Customer Reviews for HarperOne Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge

Jesus Freaks is the story of a January 2005 night of rage that left two people dead and shed new light on the Children of God/Family International, an evangelical sect founded by David "Moses" Berg, a self-proclaimed "Endtime Prophet." During the spiritual counterculture of the late 1960s, this previously unremarkable evangelist embraced a strange brew of Christian witness, radical politics, apocalyptic doom and free love.

His story is told here through the eyes of Ricky "Davidito" Rodriquez, a child born into the inner sanction of the cult, which sent thousands of hippies, leftists and "Jesus freaks" on a long, strange trip into the messianic fantasy of its leader.

Ricky was christened to be one of the "two witnesses" destined to sacrifice themselves and bring on the apocalyptic battles foretold in the Book of Revelation. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but with a twist. Ricky would grow up, leave the fold and denounce his estranged mother and spiritual father, making his own date with destiny. Consumed with rage, he would become the reluctant martyr for an abused army of troubled souls---a lost generation that would return to haunt The Family International.