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The Children of the Children
Can children born into a cult escape the only world they've ever known? Danny Calvert thinks part of American society is about to crash and burn.
Capitalism, if he's lucky. But when a college friend dies in jail, he joins an apocalyptic religious cult and begins printing the increasingly dark writings of its charismatic leader.
Father Joseph says "unless you become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." But "become like children" means just that. Father Joseph moves his followers to Europe to avoid scrutiny, and controls them such that Danny isn't allowed to marry Deborah, the woman he loves, but is forced to marry someone else. He has children by both women, and they're as determined to escape the world they grew up in as Danny was to escape his own world years ago.
Set during the last years of the Cold War, and inspired by real events, "The Children of the Children" explores the price that people pay for following a leader who demands unquestioning belief, and the price their children pay to break free.
Capitalism, if he's lucky. But when a college friend dies in jail, he joins an apocalyptic religious cult and begins printing the increasingly dark writings of its charismatic leader.
Father Joseph says "unless you become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." But "become like children" means just that. Father Joseph moves his followers to Europe to avoid scrutiny, and controls them such that Danny isn't allowed to marry Deborah, the woman he loves, but is forced to marry someone else. He has children by both women, and they're as determined to escape the world they grew up in as Danny was to escape his own world years ago.
Set during the last years of the Cold War, and inspired by real events, "The Children of the Children" explores the price that people pay for following a leader who demands unquestioning belief, and the price their children pay to break free.
- GenresAudiobook
318 pages, ebook
Published September 2, 2025
13 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 8, 2025
ARC for review. To be published September 2, 2025.
3.5 stars
The horrible Father Joseph leads a large, multi-national cult which is clearly based on the very real Children of God movement (you know, the “flirty fishing” ones and yes, it DID make me feel all slimy to type that, thanks.) The cult is portrayed as such a terrible place you can’t help but wonder how one finds any hope there and why adults would allow their children to be brought up within it, but I guess there’s just no arguing with true believers and the Cold War. Ah, the 70s.
The book follows Danny and his family, including his own young son as they both come to their own terms with life within the strictures of the cult. There are far too many characters, and several times I just had to push on, despite not quite knowing whom was being spoken about. It’s just all so bleak, even for the chosen ones. I do love a good cult book, though, so I liked it.
3.5 stars
The horrible Father Joseph leads a large, multi-national cult which is clearly based on the very real Children of God movement (you know, the “flirty fishing” ones and yes, it DID make me feel all slimy to type that, thanks.) The cult is portrayed as such a terrible place you can’t help but wonder how one finds any hope there and why adults would allow their children to be brought up within it, but I guess there’s just no arguing with true believers and the Cold War. Ah, the 70s.
The book follows Danny and his family, including his own young son as they both come to their own terms with life within the strictures of the cult. There are far too many characters, and several times I just had to push on, despite not quite knowing whom was being spoken about. It’s just all so bleak, even for the chosen ones. I do love a good cult book, though, so I liked it.
August 20, 2025
4,5/5 🌟
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
I have to say the harsh topics made reading this sometimes hard. It has made me think and reflect on my own ideals of how cults work and made me even more convinced that regardless of how strongly-minded I am, no one is able to not being manipulated into anything. The harsher topics made me have to take some breaks of it, and even then, I still couldn't stop thinking about the book. It made me want to know more and more about the inspiration of the story, the history behind it, and knowing it's based on true events of the author sent a chill through my spine. I also liked the questions in the end.
I don't know if it's for all publics, but with a good guidance and with someone to debate what is happening, it can be very interesting for any ages (older than 15, most likely) to read.
Fully recommendable for anyone who likes harsher topics in books!
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
I have to say the harsh topics made reading this sometimes hard. It has made me think and reflect on my own ideals of how cults work and made me even more convinced that regardless of how strongly-minded I am, no one is able to not being manipulated into anything. The harsher topics made me have to take some breaks of it, and even then, I still couldn't stop thinking about the book. It made me want to know more and more about the inspiration of the story, the history behind it, and knowing it's based on true events of the author sent a chill through my spine. I also liked the questions in the end.
