Sunday Telegraph: The perfect big read for summer

The perfect big read for summer

Press » Sunday Telegraph » 2008-01-06

By Lucy Clark

Glamour, sex, conflict, betrayal, romance, characters to love and hate and a big 500 pages -- are there any more prerequisites for the summer blockbuster?

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JESUS FREAKS

Don Lattin (HarperCollins, $39.99)

Through the story of a young man named Ricky Rodriguez, journalist Lattin tells the extraordinary greater story of The Family (also known as the Children of God), an extreme Christian cult that flourished under the direction of "prophet" David Berg.

Rodriguez was one of 13,000 children allegedly born into The Family between 1971 and 2001.

From a young age, he was sexually abused at the hands of his "family" and, in adulthood, he wanted to hunt and kill as many of his abusers as possible.

Lattin is a thorough researcher who lays out the facts and urges everyone to question those who claim to speak in the name of God.

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