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Summary: A page-turner about cults from an insider's view.
Review: Most intelligent people can't imagine how one could get involved in a cult. Debbie Layton makes it plausible. Her descriptions of Jim Jones, The People's Temple, and Jonestown are both human and chilling. She makes that infamous chapter of current events real in a way that newspaper articles and TV clips cannot do. As one of Jim Jones' trusted few, she had knowledge of day-to-day management, long-term planning, and the finances of a cult that began with great promise and went frightfully wrong. How fortunate that she was able to escape and recount her experiences, horrible though they were. If you've ever been curious about Jonestown, you should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: a gripping page turner
Review: Deborah Layton does a fabulous job telling her story of involvement with Jim Jones and the People's Temple. I spent many nights turning pages for hours and was shocked and intrigued with how such a 'normal' person and family seeking a loving, supportive, nurturing and satasfying life ended up and stayed in this intense religious cult while the tables were being turned. It is a fascinating account of religous conversion, growing up, politics, acheiving independence and returning to daily American society. Her novel is one that should be read by parents, children and educators. I am deeply impressed by Layton's braveness and action, coming to terms with her own history, and her need to share her experience to integrate this in becoming a whole person.
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Summary: Required Reading. A vaccine for the human mind...
Review: Writing a review of Deborah Layton's "Seductive Poison" is not easy for me, because I can't think of any words that will be superlative enough to do justice to this book and to compliment the author on being so courageous and for so eloquently sharing intimate details of her experience of life in and her escape from a destructive cult.I didn't know *anything* about cults or anything about Jonestown for that matter (I was not only too young at the time these events took place but also literally on the other side of the world) till a few weeks ago when I feared that someone who I loved and still love dearly may be in a cultic group. A search on Amazon led me to Deborah Layton's book and reading Seductive Poison combined with the events happening concurrently in my life can only be described as a life-changing experience. Deborah Layton's account of life in and her escape from Jonestown is the most moving of any personal accounts I have ever read and I will admit that there were parts of the book that had me in tears... which says a lot. When I first read this book I was convinced that the book is just that... it's *a story which happened to someone else* and things like this don't happen today...until I started experiencing the effect of a mind-control group first hand -- happening to someone very close to me. If you ever do the mistake of thinking that this cannot happen to you... be sure to catch yourself, because 23 years later, after Jonestown, after Waco, after Heaven's Gate and numerous others... it's the same mind-control techniques and the same deceit and debauchery that is just as much prevalent today as it was then and potentially even more refined than it used to be. Seductive Poison helped me understand what a cult is and made me realize that I cannot try and deal with the situation I was faced with using the rules I knew so far. The rationalism and logic that you would expect to always be present and help a person make their own informed decisions and judgments are sometimes suspended - and always suspended when an individual is under a situation of being under the control of a destructive mind-control group or even an the influence of an individual. I never realized that until I read Deborah Layton's experience. Seductive Poison should be required reading in high-schools / colleges, just so more people are aware of the dangers lurking about them. I have personally bought over a dozen copies of this book to hand out to friends and family (Amazon must really love me by now!) and I don't think I'm done handing it out to people yet, because in my opinion, this book is a vaccine for the human mind and it is critical for *any* person living in today's society - in any country, in any environment - to develop some level of immunity which allows them to recognize a destructive situation before they get sucked in too deep. I'll end with a quote from an email I sent shortly after reading Seductive Poison and co-relating events in my life: "The mind is a very fragile thing, and I strongly believe that no stimulus and no words can go by without affecting a person -- I don't claim to know more or less about what is true or not, but I do believe in being pragmatic and using ones own judgment and critical thinking to set the boundaries for our actions." And last but not least, to Deborah Layton - thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your experience with all of us and thank you for being the amazing person I know you are.
Rating:
Summary: An insight into how and why
Review: I am the same age as Deborah Layton and I remember exactly where I was when I heard news of the deaths in Jonestown. Being a rather skeptical and questioning sort of person, I have always found it hard to comprehend how so many people could have been so mesmerized by Jim Jones. I've picked up numerous books on this topic though the years, but Deborah Layton's is the first to really address the personal how and why. I'm sure this was a heart wenching book to write and it is apparent there is still much saddness and guilt. She also raised some more questions in my mind about the stamp of approval from many leaders in the Democrat Party, the difficulty in getting protection after going to the American Embassy in Guyana and the failure of any decent investigation by the U.S. government.
Seductive Poison is very well written. Even knowing the facts, I found my heart racing and the tears falling. I think the fact that more than 200 people took the time to review this book reflects the impact it has on most readers.
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Summary: Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story
Review: I just finished Deborah Layton's book, Seductive Poison, This book made me feel like I was there with her living all those things. The long hours she worked in the fields under the sun. I'm truely without words. I could feel her pain for her Mother Lisa Layton. This is a must read book. Her personal relationship with Jim Jones will leave you in disbelieve.
A great book!
Rating:
Summary: An insight into how and why
Review: Granted, I was not a student when I read this several months ago and still am not, I'm of the opinion that it should be required reading. I was two years old when the Jonestown Massacre occurred and it has long been some sort of enigma because of my youth at the time. Ms. Layton's work helped open it all up for me and see how so many, like herself, were sucked in by Jones' charismatic ways at such a time of great upheaval and uncertainity, on a variety of levels. I am reminded of that phrase that says something like, "those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it." That's why I think this should be required reading. Of course, all the study in the world couldn't guarantee it wouldn't happen again: I mean, look at Waco, Heaven's Gate, the Supreme Truth (or whatever those Sarin-happy Japanese cultists were named).
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