I don't know if it's for all publics, but with a good guidance and with someone to debate what is happening, it can be very interesting for any ages (older than 15, most likely) to read.
Fully recommendable for anyone who likes harsher topics in books!
August 23, 2025
I wasn’t able to finish this book because I really felt unconfortable with all the bible verses. We are confronted with the awful father Joseph and all his absurd ideas of what people should do in his cult. The writing is good and the book is interesting. However, it wasn’t for me, I couldn’t finish it, because of all the bible verses that are present, namely at the beginning of each chapter. I understand why they are there, but it just got tiresome.
Thank you netgalley for the early copy.
Thank you netgalley for the early copy.
September 22, 2025
The Children of the Children by Robin McMillion is a haunting and deeply layered religious-historical novel that follows the echoes of one young man’s desperate search for purpose, redemption, and belonging. It starts with a cliffhanger: he’s about to die as the lights of an oncoming truck are rushing toward him but at the last second, the truck swerves, and life, strangely, continues. Why?
At the heart of this story is Danny Calvert (who later goes by Jacob), a college dropout wandering through 1969 Austin, a period that adds rich historical and cultural texture to the story. He is on academic probation; he is failing classes and he's avoiding assignments like the history term paper. A heavy sense of guilt is building in him for dragging others down especially Joe Del, the scholarship athlete who dies by suicide in jail. When we meet him, he’s driving too fast down a twisting Texas road, haunted by threats and disappointment as well as a drug debt hanging over his head. He nearly dies in a car crash but somehow miraculously survives. The blinding lights coming at him, the weightlessness and the feeling that his soul was about to be ripped from his body have been written with such intense clarity that you will find yourself holding your breath for a full page.
And from there, things only grow more unsettling. That crash is the hinge of the book, the place where his life could go one of two ways. Unexpectedly, he ends up climbing into a van with strangers, people who speak in Bible verses and smile and who say things like "Jesus loves you" and actually, somehow, mean it. They call themselves "The Fishermen," and they don’t ask for much, not at first, just that you come with them and listen, maybe stay a while and perhaps give up your name and take another one. For Danny, this is a kind of a relief after so much chaos in his life. However, what he doesn't realize is that when you’re totally disoriented, when you’ve nearly died and can’t explain why you didn’t, even surrender can look a lot like salvation until one day, it isn’t.
As I picked up the book, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting into and to be fair, the opening pages felt almost too dramatic to me at first. It was as if I was watching some intense Cold War thriller unfold with this teenager trying to convince an embassy worker in Prague that he’s American even though he didn't have anything that would actually prove his claim. It was like a chill ran through the prose and suddenly I realized this story wasn’t going to be about governments, spies or even passports, but about something much more intimate and disturbing. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could follow Danny into that van, because I’ve read enough books about cults and communes to know where these stories usually go. But thanks to McMillion's brilliance, I quickly understood why Danny chose to stay, why he listened and why him as a lost boy would cling to a belief system that, while extreme, insular and sometimes frightening, also offered him the first true sense of belonging he had ever felt. One moment that really stayed with me was when he accepted his new name as well as the relief that washed over him. This was a moment that loudly reminded me that when someone finally says, “You’re loved,” and you’ve been aching for it your whole life, even the sharp edges of that love can feel like grace.
This book manages to say a lot without shouting, about the systems that fail us such as schools that care more about performance than people, governments at war with their own consciences and churches so tangled in power they forget about mercy. It never feels preachy, just deeply raw, like people telling you the truth, even when they’re not sure they believe it themselves. Although the story has a lot of characters, sometimes almost too many to keep straight, its emotional current will constantly pull you back. You may not remember every name, but you won't forget that ache of searching, the way belief can both anchor and drown, and how one man’s desperate need to be good can sometimes blind him to what goodness even is.
Quill says: If you’ve ever wrestled with belief in religion, in revolution, in your family or in yourself, this book will probably unsettle you and maybe comfort you at the same time. It asks some very real, very hard questions such as how far you would go to find meaning and what you would be willing to give up for emotional safety, as well as whether you would consider love as genuine even if it comes with conditions. The Children of the Children by Robin McMillion will stay with you like a hymn you heard as a child but didn’t understand until you were older and broken and finally quiet enough to listen. It is perfect for readers who love character-driven stories about identity, faith, and the quiet ways people lose and eventually find themselves.
