This site contains several hundred book reviews published by International Cultic Studies Association since 1985.
To access older book reviews, click on the down arrow next to "Book Reviews" in the top navigation.
When Religion Hurts You: Healing from Religious Trauma and the Impact of High-Control Religion
By Laura Anderson
Brazos Press. 2023. 240 pages.
Reviewed by Doug Duncan
If I Could Turn Back Time: Reflections of Former Cult Members
International Cultic Studies Association. 2023. 152 pages.
Reviewed by Nori Muster
Finding Miracles: Escape from a Cult
By Andrew LeCompte
Connections Press. 2024. 255 pages.
Reviewed by Ron Burks
I AM REVEALED: Behind the Ashram Door
By Robin Barbosa
Full Court Press. 2016. 280 pages.
Reviewed by Joseph Szimhart
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us
by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
Random House. 2023. 304 pages.
Reviewed by Nori Muster
How Religion Evolved: And Why It Endures
By Robin Dunbar
Penguin Books. 2022. 356 pages.
Reviewed by Joe Szimhart
By Barton Allen Stewart
Great Whale Books. 2024. 272 pages.
Reviewed by Esther Friedman
Paradise Undone: A Novel of Jonestown
By Annie Dawid1
Inkspot Publishing, 2023. ISBN: 978-1-916708-02-0 (2023, paperback, US, $15.99; 978-1-916708-00-6 (paperback, ex-US); 978-1-916708-01-3, eBook; Kindle (ASIN: B0CKHSZX7X), $6.99). 292 pages.
Reviewed by Joe Szimhart
Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International
By Charlene Edge
New Wings Press, LLC, 2017. ISBN-10: 0997874708; ISBN-13: 978-0997874709. Paperback, 474 pages, $24.95. Kindle, $8.49. Amazon.com
Reviewed by Bart Stewart
The Bad Cadet: Growing up in the Church of Scientology’s Sea Organization
By Katherine Spallino
Independently published, 2023. ISBN: 979-8-9878162-1-9. Paperback, 334 pages, $14.99, Kindle $9.99, Amazon.com
Reviewed by Joe Szimhart
Respectful, Authentic and Free Relationships
Las Relaciones Respetuosas, Auténticas y Libres
By José Fernández-Aguado
Célebre Editorial, 2021. ISBN-10: 8412362098; ISBN-13: 978-8412362091.Paperback, Spanish language only, 306 pages, €16.15, Alibris.es
Reviewed by J. Paul Lennon
by Gillie Jenkinson
Routledge, 2023. ISBN-10 1032305878; ISBN-13: 978-1032305875. Paperback,$34.95 list price, Kindle, $19.22. Amazon.com
Reviewed by Nori Muster
Narrated by Peter Dinklage, produced by Citizen Jones/Estuary Films. Netflix release July 28, 2023.
Reviewed by Joseph Szimhart
Misguided: My Jesus Freak Life in a Doomsday Cult
Reviewed by Nori Muster
New Star Books, 2023. ISBN-10: 1554202051, ISBN-13: 978-1554202058. Paperback, 320 pages, $21.00, Amazon.com
by Guinevere Turner
Reviewed by Bart Stewart
Crown Publishing, 2023. ISBN-10: 0593237595; ISBN-13: 978-0593237595. Hardcover, $28.00 list price. Kindle, $13.99, Amazon.com
by Carrie Buddington
Reviewed by Ron Burks, MA, MDiv, PhD
CBuddington. 2023. ISBN-13: 979-8987822111. Paperback 277 pages, $15 (Kindle, $9.99) Amazon.com
by Esther Friedman
Reviewed by Lorna Goldberg, LCSW, PsyA
GSR Healing Arts, 2023. ISBN-13: 979-8986231501. Paperback, 195 pages, $15.95. (Kindle, $9.99), Amazon.com.
Cult Trip: Inside the world of coercion and control
by Anke Richter
Reviewed by Joseph Szimhart
HarperCollins Publishers, 2023. ISBN: 978-1775492344, ISBN 10: 1775492346, ebook: $10.99, paperback 352 pages.
Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church
by Diane Langberg
Reviewed by Doug Duncan
Brazos Press, 2020, ISBN-10: 1587434385; ISBN-13: 978-1587434389, Paperback, 224 pages, $12.79 (Kindle, $12.15; also available as an Audiobook), Amazon.com
The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune
by Alexander Stille
Reviewed by Joe Szimhart
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023. ISBN-10: 0374600392, ISBN-13: 978-600396 Paperback, 420 pages (uncorrected proof), Hardcover, 432 pages, $30 (Kindle $14.99), Amazon.