Review: Genteel readers might want to sit this one out
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 08 15, 2012
After serious contemplation, my opinion is that sensitive readers may want to take a pass on this uneven and, in places, somewhat unpleasant book.Part of the problem is the subject matter, part is the uneven writing, and part is the character of Homicide Inspector John Richetti, a highly-stressed hard-drinking policeman who was caught up in the Jonestown cult as a child in the `70s -- the one where 900 people drank the Kool-Aid.At times, Richetti is so dimwitted and irresponsible that even his undercover partner calls him a "stupid bastard." Here's one example: He gives seven sleeping pills -- seven! -- to a cult member not used to taking them (this isn't a bad guy) and the person almost doesn't wake up. Here's another: Despite being specifically warned not to tell the truth because admitting personal weaknesses lets the cult get their hooks into you, he openly admits his involvement at Jamestown. He always knows best and he's always wrong.In fact, neither of the investigators, Richetti or Marilyn Michaelsen, the police department psychologist who accompanies him under cover, is up to the task -- the supremely dangerous job of infiltrating the Earthbound cult and bringing two suspected murderers to justice. But at least Michaelsen has some brains and self control. Richetti is a fool.But here's the crux of it.If you're touchy about abusive situations involving children or violent rape or coercive acts involving feces (I'm sorry, there's just no oblique way to say it), you should really consider giving this book a wide berth. At the part about forced coprophagia about two-thirds of the way in -- hey, you're going to have to look it up, I'm not defining it -- I almost put the book down in disgust. And at the end, I'm not so sure I shouldn't have stopped there. Your tolerance for this kind of writing may vary, of course.