At the heart of this story is Danny Calvert (who later goes by Jacob), a college dropout wandering through 1969 Austin, a period that adds rich historical and cultural texture to the story. He is on academic probation; he is failing classes and he's avoiding assignments like the history term paper. A heavy sense of guilt is building in him for dragging others down especially Joe Del, the scholarship athlete who dies by suicide in jail. When we meet him, he’s driving too fast down a twisting Texas road, haunted by threats and disappointment as well as a drug debt hanging over his head. He nearly dies in a car crash but somehow miraculously survives. The blinding lights coming at him, the weightlessness and the feeling that his soul was about to be ripped from his body have been written with such intense clarity that you will find yourself holding your breath for a full page.
And from there, things only grow more unsettling. That crash is the hinge of the book, the place where his life could go one of two ways. Unexpectedly, he ends up climbing into a van with strangers, people who speak in Bible verses and smile and who say things like "Jesus loves you" and actually, somehow, mean it. They call themselves "The Fishermen," and they don’t ask for much, not at first, just that you come with them and listen, maybe stay a while and perhaps give up your name and take another one. For Danny, this is a kind of a relief after so much chaos in his life. However, what he doesn't realize is that when you’re totally disoriented, when you’ve nearly died and can’t explain why you didn’t, even surrender can look a lot like salvation until one day, it isn’t.
As I picked up the book, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting into and to be fair, the opening pages felt almost too dramatic to me at first. It was as if I was watching some intense Cold War thriller unfold with this teenager trying to convince an embassy worker in Prague that he’s American even though he didn't have anything that would actually prove his claim. It was like a chill ran through the prose and suddenly I realized this story wasn’t going to be about governments, spies or even passports, but about something much more intimate and disturbing. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could follow Danny into that van, because I’ve read enough books about cults and communes to know where these stories usually go. But thanks to McMillion's brilliance, I quickly understood why Danny chose to stay, why he listened and why him as a lost boy would cling to a belief system that, while extreme, insular and sometimes frightening, also offered him the first true sense of belonging he had ever felt. One moment that really stayed with me was when he accepted his new name as well as the relief that washed over him. This was a moment that loudly reminded me that when someone finally says, “You’re loved,” and you’ve been aching for it your whole life, even the sharp edges of that love can feel like grace.
This book manages to say a lot without shouting, about the systems that fail us such as schools that care more about performance than people, governments at war with their own consciences and churches so tangled in power they forget about mercy. It never feels preachy, just deeply raw, like people telling you the truth, even when they’re not sure they believe it themselves. Although the story has a lot of characters, sometimes almost too many to keep straight, its emotional current will constantly pull you back. You may not remember every name, but you won't forget that ache of searching, the way belief can both anchor and drown, and how one man’s desperate need to be good can sometimes blind him to what goodness even is.
Quill says: If you’ve ever wrestled with belief in religion, in revolution, in your family or in yourself, this book will probably unsettle you and maybe comfort you at the same time. It asks some very real, very hard questions such as how far you would go to find meaning and what you would be willing to give up for emotional safety, as well as whether you would consider love as genuine even if it comes with conditions. The Children of the Children by Robin McMillion will stay with you like a hymn you heard as a child but didn’t understand until you were older and broken and finally quiet enough to listen. It is perfect for readers who love character-driven stories about identity, faith, and the quiet ways people lose and eventually find themselves.
September 3, 2025
The novel begins in Prague in 1989, just as the communist world is unraveling. A boy without a country insists he is American, though he has never set foot on U.S. soil. From there, the story peels back through decades to reveal the world of the Fishermen, a cult that swept up young seekers during the Vietnam War era and carried their children across borders and generations. We meet Danny Calvert, later known as Jacob, and trace his fall into the group’s grip. Through family ties, betrayals, faith, and disillusionment, the novel lays bare the long shadow of belief systems built on control, secrecy, and survival. It is as much a story about America’s restless search for meaning as it is about the people trapped within one man’s vision.
