Higher Authority

Rating:
Summary: Everything's a Character
Review: I got this book as a Christmas Present two years ago, but it took me until now to read it!

Not only are the characters well crafted but there are other elements that are characters as well. The State of Utah and The Moromon Chuch become antagonists.

They all come together to create a tight work that shows also how hard it can be to achieve justice when the wall of spearation between church and state falls.

Rating:
Summary: White is Right
Review: I just read "Higher Authority" and couldn't put it down. Having lived and worked in Utah for 25 years, surrounded by Mormons, I could identify with all the author said. He obviously did his homework. This book might be hard for a lot of people who have never lived in Utah to believe, but I can vouch for all that he had to say about the workings and practices of the Mormon church. His research was meticulous. It is difficult for me to understand how thinking people can subject themselves to this sort of total mind domination where you must accept and believe, and never question anything about "the" church, its teachings, or its heirarchy. I have a number of good friends who are Mormons and feel sorry for them in that there is no way out except by being scorned and ostracised by their family and other Mormons. They truly believe the rest of us are going to hell and that their religion is the only true religion. Of course you are not a good Mormon if you try to explore the history of their true religion. They consider it as not being "faith promoting". It is common knowledge that the church has a highly secured vault in Utah which houses all defamatory records and writings and is never open to scholars or others who may share its contents. These records are purchased or obtained at all costs and immediately hidden. The paranoia for secrecy is well known. The Mormon religion is cleverly packaged to look very wholesome. On the surface it appeals to many looking for a religion and clean way of life for their children. If you are being sold this Madison Avenue facade and are considering becoming a Mormon I would highly recommend this book. It may open your eyes and your mind. This book is true but I am sure it is banned as reading material for the followers.

Rating:
Summary: White is Right
Review: I just read "Higher Authority" and couldn't put it down. Having lived and worked in Utah for 25 years, surrounded by Mormons, I could identify with all the author said. He obviously did his homework. This book might be hard for a lot of people who have never lived in Utah to believe, but I can vouch for all that he had to say about the workings and practices of the Mormon church. His research was meticulous. It is difficult for me to understand how thinking people can subject themselves to this sort of total mind domination where you must accept and believe, and never question anything about "the" church, its teachings, or its heirarchy. I have a number of good friends who are Mormons and feel sorry for them in that there is no way out except by being scorned and ostracised by their family and other Mormons. They truly believe the rest of us are going to hell and that their religion is the only true religion. Of course you are not a good Mormon if you try to explore the history of their true religion. They consider it as not being "faith promoting". It is common knowledge that the church has a highly secured vault in Utah which houses all defamatory records and writings and is never open to scholars or others who may share its contents. These records are purchased or obtained at all costs and immediately hidden. The paranoia for secrecy is well known. The Mormon religion is cleverly packaged to look very wholesome. On the surface it appeals to many looking for a religion and clean way of life for their children. If you are being sold this Madison Avenue facade and are considering becoming a Mormon I would highly recommend this book. It may open your eyes and your mind. This book is true but I am sure it is banned as reading material for the followers.

Rating:
Summary: Memorable mystery involving Mormonism
Review: I originally read this book about four years ago. While I had forgotten much of the mystery plot (not unusual for me), the insights into Mormonism really stuck with me. I reread the book this week (so I could chat with my husband, a first time reader) and came away even more impressed.

Having spent considerable time in Utah, I find the exploration of the LDS church in this book fascinating. I'm a bit of a religious skeptic and probably share some of White's biases. Still, this book strikes me as being carefully researched and jives with what I already knew of the life in Utah. It's a tremendous education about a part of America that is rarely explored in fiction (or elsewhere).

The other outstanding feature of this book is that it focuses on Lauren Crowder, Alan Gregory's girlfriend. As I mentioned in an earlier review, this really is a series that should be read in order (if possible). This is the third book in the series. I admire White's courage in backseating Gregory. Lauren is an interesting character and lends a different (more serious) tone to this book. Still, I can see that this is a bit of a curve ball for what some readers may expect. So -- you're forwarned now - enjoy it.

