife from the cult. However, they soon find themselves in a deadly cat and mouse game with Jeremiah, the "David Koresh" like leader of the Glories. Their rescue attempt triggers a surprising and horrific climax that will keep the listener absorbed and on edge throughout this novel.

©2011 Warren Adler (P)2016 Warren Adler

Just a big old meh

I have an odd fascination for cults and their practices so I thought this sounded intriguing. Sadly I really didn’t enjoy the book. The narrator tried their best to bring the terror, fury and suspense of a scary prospect into the work but it just didn’t work. I felt like I could have wrote this idea better with the little knowledge I have of cults. I see that this author has a lot of fans of his work and I hope his other work is why.

"Are you so perfect that you can judge me?"

As a great fan of Mr.Adler's work, I had been very much looking forward to this book. He is a wonderful wordsmith. But Cult just did not have the impact for me that his other books have had, be they thrillers or spy, comedy or historical.

As always, the character drawing is superb and the reader is given clear pictures of the aspirations of the protagonists. A young mother leaves her four years old child and her older, rather overbearing husband to join her sister in a closed community, a cult known as the Glories. She essentially signed away her life to be with them, cutting all communication with her family and the rest of the world. Her husband, Barnie, wants her back. He persuades an old girl friend, a human rights activist still just a little in love with him, to help him try to see his wife and bring her home. Intrigued, but against her better judgement, Naomie agrees and comes up against the legal barriers of access to someone who is in the grip of a group which has taken control, even though that same group might be suspect. The law is on their side and there is nothing legally that can be done.

Frustration, anger, violence both physical and psychological ensue. And the vassilation of Naomie over who is right and who wrong, is played out in her indecisions and actions which bring consequences which are disastrous. It is an interesting questioning of the concepts of personal choice, individual rights and the influences of others but the characters as portrayed failed to obtain a reality after the earlier chapters, especially Naomie, whose decisions to stay with Barnie well after her possible influence had ended, were at best bizarre (although her reasonings did give a further glimpse into how so many pressures can have influence on our decisions and who we are or become).

The narration was unfortunate, with Toni Lewis providing a scattergun speech, sounding almost mechanical, and slow - better when the speed was increased to 1.20. The voicing of the characters, however, was good.in dialogue.

Not one of Mr.Adler's best books, but even so, far better than that of many other writers' best. Recommended if what the reader is looking for is a spring board into ideas about personality and the rights of the individual, and how far our choices are our own.

Amazing how one can be brain washed so quick!

I enjoyed this book... really caught my attention and left me thinking! Great Narrator, really gave each character their own voice! I definitely recommend this book! I found myself arguing with Naomi a lot because of her views and beliefs! Very Intense!

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you Audiobook Boom.

Lost Potential

Would you try another book from Warren Adler and/or Toni Lewis?

Yes. I've listened to seven or eight works by Warren Adler and will gladly listen to more if the opportunity presents itself. Toni Lewis was fine. The material just wasn't enough to keep my interest. The story is wrought with internalization by the characters. It involved a wife and mother who is ensnared by a charismatic cult leader. The wife dies under suspicious circumstances after the husband attempts to influence his wife to come home to their son. The husband wants retribution, to destroy the cult. A fairly interesting premise.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

If the book had stayed on the lines of what I describe, it may have been pretty decent as an action thriller, revenge story.
The majority of the conflicts were internal, presented as in my opinion, overly long asides of the characters thoughts. The actual action just seemed secondary and less consequential and, well, less interesting to this listener.

One of the lines is "Two Madmen are much worse than one Madman". That just didn't get pursued to my satisfaction. The culmination of the story just left me feeling that no one came out O.K.

What about Toni Lewis’s performance did you like?

Toni Lewis did a good enough job. The issue wasn't with her presentation.

Was Cult worth the listening time?

I'm sorry to say, that "No, it wasn't". And what's more disconcerting is that after listening to so many of Warren Adler's audio book editions, this is the only one I would say that about. Most have been well written.

Any additional comments?

I will listen to other Adler work in the future and will go back and listen to the ones I currently have. Believe me, I don't like leaving low ratings. It bothers me more so, in this case.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com

Disappointed

This is the first Warren Adler book that really couldn't hold my interest. The whole idea of the book sounded great but it failed to deliver. I found the story rambling and just kinda boring. The characters dry and unlikable. I'm disappointed.

The narrator gave a good performance.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.