Publishers Weekly
★ 02/22/2021
Investigative journalist Berman debuts with the definitive look at the NXIVM cult, which victimized dozens of women for more than a decade at its headquarters in Albany, N.Y. Berman uses her access to former NXIVM members to detail the organization’s crimes, which included the sexual abuse of teenagers, slavery, and the branding of members with the initials of its sadistic leader, Keith Raniere. Raniere founded NXIVM as a self-help resource in 1998, promising those who joined its program happiness and purpose; his pitch ensnared such prominent people as heirs to the Bronfman fortune, a future U.S. surgeon general, and executives at Warner Music and Black Entertainment Television. Eventually, law enforcement learned of the disturbing secret side of Raniere’s operation and the multiple victims traumatized and brainwashed by Raniere and his enablers. In 2019, Raniere was convicted in federal court of sex trafficking, racketeering, and fraud, and in 2020 received a sentence of 120 years in prison. Berman’s rigorously sourced narrative brings this über-creepy story to life, and by waiting to publish until after the conclusion of Raniere’s trial, Berman has produced a more comprehensive account of the case than previous studies. This deep dive behind the headlines isn’t to be missed. Agent: Carolyn Forde, Transatlantic Literary (Canada). (Apr.)
From the Publisher
One of Oxygen.com's Best Crime Books of 2021
“Sarah Berman’s Don’t Call It a Cult is a thoroughly reported work that details a staggering amount of relevant information the TV series left out.”
—The Atlantic
“This investigative endeavor is riveting from start to finish.”
—HuffPost
“Investigative journalist Berman front-loads her startling, comprehensive exposé on the NXIVM group with key information on how the association became popular yet remained elusive to law enforcement...the author’s engrossing reportage meticulously reveals the tumultuous rise and fall of NXIVM after numerous criminal indictments and prosecutions...File this alongside Lawrence Wright’s Going Clear and Jeff Guinn’s The Road to Jonestown...An incendiary, serpentine report on criminal manipulation of staggering proportions.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Investigative journalist Berman debuts with the definitive look at the NXIVM cult, which victimized dozens of women for more than a decade ... This deep dive behind the headlines isn’t to be missed.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Berman demonstrates the tactics cults use to manipulate and control without casting judgment or blame on the victims. Truly gripping, this is the definitive book on NXIVM.”
—Booklist
“Journalist Sarah Berman brings her signature gimlet eye and impeccable reporting to the story of the NXIVM women in Don’t Call It a Cult, a chilling true crime account...Don’t Call It a Cult is the nightmarish, unflinching true story of the women who survived NXIVM—and the women who didn’t.”
—Foreword Reviews (starred review)
“A new book reveals the shocking ways that "self-help guru" Keith Raniere trapped women into his sick scheme.”
—Eric Spitznagel, The New York Post
“This true crime is for readers of stories about cults and anyone looking for a deep dive into the recent news stories regarding NXIVM.”
—Bookriot
“Both captivating and frightening, Don’t Call it a Cult will astonish most readers.”
—New York Journal of Books
“Her [Berman’s] engrossing narrative style humanizes the victims in a way not fully realized during the trial itself, and most certainly not allowed during their involvement in NXIVM. She skillfully incorporates personal testimonies from the women targeted by Raniere, probing issues of power, consent and agency on an individual level while also zooming out to investigate the nature and dynamics of what we call cults as a whole.”
—Law & Crime
“Don’t Call It A Cult is the most detailed, well-reported, and nuanced look at NXIVM’s history, its supporters, and those left destroyed in its wake. If you want to understand NXIVM—and other groups like it—reading Sarah Berman’s account is essential.”
—Scaachi Koul, bestselling author of One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter
“Sarah Berman is absolutely fearless in Don’t Call It a Cult. Her determination to not only tell the difficult, often disturbing story of NXIVM, but tell it right, shines through in every aspect of this gripping book. I simply could not put it down.”
—Alicia Elliott, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground
“Berman has crafted a tour-de-force and powerful homage to first-person reportage. A riveting page-turner, Don’t Call It a Cult is a must-read for anyone who is fascinated by the long term effects of cult culture, abuse, and pseudoscience.”
—Lindsay Wong, author of The Woo-Woo
“Sarah Berman’s reporting on the inner workings of NXIVM and its secret, coercive ‘women’s group’ fully elucidates how scores of incredibly talented, smart young women fell under the spell of a mousy, volleyball-playing con man. Don’t Call It a Cult is an incisive, empathetic page-turner.”
