After Polarinov's "The Reef," I wanted to read something about sects. The topic is, of course, creepy, but very interesting. In "The Reef" I missed the details from the inside of such, to put it mildly, unusual organization, there was more generalizing and about "life after the cult" with all the ensuing consequences for the psyche of the victims.
Mariette Lindstein (born 1958) was raised in Halmstad on the west coast of Sweden. From a young age she had a knack for telling stories, ghost stories first then short novels that were published in teen magazines. By the time she graduated high school she had her sights set on a career in journalism.
Marietta Lindstin knows all this ghastly kitchen from the inside, as she herself spent 25 (25, Carl!) years of her life in the cult, which, of course, just shocks the imagination: it's a nightmare to spend your best years on the hell out of it. But everyone has his own destiny, his own path, and it's good that the woman got out, but now even now and such wonderful book writes.
The story of the cult from the Foggy Island is made up, but certainly woven out of very realistic details - the author simply describes her own observations, feelings, memories, experiences and shocks experienced. And here all that I lacked in "The Reef", I got plenty. Using the example of the main character, the book shows in great detail all the stages of how a person - in general, quite normal - can get into such a commune and not immediately notice that the trap has already closed and there's no way back, and if there is any loophole to the freedom, it will be very hard to find it.
Of course, almost the entire book, I was indignant and scolded: it's still hard to understand how you can fall for this whole brainwashing racket, but ... the reality is such that this story can fall into really anyone. And then everything will depend on how resistant the "victim" is to such creepy manipulations, psychological attacks, and to what extent and how quickly he will allow himself to be broken.
I was, of course, annoyed by the leader of this sect, Oswald, a real psychopath, a pervert, a sadist, who created his own feudal kingdom and raised a whole colony of slaves. But you have to hand it to him - he is a brilliant manipulator and psychologist. His story, too, we will learn in the book in parts. He saw through people, read them, knew what to push and what to hold on to, knew how to charm, was a champion of noodling, attracted by his extraordinary charisma...and then just broke, turning people into almost zombies, making them his puppets. Terrible, of course.
The book came out in the "Craftsman Detective" series. So there will be no detective here. It's a sharp-as-nails novel on a specific topic: sects. The crimes here will be over the top, but don't expect investigations as such.
I really enjoyed this book. Incredibly tense plot, it's hard to tear yourself away, because you are constantly worried about the characters and it becomes just vital to know what the end of all this ugliness. Well, as a message this book, in my opinion, very much in the right key - a sort of survival guide in a cult. Maybe someone will be saved by this story.
This article was sponsored by Kathryn Corliss
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