Escape: My Lifelong War Against Cults

by Paul Morantz, Hal Lancaster

“Escape—My Lifelong War Against Cults” tells the story of attorney Paul Morantz's nearly 40-year battle with many of this nation's most notorious cults,including the Manson family, the Symbionese Liberation Army, Jim Jones' People's Temple, Synanon, est, the Moonies and Scientology, among others. Morantz has spent most of his career fighting to free victims of often violent sects and to curb abusive cult activities through ground-breaking litigation. His efforts at educating the public and the legal community about the dangers of cults and brainwashing helped change long-held misconceptions and outdated laws. But they also led to deep personal losses and multiple death threats. In the midst of a legal battle with Synanon that consumed nearly a decade of his life, followers of the once-acclaimed drug rehabilitation center turned paranoid cult attempted to murder him by stuffing a four-foot-long rattlesnake in his mailbox.

The book provides the often-alarming details of his involvement with nearly every major cult that has emerged in this country since the 1970s. He tells of a polite young man he befriended while working a summer job after college who was transformed into a murderous Manson henchman. He provides a unique perspective on the still-bewildering story of heiress Patty Hearst's crime spree with the Symbionese Liberation Army. He reveals the little-known details of the custody battle that was one of the driving forces behind the massacre and mass suicides at Jonestown. Morantz also recalls the chilling tale of the Oregon guru whose followers attempted to poison an entire town and the bizarre, science fiction-based origins of Scientology, the longest-running and most successful cult in history.

Genres: Cults, Nonfiction, Memoir, Religion, Cult Classics, Research, True Crime

312 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 2013

About the author

Paul Morantz is an American attorney and investigative journalist. He is known for taking legal cases alleging brainwashing by cults, self-help groups and for sexual misconduct by psychotherapists. He is considered an expert on these subjects. His successful prosecution of Synanon led to an attempt against his life, by means of a rattlesnake.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange book. Morantz describes his work as a lawyer advocating for individuals who have been in some way victimized by cults. It's a fascinating narrative to read, and as a writer, he's pretty good as well. I wondered if the reason it was self-published had to do with wariness of publishers about the litigiousness of some of the groups he writes about. On the other hand, in the conclusion / epilogue he gets into some weird and paranoid theorizing, including a sort of sympathetic reading of Ted Kaczynski.

[Hamid Ali]

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