—Andrea bennett, author of Like a Boy But Not a Boy
“Don’t Call It A Cult is a thorough and compelling examination of a terrifying organization. Berman understands and brilliantly conveys the complexity of abuse, assault, and the lasting effects of each, and delivers a book that says as much about human nature as it does about NXIVM. Required reading!”
—Anne T. Donahue, author of Nobody Cares
“Don’t Call It a Cult explains Raniere’s dark charisma and why so many people were attracted to NXIVM and stayed on, even as the manipulation, exploitation, and abuse got extreme. A thoughtful, deeply reported take on a sensational story, one that I won’t soon forget.”
—Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites
“Berman lays bare this longest of cons: lost souls and ambitious young people drawn into NXIVM’s vortex of sexual assault, child exploitation, fraud, manipulation, and blackmail. This too-crazy-for-fiction tale is expertly spooled out with journalistic precision and a screenwriter’s sense of scene and story. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Lorimer Shenher, author of That Lonely Section of Hell and This One Looks Like a Boy
SHORTLISTED for the 2022 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
FINALIST for 2022 Crime Writers of Canada Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book
Library Journal
03/26/2021
Berman (former senior editor, VICE) charts the rise and fall of NXIVM, a self-help multilevel marketing organization founded in 1998 and eventually exposed as a cult. NXIVM's leader, Keith Raniere, sexually abused his followers, who included actress Allison Mack and heiress Clare Bronfman. Promoting himself as one of the smartest people in the world, Raniere set up a hierarchical structure based on a series of expensive classes. Questions about the organization arose early on, but he designed a system in which adherents who voiced criticism were labeled "suppressives," or enemies. Taking a mostly chronological approach to an unwieldy, potentially confusing narrative, Berman illustrates how Raniere hid or reframed his darkest secrets to make himself look like a victim. Despite accounts from former members (whom Raniere attempted to silence through lawsuits), it wasn't until years later that Raniere was held accountable; in 2019, he was found guilty of sex trafficking and forced labor, among other charges. VERDICT NXIVM has been covered extensively, but Berman sets her work apart with a deep dive into the history and growth of the organization and an empathetic look at the psychology of the victims. Given the wide interest in this story, this is a strong addition to true crime shelves.—Bart Everts, Rutgers Univ.—Camden Lib., NJ
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-02-19
How a treacherous cult amassed a following under the guise of self-improvement.
Vancouver-based investigative journalist Berman front-loads her startling, comprehensive exposé on the NXIVM group with key information on how the association became popular yet remained elusive to law enforcement. She shares interview material from several members of a large cast of characters, including Clare and Sara Bronfman, heirs to the Seagram’s fortune who funded the organization for years (Clare is currently in prison). Berman tracks NXIVM “Vanguard” Keith Raniere’s history as an Amway distributor–turned–pyramid-sales executive. In the 1980s, he joined forces with former nurse Nancy Salzman (known as “Prefect”), and the duo promoted training and coaching programs geared toward women’s empowerment. Using a philosophical playbook influenced by Scientology and other similar groups, NXIVM began amassing members, each of whom was charged with recruiting others via classes called “intensives.” Bankrolled by the Bronfman sisters, who were cunningly exploited for their exorbitant wealth and strained familial relationships, the increasingly “dangerous mafia-like” society steamrolled its way into the lives of vulnerable, unsuspecting people, employing blackmail, extortion, forced confinement, and even sex trafficking. Raniere then created offshoots like the particularly insidious Dominus Obsequious Sororium. “By the time of his arrest,” writes Berman about DOS, “at least 102 women had been initiated into Raniere’s secret society. Not all of them had been branded, and not all of them had been coerced into sex, but court records and testimony would show that he considered all of them to be his slaves.” Not for the easily rattled, the author’s engrossing reportage meticulously reveals the tumultuous rise and fall of NXIVM after numerous criminal indictments and prosecutions. The author incorporates critical narratives from former members, laying bare their awful experiences. Her research, which eventually caused her to fear for her own personal safety, informs a vital cautionary tale about how “power, consent, and women’s agency” can be weaponized. File this alongside Lawrence Wright’s Going Clear and Jeff Guinn’s The Road to Jonestown.
An incendiary, serpentine report on criminal manipulation of staggering proportions.
