Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults

Today's nonfiction post is on Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults by Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr. It is 411 pages long and is published by Hanover Square press. The cover is a faded out painting of what looks like a field with the title dominating the cover of the book. The intended reader is someone who's interested in true crime, religious cults, and the thin line where they cross. There is foul language, descriptions of sexual abuse and assault, and far too much violence in this book. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book-  An explosive investigation into the Word of Faith Fellowship, a secretive Evangelical cult whose charismatic female leader is a master of manipulation. 

In 1979, Jane Whaley, a fiery preacher with a thick Southern drawl, attracted a small group of followers- twenty-two men and women drawn in by her passion and her promise that through prayer and deliverance, they could turn their lives around.

In the years since, Whaley’s following has expanded to include thousands of congregants across three continents. In the eyes of her followers, she's a prophet- to disobey her means eternal damnation. It could also mean hours of physical abuse. The control she exerts is absolute: she decides what her followers study, where they work, whom they can marry- even when they can have sex.

Broken Faith is the meticulously reported story of a singular female cult leader, a terrifying portrait of Life inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, and the harrowing account of one family who escaped after two decades. Based on hundreds of interviews, secretly recorded conversations, and thousands of pages of documents, Broken Faith offers both a cautionary tale and a deeply emotional examination of Faith, resilience, and family. It's the story of an entire community's descent into darkness- and for some, the winding journey back to the light. 

Review-  This is a very difficult book to read because of content not writing style. As I was reading it I had to read it one chapter at a time and then take a break. It is difficult and heartbreaking to read the stories of the survivors of this cult. Weiss and Mohr do a wonderful job of reporting the survivors' stories, with huge parts of it being told directly from them to the reader. We follow Jane Whaley from the wife of a preacher to being the head of a cult that goes across continents and has thousands of members. This book shows how easy it is to be taken into a cult and then be unable to leave when you discover what exactly you have been involved in. I do recommend this book, but I do also caution the reader. It is difficult to read, it discusses frankly difficult topics, and unfortunately at the end the villains are still free. But if you are interested in cults you should give this book a look.

 I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.