Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

could not hold my attention, i wasn’t super interested once it started even though i gave it a bunch of chances! the narrator did a good job though despite my lack of desire to follow the plot

I love books like this. This one was so bizarre, but well told.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I requested this book as it was true crime related. Upon listening, the locations brought up were so close to home. In a literal sense, locations in this book were MINUTES from my home. The author was describing my hometown at one point and I was astonished that I hadn’t heard anything about this story. I immediately sent a message to my mom to pre-order the book and began questioning if she knew anything. The book is well researched and written, however I felt it to jump around a bit. There is a lot of information right at the start so it isn’t a great book to listen to if multitasking. You really have to pay attention to fully understand.

This book is really hard for me to review. It was an interesting topic and that book wasn't bad. It wasn't a book that I had to push myself to finish, but yet I wanted more...it fell slightly flat for me. I don't want to discourage anyone from reading it, it was interesting. Maybe I already knew too much about Sherry Shriner, so the book just didn't have the "wow" factor for me.

Generally a disappointing read. I was interested in learning about the Shriner cult from the discussion, but I found this book underwhelming. The major problem with the book was that it was clear the author had no empathy or ability to relate to the people involved; he might have felt some degree of sorrow for them, but mostly they were The Outgroup to be pitied at best, and it definitely affected his reading, as well. I didn't feel like he did a good enough job of discussing how people get into something like this (partially because again, these people are just the Outgroup and not deserving of being understood or sympathized with). There was a long section where the author used "I" a lot and framed a lot of what was going based off what he would do; that was jarring because it a) took me out of the story of the people themselves and b) again, I don't think he could sympathize enough with these people to make comparisons between him and them useful or believable. He talks a lot about this group in terms that make me think there are enough of these people that I should be afraid of them, but the dynamics as described make me think it's a group probably in the dozens, with active members probably being less than that.

I think the audiobook could be helped out a lot by having someone else who doesn't have such strong feelings about the group involved reading it, and applying a level of neutrality to it.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* how have i never heard of this case?!?! will be watching the episode for sure! just wow! would reread for sure.

If you are someone who is interested in conspiracy theories and how those leading them gain followers this is the book for you! I loved the audio version of this and was able to listen to it easily within one day. It very much had a podcast feel which I loved as I enjoy podcasts about true events in our country. It was interesting to learn more about what gets people to "buy into" these conspiracy theories and Tony did a great job keeping personal bias out of this and was able to convey the story with an open mind.

This fascinating book is the tale of Sherry Shriner, her cult of followers, and the death of one of her ousted followers Steven Mineo at the hands of his wife. It is a deep dive into the thought and beliefs of said cult, her followers, and the results of falling out or being expelled from her following. It goes into great depth on their beliefs and worldview and follows the stories of many of their members and Sherry herself.

This book is a very well researched deep dive into conspiracy theories and the people that believe them. It is very well written and organized. You can tell how much time and passion was put into this book. The main argument is that we should not view the people that believe these things as crazy. They are people that are frustrated with normal society and life and the church and feel betrayed by them. They are looking for community and something to believe in.

The story of Mineo and his wife and what happened to them is told in as great a depth as it can be and it is deeply sad and upsetting. Reading the situation devolve and unravel is deeply upsetting. This isn’t the case of two crazy cult members getting what came to them. It’s a story of two people searching for a place to belong and watching as everything the believe in is taken away from them.

I absolutely love this book. I highly recommended for all true crime fans and fans of cult books in general.

This book is both darker and not as dark as I was expecting somehow. And unfortunately it just fell very flat.

This book was interesting. I always enjoy hearing about people's beliefs and what it is that can make so many people participate in a cult. I wish someone other than the author had narrated it. You could hear the distaste for the people he was talking about in his voice and he seemed to intentionally give them annoying voices to make them sound stupid and uneducated to the listener. It just feels rude, regardless of what you think about the people themselves or what their beliefs are.

