‘Broken Faith’ looks inside Word of Faith Fellowship

“Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America’s Most Dangerous Cults,” Hanover Square Press, by Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr

Few religious leaders purport to hear directly from God but those that do seem to draw an unusually rabid following.

In the telling of Associated Press reporters Weiss and Mohr, Word of Faith Fellowship is a classic religious cult, drawing in the wounded of spirit, people questing for a new direction in life, others recovering from drugs or alcohol and seeking a new path, or those searching for unambiguous answers to life’s fundamental questions. WFF founder Jane Whaley becomes their confidante, a conduit to God’s plan for them and gradually, their absolute ruler.

If “Broken Faith” has a flaw, it’s the length. You’ll need a notebook to keep track of all the characters.

The book reads like a thriller, spinning from one jarring scene to the next, especially when members try to escape the clutches of the group and the numbing, pulverizing insanity of a religion gone mad.