*Shortlisted for Book of the Year at the True Crime Awards 2026!*

What makes ordinary people, living normal lives, abandon everything to join a cult? Emma Kenny - psychologist and true crime expert - delves into gripping true stories of cults, operating all around us.

In this exhilarating and terrifying new book, Emma Kenny explores the bewildering world of cults, looking into the magnetic pull of cult leaders who find, ensnare and indoctrinate followers, transforming them from normal people into devoted acolytes, and, in the most extreme cases, into killers.

From Jim Jones and The Peoples Temple to David Koresh and the Branch Davidians; Marshall Applewhite's Heaven's Gate to Order of the Solar Temple, Emma unpicks the interplay between power, manipulation and faith that makes cults work, and takes readers on a journey into the minds of these enigmatic cult leaders and the people who fall under their spell.

Discover the answers to the questions that haunt the fringes of society and the human psyche in this must-read for all true crime enthusiasts. Are you immune to the call of the cult? There's only one way to find out...