"The Blessed and the Damned" is the latest in Michael Wallace's Blister Creek series. It's the story of two warring fundamentalist LDS cults, replete with competing "prophets," sister wives ... the whole shebang.It also has overtones of the Branch Davidian compound, as each of the warring sects has an arsenal in preparation for the "end of times."Picking up where the last novel left off (although each book can stand alone pretty well), we have Dr Jacob Christianson (son of one of the self-proclaimed prophets) and his wife, Fernie -- who is about to give birth to their first child. Jacob is a walk-away from the fundamentalist lifestyle. Fernie was a wife of the leader of the other fundamentalist group and has two children, although her marriage was not considered legal in the eyes of the state. We also have Eliza, Jacob's sister, who faked her own death in order to get away from Taylor Junior, son of the other group's leader and another self-proclaimed prophet. When Taylor Junior decides to take back what he sees as his property, the twists and turns begin.This is an entertaining suspense novel that takes a long, hard look at the dark side of fundamentalist religion (which exists across ethnicities, cultures and dogma). Wallace exposes the underbelly of the FLDS in his works at the same time that he writes a good tale. Highly recommended.(Review based on uncorrected advance proof.)