Ok, this one was a HUGE let down for me. This may just be me, but the tone of this book seemed really aggressive towards its reader, right from the start. The author is going to "drag us [the reader]" into this story (which I know probably was a play on the title, but why drag?), we [the readers] are part of the problem leading to the growth of cults like this, we [the readers] need to get off our privileged high horses to understand how people get drawn into MLM's etc. There is a lot of language like that throughout the book. And while I understand (I think) the underlying points of each of the statements, which is that anyone at any given time, under the right circumstances can be enticed to enter a cult and that just dismissing people as crazy creates the power vacuum for these type of things to grow, the tone overall was off-putting. Additionally, I feel like the book needed more research. For example the author said we will "have to take [Sherri's] word" in regards to her graduation and I feel some digging would have revealed the truth or it could have explained why we had to take her work (was there a fire that destroyed records?). Additionally, there really isn't much detail as to why Kelly or Stephen was drawn into Sherri's belief system. What was so appealing about it? There was only conjecture, but no supporting evidence to back that conjecture up. I will say that I felt I feel like the author's explanation of shock (that your fundamental beliefs don't hold up ei. the world trade center event disproved that America was impervious to attack) and depression (and feelings of loneliness and isolation) can contribute to putting a person in the space to be venerable enough to be a target for a cult were spot on. I just (as mentioned before) would have liked more support to illustrate just how depressed Kelly was (more actual quotes from her diary illuminating her mental distress in regards to isolation) and more to illustrate just how hard Stephen was hit by 9-11, did he have a blog post about it etc.
TL;DR - This was just disappointing. It felt aggressive in tone towards the very readers it would supposedly want to draw in and it felt incomplete due to a lack of supporting documentation to the conclusions the author presented.

I’ll start this off with the fact that I love a true crime book, they always fascinate me. And although this is somewhat of a true crime book, it’s also a conspiracy themed book as well. Overall I was a bit intrigued, but I find these conspiracy theorists a bit exhausting. Overall the book was interesting to a point, but it didn’t keep my attention 100% of the time because of how “crazy” Sherry Shriner and her followers were.

This is a true crime story that the author researched and narrated. Therefore, I am going to be sensitive. This did not work for me.

I had the audiobook and would suggest employing a professional narrator. I didn't realize until now Russo read his book. I did note the fit was not there.

The book read more like a paper than a story. There were places I could see note cards being moved around. There is an incredible amount of profanity.

The story itself is creepy, it's psychologically targeting people who I suspect are not stable mentally, and the leader herself was quite manipulative which is why there is a book. I would like to understand the need for this to be in print.

Thank you NetGalley for accepting my request to read and review Dragged Into the Light.

Dragged Into the Light by Tony Russo, made top of my list in bizarre true crime books. The book centers on Sherry Shiner, a self-made prophet with an internet cult following. The account, both extremely tragic yet intriguing, recounts Shriner actions and mentality with what goes through the minds of individuals who seek to control the lives of others, and well as the needs of some others, to control their lives.

Enter "Truthers", and Reptilians (Shape Shifting Lizard-like Aliens) who Shriner believed and taught were Satan and his demons), Super Soldiers, and Special Pucks to ward off evil and battle the aliens - mix it with conspiracy theories and murder, and you have the makings of Dragged Into the Light.

Tony Russo narrates the book, however, his voice is like a reporter, and the audiobook's feel is more like a podcast than an audiobook. The narrator's voice while not unpleasant, is basically monotone.

Recommended for those who enjoy conspiracy theories with religious tones.

3 Stars ⭐⭐⭐

My thanks to NetGalley, Secant Publishing, and Tony Russo for the opportunity to listen to an AAC in exchange for my honest opinion.

“Once we’ve decided to believe in something it takes much more energy to unbelieve it then it does to take that belief a little further.”

I listened to this book on audio narrated by the author and I really liked hearing him tell the story he had written. This was such a twisty, mind boggling story about a cult that mixed evangelism, mysticism, conspiracy theories, and ultra right politics to make for an amalgamation of a movement that was bound to end poorly one way or another. The author made sure to acknowledge these people were taken advantage of by Sherry Shriner, but also acknowledged it’s hard not to pass judgment on them for the truly out of this world (sometimes literally) beliefs that they all whole heartedly believed. With a clear and concise timeline of events that are clearly very well researched the author lays out everything that happened. I listened to this in 2 sittings because I enjoyed it so much.

