Before I begin the review, a small note to Ms. Earsman: No, as much as you would like to believe otherwise by the end of the review, I am not, nor have ever been, a Freemason (or the female equivalent). I was born and raised in the Free Methodist Christian denomination. While Masonry was prevalent in the Methodist church in the Americas when my tradition was excommunicated from the Methodist church, one of the “Frees” of Free Methodism is freedom from secret societies, specifically the Freemasons.

Eliza Earsman is Scottish-born and raised. After a difficult childhood, she married and had two daughters of her own. Her marriage, as does many, fell apart, and she battled depression for a few years. But it wasn’t until her 40th year that things began happening.

Ms. Earsman grew up and lived in Dumfries, Scotland, home of the headquarters of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Her family, for generations, had kept themselves from the influences of and intermarrying into Freemasonry, despite it being everywhere around them. The author’s great-grandfather had prophesied (and, the author claims, had left stipulations in his will and testament to the effect) that the fourth generation of his female line would bring about the end of Freemasonry, and should be given her inheritance in her 40th year.

After Ms. Earsman turned 40, she began to see harassment from the old families in Dumfries. The local Masonic lodge, apparently, also knew of the prophecy. Thus, with a few improper questions at her job in a nursery started Ms. Earsman on a journey that would take her around the physical and spiritual world.

I will not comment on my opinion of the veracity of Ms. Earsman’s statements. That is up to the reader to decide. My review is specifically based on the quality of the book as a piece of non-fiction. However, there are a few things that I found that could have been done better.

While some information has been extensively documented (to such an extent to list the home addresses of some of the Masonic people she has encountered), some information is missing. While she hints that the bombing of Pan Am 103 was Masonic in origin, other than mentioning that the local chapter had opened its doors to some of the investigators, no proof was given. Ms. Earsman is quite adamant that the Dumfries Masonic lodge stole the inheritance from her great-grandfather, but offers no proof. There is no mention of how much was stolen, the language of the will, or even how the money might have been stolen.

In the preface and even on the cover, Ms. Earsman claims that the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry has tried to kill her to silence her. However, I only found two instances of her life being in danger. One of these was an attempted suicide during her battle with depression, and another instance when she was living on the streets of London. The author even states that neither of these were because of Masonic influence. The author was institutionalized at one point, but there were no attempts made on her life mentioned.

I found the story extremely disjointed. There are a great many facts which—while I understand what the author was trying to do, giving her story more credence—are extraneous and unneeded. If they had to be included, a better place would be in footnotes rather than in the text. The events described in the book do not always run in order, or make a difference in the narrative.

Ms. Earsman has also written a movie script as a companion to the book, and quotes from the script three times in the book. Each of these times, I found, added nothing to the narrative and don’t make much sense even if they did.

Do secret societies exist? Of course; and some of them are less secret than others. In our Western world, is it less what you know and who you know? I do not think that is any question. Does Ms. Earsman make convincing arguments about the Freemasons waging war on the public in general and her in particular? I will let the reader decide, but in my opinion, the narrative would only benefit from a good work-over by a professional editor to help with continuity.