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Inside the Cult: A Member's Chilling, Exclusive Account of Madness and Depravity in David Koresh's Compound
Inside David Koresh's Cult- Into The Heart Of A Human Hell.
-IF you are one of Koresh's Mighty Men, you will be honored to give him your wife to sleep with.
-IF you are one of his string of child-brides, you will obey your parents and be grateful for his favors and look on while other little girls share him.
-IF you are a follower, you will applaud his decision to have an unstable woman beaten and raped for weeks.
-IF you are anyone living at the compound, you will abide by his bizarre diet rules, listen to his rock music performances, endure his day-long prayer meetings, watch his abuse of children including his own son, undergo his training in weaponry and military tactics- and you will look forward to the ultimate battle with the outside world that he prepares you for with hypnotic eloquence.
-AND above all, you will believe, believe, believe this man who says he is the Son of God.
Only a person who lived this story-forced marriages,rapes,beatings, torturous rules of behavior-could tell it. Marc Breault is such a person. Once Koresh's right-hand man, Breault broke free of that hold to escape and survive. Now he and a reporter who risked his life to interview Koresh inside the compound join to take you on an unforgettable journey into the mind of the man who bears responsibility for the deaths of his followers.
-IF you are one of Koresh's Mighty Men, you will be honored to give him your wife to sleep with.
-IF you are one of his string of child-brides, you will obey your parents and be grateful for his favors and look on while other little girls share him.
-IF you are a follower, you will applaud his decision to have an unstable woman beaten and raped for weeks.
-IF you are anyone living at the compound, you will abide by his bizarre diet rules, listen to his rock music performances, endure his day-long prayer meetings, watch his abuse of children including his own son, undergo his training in weaponry and military tactics- and you will look forward to the ultimate battle with the outside world that he prepares you for with hypnotic eloquence.
-AND above all, you will believe, believe, believe this man who says he is the Son of God.
Only a person who lived this story-forced marriages,rapes,beatings, torturous rules of behavior-could tell it. Marc Breault is such a person. Once Koresh's right-hand man, Breault broke free of that hold to escape and survive. Now he and a reporter who risked his life to interview Koresh inside the compound join to take you on an unforgettable journey into the mind of the man who bears responsibility for the deaths of his followers.
375 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1993
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 4, 2011
This happened such a long time ago that I wondered why I even cared to read about it...being "Old News" like it is...but once I started reading it and got involved in what David Koresh was really all about I was fascinated.
Still..I have trouble understanding how people can fall under the spell of this type of person, I just see right through all the bullshit to what it really is...and that is a manipulative person taking advantage of people who are vulnearable. I know there are many reasons given for why this happens but still....Yeah go ahead and tell me I will go to hell for not believing you when you tell me I will for not following whatever weird rules you want me to follow and I will laugh at you and walk away because I know deep down in my own heart that God would never ask me to do something that is against his true teachings. And I would never accept abuse of children or of any person or animal, even being told I would go to hell or I was going against the teaching of God would not be enough for me to accept that type of behaviour. Manipulative people take the Bible and twist and turn it, use it for evil. I just wish some people weren't so open to this type of distortion in their faith to the extent that they fall into the hands of evil people such as this.
Needless to say, we all know how this story ends...very sadly for those involved and going into this book I already knew that so it spoiled it a bit for me. The story moved along real nicely till the last quarter of the book and then it just stalled out. Once it got down to the showdown in the compound it failed to tell what really happened to everyone who was still inside..I found that to be disappointing. Instead the authors went into quite a deep detail of the history of the church and all it's offshoots. I felt like they were trying to make excuses for the church that they still belong to. I am sorry, but when religion goes to such extremes as this and others do, I for one will walk the other way. I can see right through it.
I guess I have dissected the subject of this book more than the book itself. It was a good read but as stated, I did feel like I was left hanging at the end. Some books just end too sharply and this was one of them.
