Welcome to Litsy!

SO good.

A social worker and a movie star are intertwined in this wild desert cult story!

I felt Bartz‘s first book was a mess, but I was entertained by it, so I gave this one a try and it‘s not good. She follows the same formula to isolate the characters and then it‘s a mess in a way it isn‘t entertaining. If there‘s a third book, I will not be reading it.

This was my 1st read of the author‘s & i‘m not sure I would read her again. I listened to the audio & it dragged. It‘s five hours too long imo. It started out really well & I thought the low Goodreads rating was inaccurate but then it kept going on & on. It could‘ve been shortened & held a greater impact. I liked Thea as a protagonist but the plot just got ridiculous at points. I also don‘t like reading about cults so that could be part of it too.

This so-so rating is a reflection of my mindset rather than the storytelling here. I remained curious at this one until a retreat center ended up being a cult. I‘m so over real life cult figures (even completely unrelated to this story) that I find little entertainment in fictional cults.

This book is not for the faint of heart, so heed the content warnings. It also has aspects of kink, so if that bothers you, you might want to stay away. However, if you like books about cults, this one has it all. The FMC sometimes makes decisions based on her psychiatric history that might have you screaming, “Don't do that!“ However, it's a good psychological thriller. 4 stars