Jon Krakauers literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits He now shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders taking readers inside isolated American communities where some Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to GodAt the core of Krakauers book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder Krakauer constructs a multi-layered bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion polygamy savage violence and unyielding faith Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of Americas fastest growing religion and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious beliefFrom the Trade Paperback edition.
