The Prophet Motive [Kindle Edition]

Note: This review was originally published at Red Adept Reviews on June 23, 2011.

Overall: 5 stars

Plot/Storyline: 5 stars

Having devoured two earlier novels by Eric Christopherson, I knew he could crank out superb suspense thrillers, so I downloaded The Prophet Motive, expecting another good one. The Prophet Motive did not have quite the heart-pounding suspense of Frame-Up or the intense mystery of Crack-Up, but it was very close.

The story involved a cult called "Earthbound," which was one of those "save the earth" groups. The leader, L. Rob Piper, was known to his followers as "The Wizard," due to his apparently supernatural powers. After the suicide death of a former Earthbound member, San Francisco cop John Richetti and police psychologist Marilyn Michaelsen infiltrated the cult to find out what was going on.

The first couple of pages hooked me, as a good crime story should. From there, the suspense ratcheted up as Richetti and Michaelsen gradually learned about the cult and its operations, and built a criminal case against its leader. They were in danger of being found out, but the bigger danger was being brainwashed by the cult's very effective indoctrination and mind control methods.

The story had some fascinating enactments of the mind control techniques that many cults use to recruit members and gain their unconditional loyalty to the cult and its leader. In addition, The Wizard used neural implants to control members' behavior. Some of the neuro-technology sounded like science fiction, but I looked it up, and it's based on fact. Scary stuff, since it can be used for both good and evil purposes.

Characters: 5 stars

John Richetti and Marilyn Michaelsen were good characters. They weren't naturally attracted to each other, but the potential for romance was always there. Richetti and his parents had been members of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple, and the nightmare memories of that experience motivated Richetti to bring down The Wizard before another Jonestown-like mass suicide could occur.

L. Rob Piper, aka The Wizard, was - as many cult leaders are - highly charismatic, with powers that appeared to be supernatural. Richetti and Michaelson knew they would have to resist his Svengali-like attraction, or their undercover mission was doomed to fail. Piper invoked memories of the infamous Jim Jones, but he had developed advanced mind control techniques that Jones could only dream of.

Writing style: 5 stars

The author knows how to write a fast-paced, suspenseful crime drama. Richetti and Michaelson were always on the verge of being exposed as cops, but their steady nerves held, even after it became clear that The Wizard was more than just an environmental zealot, and that he would stop at nothing to preserve his kingdom.

The vivid flashbacks of Richetti's life as a child in the Peoples Temple compound in Guyana were very effective in building a growing sense of horror at where the story could go.

Christopherson's writing was descriptive without being overly verbose, and dialogues were realistic. There were a few scenes that were quite violent.

Editing: 4 3/4 stars

I found only a handful of typos and grammatical errors, and the Kindle formatting was very good.

The Prophet Motive is novel-length with 7,808 Kindle locations, which included excerpts from the author's other novels Frame-Up and Crack-Up.

I'm never one to do spoiler reviews. I liked the character development and insight into their own personal fragility. The plot was good. It was predictable but it was fun. This author (also wrote Crack Up, which I've read) is very in touch with his dark side. It's a fun foray into what could happen without having to undergo it yourself. There were definitely some elements that happened that weren't expected. It's an easy read and if you like psycho-thrillers then get this and read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had hard time keeping myself away from reading this book. Once I started, I couldn't stop. The character development was very well done. I became interested in reading this book for a couple of reasons. One was geographic setting and the author did not disappoint. As a frequent visitor to the San Francisco Bay Area, I was impressed with Christopherson's descriptions of various locations which made the story a pleasant read for myself as I was able to visualize key areas during the plot development. I'm also somewhat curious about cults or religious leaders in general. Since I use kindle on my PC, I checked a few wiki's while reading 'The Prophet Motive'. Without too much spoilers, I did a search on Jonestown as well as some surprises such as the names of real professors and scientists who have researched mind control. Christopherson worked these real facts and figures into his thriller which gives me a bit of cold chill in of itself!

I'm an occasional reader, barely read more than a handful of novels per year, but I wouldn't hesitate to read another from this author.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for this review.