A few years ago, I said my true crime fix was stalkers, but I think I’ve added another one to the list: cults. Jonestown, the Ant Hill Kids, the Work, anything that involves a sociopathic narcissist roping innocent victims into their twisted orbit, under the guide of improving their lives. Everyone says that they are smart enough to not fall for a cult, but you’d be surprised what scams you’d fall for when you’re in a jam. And now I’m finally reviewing a fictional book that not only deals with living in a cult, but the dangers of trying to escape it once you’re in too deep.
Stella O’Neill was only ten years old when she and her mother Rose tried to escape The Center for Spiritual Dowsing (or just The Center), a dangerous cult hiding in the Vermont woods. But a mysterious hooded figure killed Stella’s mother, forcing her to go underground. Twenty years later, a true crime podcast has uncovered her identity, which puts Stella in danger of the cult finding her and dragging her back for vengeance. But once Stella learns the possible identity of her mother’s killer, she sets out to bring them to justice and take down the cult in the process.
People often make fun of cults for their religious or spiritual views and unconventional way of living. But they are way more sinister and dangerous than those people give credit. They lure people in with false promises and a heck-ton of charisma on the part of the leader. And by the time anything harmful happens, the followers have been brainwashed to believe it’s all for a glorious purpose, usually for spiritual enlightenment or emotional cleansing. But what’s scariest of all is that you can be the most educated person in the world and can still be susceptible to a cult. They often hide in plain sight, too, using businesses as fronts for gaining new recruits and making money.
This really has nothing to do with the book. I just wanted to explain why cults are so scary, but so fascinating all the same. They all follow more or less the same formula, and The Center sticks to it pretty closely. Although it may sound familiar to people who know cults pretty well, it’s still creepy.
The book has lots of dangling threads that help us keep guessing who is guilty or innocent. It switches back and forth a lot, where one chapter you think someone is guilty, then the next you think they’re innocent, only to be presented with information that turns it all around again. It’s kind of exhausting switching between both perspectives, to the point where even after everything is wrapped up, you still don’t quite trust those who are ultimately deemed innocent.
The story wraps up all these loose ends VERY fast. And the worst part is that we don’t get to see the guilty get their comeuppance. It’s all wrapped up in an epilogue where we are told about the justice served rather than actually seeing the criminals get their just desserts. It’s very disappointing to get that perspective when the guilty did some truly heinous shit.
It’s like you get to the very top of the proverbial climax cliff, ready to slide at a fast clip toward the resolution. But instead of sliding down, screaming in fun all the way, the drop off is only three feet long, and you’re left wondering why you even took this ride in the first place.
Everything really falls apart in the last third of the book, and while everything is wrapped up, it happens so quickly, and you’ve been conditioned not to trust one single person in this cast, so you don’t truly feel safe in that resolution in a good way. If that was what the author was going for, though, it was handled very clumsily.
Not exactly a spoiler, but the real killer came so out of left field that I felt duped. One person was built up as the primary suspect for the entire book, but the real killer left absolutely zero clues. We know a little about this character throughout, but suddenly, we get their whole backstory and we’re expected to buy their motivation despite having zero evidence of it. If we distrusted this character the same way we distrusted the other red herring, maybe it would be more satisfying.
That said, I cannot pretend like I wasn’t invested the whole time. The Center, while a run-of-the-mill cult with lots of familiar cult trappings, is a center of abuse masquerading as a summer meditation retreat, and you never forget how dangerous its leaders are. When Stella finds herself pulled back into that world, you see how delusional everyone is, and you hope that, if she does find an ally within the cult, that they will prove true and help her out. And although you don’t trust anyone, you still barrel toward the conclusion to see if your own suspicions were correct.
Some people don’t like the supernatural element of Stella being able to sense dead spirits, but I thought it was pretty cool. Although we don’t know why no one else has abilities like Stella, they give her a connection to her mother when she uses her trusty pendulum.
On the whole, I cautiously recommend A Mother Always Knows. Although the journey is intense and keeps you guessing the whole time, it all ends so fast it might give you whiplash. If we actually got to see justice be served, and if we had a few more clues about the real killer, my recommendation might come higher. If you like mysteries and cults, there’s definitely something to enjoy here. And maybe you’ll find more satisfaction in the ending than I did.
The Library Key 