*a copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This is a true crime account. Steve Mineo lives with his “wife” in the Poconos. Mineo ends up dead at the hands of his wife, Barbara. However, why this happened is a strange tale indeed. If this was fiction it would be unbelievable. Steve and Barbara, especially Steve, was a follower of a woman named Sherry Shriner. Sherry Shriner was an internet cult leader. She believed that modern traditional Christian religion had been taken over by the devil and that she and her followers were fighting what were basically shape-shifting lizard aliens that would possess people, political leaders for example. Sherry expected total unquestioning loyalty. Steve Mineo gave her that.
I would have been fascinated by this story, if it had been a bland recitation of the facts. Tony Russo does a good job of covering the story, as well as giving us background. The author also speculates about what exactly it is about cults, conspiracy theories that attract certain people. I don’t know if I agree with him. He doesn’t present evidence to support his suppositions. Regardless of this, I found the account fascinating and tragic. Sherry Shriner left many victims in her wake.
For true crime enthusiasts, I recommend this book. 3 stars.

"Dragged Into the Night" reads like fiction, yet it's true. How an Ohio housewife managed to convince her followers that she was a prophet, an alien tracker and a social media influencer still boggles the mind. Tony Russo is an expert on Sherry Shriner, her followers and the death of more than one devotee. He's followed this case since Steven Mineo was murdered in 2017. He's discussed the cases in a documentary series, a book and an audiobook.

You can hear it in Russo's voice that he still finds the facts disturbing -- and sad. How could one person convince so many that a special puck could ward off evil and repel aliens? Russo delves into her powers of persuasion over people who just wanted to believe in something, anything, to ease their powerlessness and give them a sense of control over their lives.

Yes, Mineo's girlfriend Barbara Rogers allegedly pulled the trigger, but the young man had long been a victim. Shriner killed his soul with her internet "ministry" that turned against him. As Russo shows through his investigative reporting and writing, Shriner had an evil eye and heart ready to pierce those who spoke against her.

This is fascinating! It goes along with the multi-episode documentary on the Sherry Shriner cult that is season two of "The Devil You Know" (Vice).

The cult she led had its share of tragedies. She claimed that followers and others were killed by NATO assassins following the directions of allied aliens able to take over human bodies. Member Kelly Pingilley’s body was found in the woods in an apparent sleeping pill suicide. Disillusioned Steve Mineo is expelled from Sherry Shriner’s cult and somehow ends up a handgun death with his girlfriend Barbara Rogers involved following making online attacks on Shriner.

So, this conspiracy cult battles Satan with homemade orgone pucks. Cult leader Shriner needs donation due to impending doomsday. This is true crime reportage with an axis of NATO-New World Order (NWO)-reptilian aliens and apparently thousands of followers/believers/viewers. Sherry Shriner started with a Bible codes obsession and graduated to founding an online cult whose fear- and anxiety-inducing beliefs led to a brutal death.

Did I mean to binge listen to this book until I was done? Nope, but like all good dumpster fires I couldn't stop.

At the beginning Russo asks us to not criticize the beliefs of the subjects of the book, but instead to understand that they live in a completely reality to the one that you and I exist in. The problem with that is you can hear it in his tone throughout a certain level of vitriol for having to give any kind of credit to these beliefs. I don't fault him for that, I feel the same way.

This stories told in this book are tragic in that way that makes you desperate to know more. How do people find themselves in a reality where reptiles inhabit human skin, resin with copper in it will cure disease and stop demons, and midwestern housewives are God's chosen profits? How does that lead the most devout believers to lose their way and their lives?

Evil does exist in the world, but unfortunately it's not as biblical as the people in this book want it to be. Their vulnerability and willingness to follow people like Sherry Shriner makes them victims, but the hate that they spew in the name of "truth" just adds to the evil in the world. It's just terrifying to know that this "counterculture" has only grown and found more power since the time of Shriner.

Tony Russo is a podcaster and the audiobook listens like one. It took me a minute to get used to his tone, and it was honestly hard to listen to the segments when he was reading quoted statements. This would have worked better for me as either a podcast with the audio from the subjects and interviews or in the book format. Russo just came across winey and nasaley. Although I guess anytime I've ever heard a truther speak it's been in that same tone...

Solidly fascinating book, couldn't stop listening.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook for my honest review!