Compelling story but a little hard-boiled for my taste. Good on Mr. Brower for doing what he does to stop the FLDS, though. I'd recommend "Under the Banner of Heaven", however, for an introduction to this subject. ( )

Sam Brower knows the law, and how to use the judicial system to help bring down not just Warren Jeffs, but the whole FLDS organization.
Unfortunately, many in the legal system are not afraid to take the money and defend child rape in the name of religious freedom. Twelve years old , raped on a ceremonial temple bed, and not the first or last.
The cruelty that defines this society, and the insane power of Warren Jeffs and his fellow criminals, no longer surprises me. Sam Brower makes it real. ( )

I like seeing the FLDS from the POV of an investigator who spent 7 years on various cases in its midst. But what i really wanted was some insight into what makes someone a crazy cult leader and why people follow along, even when exposed to other ideas.








From June 2011:
Look -- I started a polygamy shelf in goodreads. ( )

So frightfully horrible. Even once the government got involved... or didn't. Sad to hear what one person or small inner group of "leaders" can do to a whole community. This is a must read for my local friends. Even harder was the fact that it was on the front page of the trib today. http://www.sltrib.com/news/3133193-155/meet-lyle-jeffs-the-man-who
( )

3.5 Stars- This book was disturbing and heartbreaking. To imagine that this sort of stomach-turning criminal activity is going on right under the noses of the authorities and nothing is being done to protect these women and children is outrageous. The book was full of a lot of information about the FLDS "church" that I had no idea about even though I lived in Utah for 25 years. I do know that the Attorney General was as inept at doing anything to stop the abuses as his many predecessors. Sam Brower is not an author and the use of repetitive details and the minor choppiness in the flow of the story could have been adjusted by better editing, but he certainly is a trove of information about the miserable lives these poor children are/were living and I suspect continuing to live whether Warren Jeffs is in prison or not. Good, solid, informative read. ( )