The Viper Within

By Sam Mills

Book Overview

DISILLUSIONED WITH HIS childhood faith, Jon longs to restore that sense of belonging to something greater than himself. Enter Jeremiah, magnetic and mysterious founder of the Brotherhood of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375844651
• ISBN13: 9780375844652
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 1.2" x 5.7"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

fascinating Christian thriller

Charismatic high school student Jeremiah forms the religious sect Brotherhood of the Hebetheus. He quickly gains a following amongst his peers including Jon who has lost his childhood faith. Jeremiah insists he overheard student Padma plans to place a bomb in her locker so she must be stopped. Seeing glory in preventing a catastrophe as their leader convinced his flock she is a suicide bomber sent by a local Muslim cell, his disciples abduct Padma. The brethren call Padma "Snake" for obvious reasons. They incarcerate her in the home of an elderly woman lying dead in her bed. Jon has doubts with what they did especially as he is attracted to their prisoner. Confusing matters worse for the jailers is her insistence she is Hindu not Muslim, which brings the issue of Jeremiah's fallibility to the surface. THE VIPER WITHIN is a fascinating tale that focuses on how a seemingly nut case can charismatically charm others to follow their path; think of Waco or Manson. Jeremiah makes the tale interesting as he gains followers who do his bidding even when they believe it is wrong like the abduction of Padma. Her pleas of innocence and being Hindi is believed by some of the flock, but most still believe even more in Jeremiah. Although Jon's actions and reactions seem apparent from the onset, especially his falling for the prisoner in a reverse Stockholm Syndrome scenario, young adult readers will enjoy this cautionary thriller that proclaims (perhaps too much) it could happen to almost anyone. Ironically most of the audience will insist this could not happen to me as the Brotherhood is obviously made up of dolts and losers. Harriet Klausner