 |
At first, no one knew what was happening to Jun Chan as he began cutting himself off from everything he once valued in his life. In a short span of time, he broke off his relationship with his girlfriend, backed away from his friends, and became estranged from his mother, Fang, and his sister Jade. They couldn't understand that he was eschewing the normal to attain enlightenment. He had discovered the teachings of spiritual leader Lev Nazarov and believed further reading and study were the path to joining the community Nazarov presided over. The day Jun chose to take his life left a lasting hurt upon Jade's heart that refused to abate. Jun's death was followed by Fang's suicide, which left Jade orphaned and unmoored in a cruel world at age ten. By the time she turned eighteen, Jade decided to confront her past and examine The Black Book her brother left so she could try to understand his actions.
As she reads about his tortured spiritual journey, Jade learns about Lev Nazarov and "The Exodus Initiative." After combing through a website related to Nazarov's teachings and reading through many comments, she concludes that her brother had been taken in by a cult leader and took his own life because he felt he failed to live up to Nazarov's expectations. Jade wants justice for Jun and elects to infiltrate the community known as "Levsville." Her arrival is not greeted with welcome, but with skepticism.
Mirella grants Jade entrance but is also quick to call out Lev's egocentric grandiosity and appears to be warning Jade from getting too taken with the group. Jade's investigation gets complicated as she grows closer to Mirella while also coming to the attention of Lev and his sister. When Lev speaks of "Serenity," his disciples are euphoric about the possibilities, yet when Jade explores a little further, she sees how it is nothing more than a chemical cocktail with potentially lethal consequences. Jade intended to expose those who enabled her brother's death, but now she is enmeshed in something deeper and darker than she could ever imagine.
The power of belief and the ability of a charismatic but megalomaniacal leader to capitalize on suggestible minds form the crux of this dramatic and compelling novel. Jun Chan died in his search for insight, an obsessive quest which drove him to forsake the meaningful people in his life. The parallels to real-life cult groups and their members' disconnection from family and sometimes reality are unmistakable and portrayed with gravity and authenticity. Coming to terms with the tragedy that destroyed her family fuels Jade's increasing preoccupation with bringing down Lev's cult, yet her vulnerability allows her to get drawn further into the group.
Jade is a headstrong yet broken protagonist, intelligent enough to discern what is going on once she reaches Lev's community, yet too callow to make tough decisions. Lev is the captivating head of a pseudo-religious movement, a man whose moods can shift from euphoric to mercurial in an instant. Lev's personality recalls the Jim Jones/Carlos Castaneda types who feed on their followers' devotion yet often show little regard for their well-being. The plot moves with a steady rhythm, picking up toward the end as the narrative heads to a heart-stopping denouement. This exceptional novel grapples with the damage wrought by cult-like groups and how their leaders exploit their followers' hearts and minds.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review