Savage Messiah

by Paul Kaihla

Book Overview

Savage Messiah [Hardcover] Ross KAIHLA Paul and LAVER (Author)BOOK, English,MURDER, TRUE STORY, KILLER This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0770425976
• ISBN13: 9780770425975
• Release Date: April 1994
• Publisher: Seal Books
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

What a story. . .

Rock Theriault, a con man with the ability to charm and talk his way into and out of any situation, formed his own "family" after being deemed unsuitable for the Seventh Day Adventist group he joined. As his control over his followers strengthened, and his unacceptability increased in normal society, he moved everyone to a remote location to live off the land. For over a decade he kept his followers in seclusion, and while they starved and worked hard, Rock got richer, lazier, and cruel beyond belief. What people will believe and endure in the name of religion boggles my mind. There are so many vicious attacks, mutilations, and ultimately three deaths in his family that it sickened me that he wasn't put away forever. It's sad to read about children of these self-proclaimed instruments of God who had no choice to belong to the cult, and I'm thankful that most of them were whisked away before they were old enough for Theriault and his lifestyle to affect them. I find myself thinking about his victims and wonder how prevalent this type of cult is. Unfortunately, there will always be aimless and gullible people who come to believe their "Master", no matter how bizarre his demands are.

The craziness of The Ant Hill King

I'm always amazed that more people in the US haven't heard of Roch Theriault and his group especially since he treated his followers with more sheer brutality than any religious leader I can think of since Jim Jones.One thing though-Rock may be unbalanced, but nobody can accuse him of being boring. Most people here who have heard of him have done so because they have an interest in cult type groups/or fringe religions or have seen the "Savage Messiah " movie based on this book. Its a shame really, because this is a story that deserves to have a wider audience. Its a fascinating story, but a tragic one. The thing that stood out to me the most in this book and the thing that left the biggest impression on me after reading it is just how much pure physical suffering over a long period of time that people will tolerate for their religious beliefs. And there is a long catalog of the physical suffering of Rock's followers in this book . Its a miracle that as tragic as those deaths are, that only three of his followers actually died.(Two of them were small children.)I'm suprised that Rock didn't kill them all with his "operations", knife throwings, beatings, ect. This book is also a testament to the ability of the mind to endure long term physical suffering for the devotion of belief. The book is very readable and well researched.

Savage Messiah, a true account of a hypnotic man

This book was absolutely involving. It took me less than 24 hours to read, I could not put it down. The book is about Rock Theriault,and how he managed to use religion to attract and maintain a "family" commune style relationship with several women and men. It describes the abuse and torture the "family members" willingly accepted because of their belief that Rock Theriault was being used by God. It covers polygamy, alcoholism, religion (in a bizare sense) and the deep devotion his followers had for him. I enjoyed the book tremendously and strongly suggest it to anyone interested in cults or weird religious groups.