The Oracle's Daughter

A DEEPLY REPORTED NARRATIVE ACCOUNT OF ONE WOMAN'S TERRIFYING ESCAPE FROM THE PARAMILITARY REIGIOUS CULT FOUNDED BY HER MOTHER

'Terrifying, gripping, all true. I couldn't put it down'
Stephen King

'Excellent'
New York Times

'Troubling, uplifting, heartbreaking... a masterwork.'
Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Life, Animated

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On a cool autumn night in 1999, twenty-six-year-old Sarah Green crept out of her house and ran for her life.

She was escaping not just the Aggressive Christianity Missions Training Corps, a paramilitary religious cult operating out of the New Mexico desert, but also the cruelty of the cult's leader-her mother, Deborah.

In The Oracle's Daughter, Harrison Hill traces the fascinating beginnings and violent end of ACMTC, from its early days as an outgrowth of the hippie movement, through the conspiracy-theorist 1990s and into the present day. It follows Deborah, the group's founder and self-proclaimed oracle; Maura, one of its first members; and Sarah, Deborah's daughter, among the cult's primary victims.

With a propulsive, deeply researched narrative, The Oracle's Daughter illuminates the strange world of religious cults-and how much more vulnerable we are to extremism than we might like to think.

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PRAISE FOR THE ORACLE'S DAUGHTER . . .

'Terrifying, gripping, all true. I couldn't put it down' Stephen King

'Excellent... told with rare sensitivity. Hill is an extremely skilled writer, and his conscientious, measured reporting is a gift... The propulsive feel of a novel.' New York Times

'A staggering achievement, synthesizing rigorous reportage, incisive cultural analysis, and a deeply compassionate gaze into a propulsive and unforgettable narrative' Leslie Jamison, author of Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story

'The Oracle's Daughter does far more than delineate in vivid detail the alarming story of the Aggressive Christianity Mission Training Corps, surely one of the most frightening cults in modern religious history. Anyone trying to understand religious cults should consider The Oracle's Daughter required reading - it's that comprehensive and excellently written besides' Jeff Guinn, author of Manson, The Road to Jonestown and Waco

'Troubling, uplifting, heartbreaking, unforgettable - tapping into seminal issues of our increasingly divided nation - Harrison Hill has written a masterwork of narrative nonfiction. A must-read' Ron Suskind, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Hope in the Unseen and Life, Animated

'Harrison Hill has created a riveting portrait of one of the strangest American cults in recent memory.. . With a cast of unforgettable characters-including courageous former cult members who broke free-the book offers compelling insights into the makings of religious cults and why their allure is increasing in our hyper-polarized, grievance-infused age' Joby Warrick, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction

'A gripping and deeply-researched account of belief, belonging, and betrayal. If you've ever wondered how a person could fall prey to a high-control group, or what it takes to get out, this book is essential reading' Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites

'Hill is unsparing in his reportage. But more, he offers thoughtful notes on how cults work... A compelling study of the meeting of religious zealotry with the cult of personality' Kirkus Reviews

'Anyone seeking to understand how extremism and coercion can touch all of our lives would do well to read it. I couldn't put it down. Intimate and expansive, it is both disturbing and hopeful' Suzanne Joinson, author of The Museum of Lost and Fragile Things

'The Oracle's Daughter is a propulsive reckoning with a mother, her daughter, and the extremism woven through the story of American religion. Beautifully told, un-put-downable, and urgently necessary' Heather Radke, author of Butts: A Backstory