Book Review: The Righteous by Michael Wallace

I highly recommend this very gripping thriller exposing horrors of a religious cult.

The Righteous  by Michael Wallace

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 332 KB
• Publisher: Balsalom Publishing (February 1, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004LX0B9M

     Price: Kindle $2.99 (good bargain!)
     Genre: Thriller

See My Rating here

Product Description

Medical student Jacob Christianson is sent by church elders to investigate a murder within the polygamist enclave of Blister Creek, Utah. He brings his sister Eliza, who at seventeen, must choose a husband from three old men jostling for power within the church hierarchy.

Jacob discovers that the murdered woman has been killed in accordance with secret blood oaths taken within the polygamist temple. Together with his sister, he uncovers a plot to overthrow the church leadership, with murders that reach beyond the community and into the “gentile” world.

Review:  I found this book to be really well written and the plot gripping.

The author portrays great detail about the traditions and rituals of the polygamist sects within the Morman church. There are conflicting thoughts and emotions presented through the characters relating to the church community as well as the horrors that exist when members twist the faith into a religious cult.

Jacob, as a medical student, has some secular exposure beyond the community he has been raised in. Although he honors his church and elder’s directives he is also mindful of the world’s authority outside that church community.  He is able to use his medical skills in forensic observances to help his investigation.  However he has to walk a fine line to balance the rights, rituals and protective forces in the church against exposing the evils that he discovers.  He is faced with lies and resistance as he begins the investigation. Then as he proceeds with danger around him, he has to deal with the added pressure from his father and others to help his sister choose (or choose for her) a husband. 

Eliza is a very bright young woman who respects her church family but wants more than to be a brood mare.  She is highly sought after as a healthy and intelligent wife. However, she is unhappy being presented with the choice of three not very desirable prospects. Eliza has one brother who is already excommunicated by the church and she misses him and doesn't fully understand the lack of mercy and forgiveness towards him. The pressures on her and the unhappiness she sees stir her with thoughts of rebellion.

In the Mormon community presented by this author some wonderful rules of duty and obedience have become twisted up by evil men. The elders have isolated themselves to the point that they seem to want blind obedience without considerations to mercy or compassion for human mistakes and feelings. They reject youths for "natural" sins yet they do not see the bigger evil and corruption in their midst. The elders would rather cover up a murder than have outside authorities question or interfere with their practices.

The tension builds and builds as Jacob and Eliza find more clues to bigger problems in the community that appear to have led to the murder.  The last third of the book is definite nonstop page turner quality.  This book is not only an excellent thriller, but it causes one to think about the emotions and effects involved in living in such a restrictive community.

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I received this book from the author for an honest and unbiased review.