Reading this book pulled me into an emotional whirlwind. The writing has a plainness that makes the events feel raw and real. The characters stumble into mistakes, get swept up in causes, and try desperately to make sense of their lives. At times, the prose feels almost documentary-like, which adds to the authenticity. But what struck me hardest were the emotional beats. The despair of losing friends, the pull of a community that feels like love until it is revealed as control. The book made me angry and sad, sometimes within the same page. I found myself wanting to shout at the characters to run, while also understanding why they stayed.
The ideas in the book stirred up a lot for me. It’s about more than just a cult. It’s about how easily people can be convinced to give up their freedom for belonging. It asks how much of ourselves we’re willing to sacrifice for an answer to our confusion. The story lingers on faith, not just religious faith but faith in movements, in leaders, in utopias. And it questions whether that hunger for truth and certainty is ever really satisfied. The way the children carry the weight of their parents’ choices made me think about inheritance, not of money or property, but of wounds and beliefs
Reading this book pulled me into an emotional whirlwind. The writing has a plainness that makes the events feel raw and real. The characters stumble into mistakes, get swept up in causes, and try desperately to make sense of their lives. At times, the prose feels almost documentary-like, which adds to the authenticity. But what struck me hardest were the emotional beats. The despair of losing friends, the pull of a community that feels like love until it is revealed as control. The book made me angry and sad, sometimes within the same page. I found myself wanting to shout at the characters to run, while also understanding why they stayed.
The ideas in the book stirred up a lot for me. It’s about more than just a cult. It’s about how easily people can be convinced to give up their freedom for belonging. It asks how much of ourselves we’re willing to sacrifice for an answer to our confusion. The story lingers on faith, not just religious faith but faith in movements, in leaders, in utopias. And it questions whether that hunger for truth and certainty is ever really satisfied. The way the children carry the weight of their parents’ choices made me think about inheritance, not of money or property, but of wounds and beliefs
August 19, 2025
Children of the Children is about a man struggling with life, who by chance, finds himself involved in a cult. He sees them for who they are, but they’re accepting. And unlike his own life, life with them is easy. He becomes fascinated with the leader who preaches to his follows to do good in the name of God, and the man becomes an outstanding member of this cult. When they have some trouble with the families of its members and the law, they move to Texas, then to Europe, where they seemingly can’t be touched and are free to do as they please. The leader pairs its members up to marry, so the group can multiply, creating a new generation. Kids who beg and sell things on the street make more money than adults. The leader, who now has too much power over his followers, behaves in an ungodly way. These children seem to have a greater understanding that the actions of the cult are the opposite of how any God would want people to behave, but they’ve been secluded all their lives, don’t know the language of the country they’re in, and don’t know anyone outside the cult.
An incredible story! It was hard to put this book down knowing this sort of thing actually happens. I wanted the members to realize that what they were doing was wrong, so this kept me reading. The author does a great job of showing how the main character slowly gets sucked into this cult to where it’s kind of understandable. And it’s almost shocking how the leader justifies to his members that they should follow his preachings, even if it's questionable. The book deals with difficult subjects and is a little heavy on exposition about 2/3s of the way through, where I think more dialogue would help, but overall it’s an excellent read!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
An incredible story! It was hard to put this book down knowing this sort of thing actually happens. I wanted the members to realize that what they were doing was wrong, so this kept me reading. The author does a great job of showing how the main character slowly gets sucked into this cult to where it’s kind of understandable. And it’s almost shocking how the leader justifies to his members that they should follow his preachings, even if it's questionable. The book deals with difficult subjects and is a little heavy on exposition about 2/3s of the way through, where I think more dialogue would help, but overall it’s an excellent read!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 31, 2025
What stood out most to me was how believable every character felt. The children’s struggle to escape mirrors Danny’s earlier journey in such a poetic, painful way. The story doesn’t sensationalize cult life, it shows the quiet horror of control and the courage it takes to break free. A powerful read, though emotionally heavy at times.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews