The Truth Rundown: Stories of violence, intimidation and control in the world of Scientology

by The Tampa Bay Times, Thomas C. Tobin, Joe Childs

In early 2009, the Tampa Bay Times reached out to Marty Rathbun, a former high-ranking member of the Church of Scientology who had left the church four years earlier, disaffected by the behavior and policies of the church’s leader, David Miscavige. Rathbun told Times reporters the story of his years in Scientology and what led to his leaving. That resulted in interviews with scores of other people in the Scientology world, including former staffers, disaffected parishioners and current church members.
Thus began the Times' ongoing series, "Inside Scientology," which launched with an installment called "The Truth Rundown," published in June of 2009. That initial work — the focus of this book — shed unprecedented light on the internal workings of a secretive church that generates interest around the world.

Genres: Nonfiction

69 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 12, 2015

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This was a very informative article. I'd been following Leah Remini's show and was interested in learning more. I recommend this book.

[Kyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This report on Scientology is an interesting time capsule of well-known defectors and how they're perception of the CoS (Church of Scientology) has changed overtime. Rinder's remarks are the most interesting, because you can really see the difference in his recovery between being out only two years compared with having been out over a decade. All these stories have now been told elsewhere, but these pioneering reports are well worth reading.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the articles interesting and easy to read. I just started to read about the cult of Scientology and thought this would be a good way to lay the foundation. I like that the articles are written from a paper that is in the area. Recommend

[Brandy Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard hitting series that exposed the underbelly of a cult masquerading ad a religion.