Still..I have trouble understanding how people can fall under the spell of this type of person, I just see right through all the bullshit to what it really is...and that is a manipulative person taking advantage of people who are vulnearable. I know there are many reasons given for why this happens but still....Yeah go ahead and tell me I will go to hell for not believing you when you tell me I will for not following whatever weird rules you want me to follow and I will laugh at you and walk away because I know deep down in my own heart that God would never ask me to do something that is against his true teachings. And I would never accept abuse of children or of any person or animal, even being told I would go to hell or I was going against the teaching of God would not be enough for me to accept that type of behaviour. Manipulative people take the Bible and twist and turn it, use it for evil. I just wish some people weren't so open to this type of distortion in their faith to the extent that they fall into the hands of evil people such as this.
Needless to say, we all know how this story ends...very sadly for those involved and going into this book I already knew that so it spoiled it a bit for me. The story moved along real nicely till the last quarter of the book and then it just stalled out. Once it got down to the showdown in the compound it failed to tell what really happened to everyone who was still inside..I found that to be disappointing. Instead the authors went into quite a deep detail of the history of the church and all it's offshoots. I felt like they were trying to make excuses for the church that they still belong to. I am sorry, but when religion goes to such extremes as this and others do, I for one will walk the other way. I can see right through it.
I guess I have dissected the subject of this book more than the book itself. It was a good read but as stated, I did feel like I was left hanging at the end. Some books just end too sharply and this was one of them.
August 5, 2022
Easy read if you are getting into reading about cults. I really like that the author Marc Breault has first hand knowledge in this cult, so you do get a lot of information. The situation is very similar that the Manson family in a way and David Koresh was a pretty messed up dude. Also there was a pretty monumental court case that took place in Michigan that shifted the eyes of the public on the Branch Davidians in Waco.
August 16, 2021
I read this book a long time ago.
The most memorable thing was his efforts to get the FBI involved in shutting down the cult. In presenting his case the author managed to compile a vast database on the people in the cult.
The FBI man said "how did you manage to get all that information" ? It made the FBI sound like a bunch of amateurs.
The most memorable thing was his efforts to get the FBI involved in shutting down the cult. In presenting his case the author managed to compile a vast database on the people in the cult.
The FBI man said "how did you manage to get all that information" ? It made the FBI sound like a bunch of amateurs.
January 7, 2021
It seems absolutely insane to me that things like this happen. My heart breaks for the children involved and certain parts were hard to read.
I got a bit bogged down in the last past when they’re coordinating getting to Koresh but overall, a decent enough read.
I got a bit bogged down in the last past when they’re coordinating getting to Koresh but overall, a decent enough read.
June 5, 2022
What a wild ride! Taking place in the late 80s and early 90s, Marc breault (the leaders right hand man), tells the chilling case of Vernon Howell (David Koresh) and how he claimed he was the son of God.
A true story of a horrific cult, this book gives chilling insight into what happened in the following of David koresh.
A true story of a horrific cult, this book gives chilling insight into what happened in the following of David koresh.
December 29, 2017
I wasn't able to finish this book. I just found it boring and not a smooth read. That's unfortunate since I am fascinated by stories about Cults and cult leaders.
November 12, 2020
I like all of the back stories and the 1st person recollection of how this happened.
September 21, 2023
This is a very informative book, but that's pretty much all it is. It slaps you with so many facts, so fast that it's hard to keep up. I do appreciate the photographs within the middle of the book.
July 12, 2014
Very interesting read....life inside a cult is obviously much more scarier then any of us think/know and to finally get to read about something that destroyed so many lives but was just to horrific and graphic to share on the news...well...was an eye opening experience....
Its sad that some of the most memorable links of US History have to include such devastion....
Its sad that some of the most memorable links of US History have to include such devastion....
January 17, 2016
This book starts out much stronger than it finishes. The ending, last 2/3, gets very choppy and then just kind of drops off. Mediocre read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews