New Age Grifter (AUTOGRAPHED BY THE AUTHOR)

Published by Feral House; 272 pages; autographed by the author

Gabriel of Urantia is the leader of a commune in the desert of southern Arizona. He has spent the last decades weaving together a belief system — a tapestry of Eastern spirituality, born-again Christianity, and New Age platitudes. His disciples tend the garden, take classes, run his businesses and serve their leader while they wait for the end of the world.

But Gabriel is a guru with an eye towards the recording charts. His band, TaliasVan and the Bright and Morning Star Band, is a 12-piece ensemble that combines Gabriel’s teachings and jazzy easy-listening tunes to join the long list of spiritually inspired musical acts spreading their message through song.

Journalist Joseph L. Flatley has investigated Gabriel’s group for the past five years. He uses legal documents, press accounts, academic research, and untold hours of exclusive interviews to get to the corrupted core of this experimental society. How does the group make its money? How does it control his followers? What is its connection to a powerful and controversial hedge fund billionaire? How can we recognize when beliefs and practices become destructive?