When twenty one year old Cassy heads off to New Zealand with her boyfriend Hamish, her family never dream that she won't come back. After ditching the smug Hamish by the side of a road, she hitches a ride with a group of people heading back to their farming collective, named Gethsemane. It seems innocent at first, and the friendly community convince her to stay for a few days...
This book wrings out the tension from the first page. We know from the beginning that something terrible has happened at Gethsemane. There are extracts from a fictional textbook: 'The Cult Leader's Manual', and we know that Cassy has been gone for years. We see the story told from two main points of view: that of Cassy, following her time at Gethsemane, and her mother Diana. It is a literal page turner, and is never too far fetched, much like the approach of the charismatic Justin, Gethsemane's founder. I felt that, even when Cassy is totally under the control of others, I understood why she would feel that it was for the best of the group, and why that was so important to her.
This book definitely lives up to its billing as 'unputdownable'.
This book wrings out the tension from the first page. We know from the beginning that something terrible has happened at Gethsemane. There are extracts from a fictional textbook: 'The Cult Leader's Manual', and we know that Cassy has been gone for years. We see the story told from two main points of view: that of Cassy, following her time at Gethsemane, and her mother Diana. It is a literal page turner, and is never too far fetched, much like the approach of the charismatic Justin, Gethsemane's founder. I felt that, even when Cassy is totally under the control of others, I understood why she would feel that it was for the best of the group, and why that was so important to her.
This book definitely lives up to its billing as 'unputdownable'.