Review of THE PROGRAM by Gregg Hurwitz (see his website)

William Morrow, August 2004

When a powerful movie producer's daughter joins a cult, disgraced ex-U.S. Marshall Tim Rackley is given a second chance. His old boss in the Marshall's office asks him to go in and bring home the girl. But Leah Henning is legally an adult--capable of making her own decisions. And mind control isn't illegal. So Rackley's options are limited unless Leah really wants help. Unless Rackley wants to go completely outside the law and risk a kidnapping charge and disgrace for the U.S. Marshall Service, he's got to come up with something really clever. Unfortunately, all he can think of is infiltrating the cult itself. And getting into the cult is never the hard part--the hard part is coming out. Because nobody comes out of the cult--nobody, that is, except the insane and the dead.

Cult leader T.D. may be an ex-criminal and he may be a manipulator, but he has paid careful attention to the law--stepping to its edge but maintaining plausible deniability about any of the really serious offenses committed by his enforcers. He's got weapons and a group of followers willing to die for him. If Rackley isn't careful, he'll end up with a new Waco. Or maybe he really is a guy with the ability to help others overcome their phobias and limitations. Because everyone seems to believe that they need to follow T.D. and get the program.

Author Gregg Hurwitz (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Hurwitz) has created an emotionally powerful and exciting story in THE PROGRAM. His descriptions of the 'program' cult and the brainwashing techniques that it uses are fully believable. Hurwitz gives Rackley a past--with a con-man father, a murdered daughter, and a somewhat troubled relationship with his wife, as well as his failure as a U.S. Marshall--that elicits reader sympathy and that drives his character through the action.

THE PROGRAM is a well written and fascinating read. I enjoyed this one a lot.

Four Stars

Reviewed 6/13/04

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