Oh, yes, the mystery. There is one and it's ok. Actually, it reminds me a bit of some of the earlier Grisham books. It's probably the weakest part of the book but good enough that you won't want to put the book down towards the end.

Rating:
Summary: For the thinking reader
Review: Not only was this a good read from a mystery standpoint, it taught me more about the Mormon religion than my college level Comparative Religion class. The author either has a very personal acquaintance with the Mormon church, or he performed very thorough research. Either way, I always love it when I learn something from a book as well as just enjoy the experience, and this was one of those books. I found this book to be HIGHLY original. In addition to the events in the plot being different from the ordinary fare, this is the first time I have read a mystery author who switches the focus from a series' main character (the psychologist)the secondary main character (Lauren)in a separate book. I read it in less than a week, was sorry when it ended.

Rating:
Summary: Mormons Beware, You May Not Like What You Read!
Review: Some of the Mormons who wrote reviews here are defending what can't be defended. Stephen White wrote a novel but he did research before he did and what he found was obviously not to the liking of the LDS Church or some of its more devout (and misinformed adherents). What White tried to do with "Higher Authority" (and I think he was very successful) was set a murder mystery against the backdrop of the workings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What Mormon readers of this book need to do is get honest; they also need to read up on their church's history and when they do, the real theology should come through. Alan Gregory is not the main character here, Lauren Crowder is. It is what she investigates and finds that makes for the backdrop of the story. What many non-Mormon readers don't realize is what exactly LDS members believe. White gives us a primer but he doesn't cover it all. If most people knew just exactly what Mormons believe, they would never, ever become adherents. Read this book because it's a good story. After you do, go to a Christian bookstore to the section on "cults" and buy any of the books on MORMONS. Read with an open mind and when you do, you'll find that Mormons aren't Christians at all. They mean well and Stephen White points that out in his novel. But it's the negative exposure that has the Mormons trying to explain away the inconsistencies and outright falsehoods that are part of their false doctrine. Stephen White lives in a part of the country where Mormons are numerous and influential. His riting is all the more courageous because of that. There are documented cases of people making death threats to people who write and say negative things about the LDS Church. I have spoken to non-Mormon friends from Utah and they HAVE told me that UTAH is as close to a theocracy as one gets in the good old USA. Read "Higher Authority" and get an idea why.

Rating:
Summary: Higher Authority too much about Mormons
Review: Stephen White is a good suspense writer. However, I find in this case White did do his homework, but reading the book I found it to be way too much about Mormons and not enough suspense. I am more interested in the story line and not so much in the background information which is what White did.

Rating:
Summary: This Is FICTION, Not Religious Philosophy
Review: Stephen White's book is well researched. He did the research in order to set a spine-tingling murder against the backdrop of authority.

Much of the "history" in "Higher Authority" is true, though I certainly have not heard it talked about among the Mormons I know--even during religous and historical discourses. Still, I believe that if White has an axe to grind (as many reviews on this page have suggested), it is against authority run amok, not specificially against Mormons. White has a story to tell and he has chosen an area in which authority has a real presence in which to place that story. I'll bet if anyone bothered to ask Mr. White, he might have a soft spot in his heart for people in general, Mormons included.

If I have any criticism of "Higher Authority" it is that, though the basics are researched, it is soon apparent that Ambrose didn't live in Utah long, if at all. It's not that he gets anything in terms of description or background really wrong, just that it somehow feels incomplete.

This is, however, how genre fiction is often written. And this book IS fiction. The author does not claim that this story actually happened. Nor does he suggest it will. He is spinning a tale and he does it well. "Higher Authority" is not a philosophical treatise. It's a novel. A GENRE novel. Read it an enjoy it for what it is.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"

Rating:
Summary: This Is FICTION, Not Religious Philosophy
Review: Stephen White's book is well researched. He did the research in order to set a spine-tingling murder against the backdrop of authority.

Much of the "history" in "Higher Authority" is true, though I certainly have not heard it talked about among the Mormons I know--even during religous and historical discourses. Still, I believe that if White has an axe to grind (as many reviews on this page have suggested), it is against authority run amok, not specificially against Mormons. White has a story to tell and he has chosen an area in which authority has a real presence in which to place that story. I'll bet if anyone bothered to ask Mr. White, he might have a soft spot in his heart for people in general, Mormons included.

If I have any criticism of "Higher Authority" it is that, though the basics are researched, it is soon apparent that Ambrose didn't live in Utah long, if at all. It's not that he gets anything in terms of description or background really wrong, just that it somehow feels incomplete.

This is, however, how genre fiction is often written. And this book IS fiction. The author does not claim that this story actually happened. Nor does he suggest it will. He is spinning a tale and he does it well. "Higher Authority" is not a philosophical treatise. It's a novel. A GENRE novel. Read it an enjoy it for what it is.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"


Rating:
Summary: Strikes me as basically accurate
Review: The hook in this book is Mormondom. If you're not interested in that, you probably won't like Higher Authority.

Just to be clear about where I'm coming from, I'm not a Mormon, nor would I ever consider becoming one, given what I know about their beliefs and practices, which is quite a lot. As a Catholic-minded Christian interested in other religions, I have spent a good deal of time looking into Mormonism. It is true, for example, that Mormons at one time practiced blood atonement, as described in the book. It is also true that they wear special temple undergarments. Mormons also believe that God was once a man, and that men can become Gods, ruling over other planets as God rules over ours. One of their theologians put it this way: "As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become."

Those at this site who have objected to the book's depiction of Mormonism, calling it "Mormon bashing," have not specifically stated where the author has misrepresented Mormonism. Not in the area of beliefs, at least as far as I can discern. It is also well-known that the Mormon Church discourages critical investigation of its origins, history, beliefs, and practices. Unlike Christianity (and I do not consider Mormonism a part of Christianity), which has allowed itself to be subjected to several centuries of the most intense critical scrutiny, and which continues today in the Jesus Seminar and other corrosive endeavors, Mormonism does not allow such activity.

But the real problem with Mormonism is that it's a non-historical religion claiming to be a historical one. For example, unlike the Bible, which contains records of events that happened not that far removed from when they were written down, the Book of Mormon (written, or "translated"--as the Mormon Church claims--only about 150 years ago) claims to describe events some of which occurred more than 2,500 years ago. Moreover, despite the efforts of New World Archelolgy to establish the historicity of the Book of Mormon's descriptions about the "Lamanites" and "Nephites," no evidence has not been forthcoming. In other words, the Book of Mormon claims to present history for which there is no corroborating evidence. Nor did Mormonism arise out of a pre-existing faith-community as Judaism and Christianity did. Bottom line, it just isn't an historical religion. I think the book does a pretty good job in getting this point across.

Despite its critical stance toward Mormon beliefs, the book is quite fair-minded in its portrayal of Mormon practice. Especially in the character of John Harley--loyal but troubled and not very devout--we get a sympathetic Mormon character. Harley, a convert, joined the Mormon Church basically because he needed to be saved--from his own destructive tendencies. He struggles with Mormon beliefs and rigidity, but is grateful for the stability it brings to his life. Pratt Toomey is also portrayed quite favorably, although in an entirely different manner, as is Lester Horner. Yet, we don't really get much of a sense of what Mormon life is really like. That is one of the things I think some of the other reviewers are complaining about.

Will Price, the villain, on the other hand, is an entirely unsympathetic character. Would it be possible for a devout, fanatical Mormon to behave as he does?--that is at the heart of this book. Is Mormonism capable of producing--even likely to produce--a Will Price? Would Mormon Church authorities authorize and condone such actions to preserve the pristine image of the LDS Church?

I don't know, but it's a fascinating question, and one that, given the secretiveness, authoritarianism, wealth, and power of the Mormon Church, can't easily be brushed aside. And that's probably what's really troubling to those who intensely dislike this book: it's all too plausible.