Death in the jungle : murder, betrayal, and the lost dream of Jonestown / Candace Fleming.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

How did Jim Jones, the leader of Peoples Temple, convince more than 900 of his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced punch? From a master of narrative nonfiction comes a chilling chronicle of one of the most notorious cults in American history.

A YALSA EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION WINNER . A SCBWI GOLDEN KITE AWARD FINALIST . ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR- Publishers Weekly, BookPage, Horn Book, Booklist, The Bulletin of The Center for Children's Books, School Library Journal

Using riveting first-person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming reveals the makings of a monster- from Jones's humble origins as a child of the Depression... to his founding of a group whose idealistic promises of equality and justice attracted thousands of followers... to his relocation of Temple headquarters from California to an unsettled territory in Guyana, South America, which he dubbed "Jonestown"... to his transformation of Peoples Temple into a nefarious experiment in mind-control.

And Fleming heart-stoppingly depicts Jones's final act, persuading his followers to swallow fatal doses of cyanide-to "drink the kool-aid," as it became known-as a test of their ultimate devotion.

Here is a sweeping story that traces, step by step, the ways in which one man slowly indoctrinated, then murdered, 900 innocent, well- meaning people. And how a few members, Jones' own son included, stood up to him... but not before it was too late.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Key People in This Book (1)
• A Note About Terminology (11)
• Prologue: "The Horrors of Jonestown" (13)
• Part 1 Beginnings
• Chapter 1 One Weird Kid (23)
• Chapter 2 Husband and Healer (35)
• Chapter 3 Hyacinth and Zip (50)
• Chapter 4 All a Facade (57)
• Chapter 5 Hanging On to Jim (66)
• Chapter 6 Strange Odyssey (71)
• Part 2 Relocating
• Chapter 7 California Dreaming (79)
• Chapter 8 Joining Jim (86)
• Chapter 9 Reeling In Members (93)
• Chapter 10 Carolyn (98)
• Chapter 11 Brother Tim and God the Father (103)
• Chapter 12 Secrets Behind the Temple's Doors (108)
• Part 3 Radicalizing
• Chapter 13 Multiplying (119)
• Chapter 14 Pill Popping and Paranoia (124)
• Chapter 15 Truth by Trickles (129)
• Chapter 16 Going Communal (134)
• Chapter 17 Annie (140)
• Chapter 18 "I Know a Place" (144)
• Chapter 19 Escape! (148)
• Chapter 20 Father's Grand Plan (155)
• Chapter 21 Pioneers (159)
• Chapter 22 Kimo (164)
• Chapter 23 Tommy and Brian (167)
• Chapter 24 Death and Sacrifice (172)
• Part 4 Exodus
• Chapter 25 Life in the Jungle (179)
• Chapter 26 First Cracks (184)
• Chapter 27 Going to the Promised Land (189)
• Chapter 28 "Inside Peoples Temple" (196)
• Chapter 29 Father in Jonestown (199)
• Chapter 30 God's Nurse and a Surprise for Tommy (206)
• Part 5 Jonestown
• Chapter 31 Hyacinth in the Promised Land (215)
• Chapter 32 The Stoens and the Six-Day Siege (222)
• Chapter 33 Gone Boys (232)
• Chapter 34 Death and Secrets (239)
• Chapter 35 The Jonestown Team (243)
• Chapter 36 Exit Plans (249)
• Chapter 37 The Congressman's Visit (255)
• Chapter 38 Friday, November 17 (262)
• Chapter 39 Saturday Morning, November 18 (270)
• Chapter 40 Saturday Afternoon, November 18 (278)
• Chapter 41 The End (287)
• Part 6 After
• Chapter 42 The Days After (303)
• Chapter 43 Aftermath (310)
• Author's Note (317)
• Acknowledgments (321)
• Sources (323)
• Bibliography (339)
• Image Credits (345)
• Index (349)

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Chapter One One Weird Kid The first time Jim Jones asked followers to play dead was on an autumn night in 1941. The ten-­year-­old urged the other boys to come on. They hesitated. Jimmy Jones wasn't a friend. Not really. Sure, they hung around with him, but they didn't like him. He was bossy and controlling. And he always got his way. But there was something magnetic about him, too. Somehow, he coaxed them into doing things they knew they shouldn't. Take the previous week, for example. They'd been playing in the loft over the Joneses' garage when Jimmy persuaded them to walk out on the rafters. They'd be like tightrope walkers in the circus, he'd said. His playmates went first, slowly and in single file because the rafters were so narrow. Jimmy sidled out behind them. One of the boys looked down. It was a long way to the floor, at least ten feet. He tried to back off the rafter, but Jimmy wouldn't budge. "Move back!" the boy yelled. "I can't move," declared Jimmy. "The Angel of Death is holding me." For several long moments the boys teetered precariously on the rafters. They begged him to move. All the while Jimmy watched them with "a weird look on his face," recalled one of the boys. Then, finally, he claimed the angel had released him. They all inched their way back to safety. Afterward, the boys agreed: Jimmy Jones was nuts. They swore never to play with him again. And yet, just days later, they were sneaking out with him. His gifts of persuasion had once again been impossible to ignore. Beneath a harvest moon they followed their leader across the small town of Lynn, Indiana. No one noticed the little group. In those days most of Lynn's citizens went to bed early. It didn't take long for the group to reach the warehouse on the edge of town. The boys stopped. What were they doing here? Jimmy sprinted to the warehouse door. It was unlocked. He beckoned the others to follow. They could trust him. Trust? None of the others trusted Jimmy. Still, one by one, they slipped into the warehouse. Slowly, their eyes adjusted to the darkness, and they saw what was inside: coffins, dozens of them. Jimmy opened the lid of one and climbed in. He insisted the others do the same. He instructed them to just lie there. That way, they might find out what it was like to be dead. He wiggled into position, arranged his hands across his chest, and closed his eyes. It was too much for his companions. Yelping with fear, they bolted from the warehouse, leaving Jimmy behind. He lay there alone, absorbed in morbid revelry. What happened to you after you died? What did it feel like? And how would it feel if your soul was raised from the dead? The boy didn't find any answers that night. But he kept going back to the coffins. Despite Jimmy's magnetism, the other boys never returned with him. -- James Warren Jones had few memories of his parents' farm near tiny Crete, Indiana. Born on May 13, 1931, he was just three years old when the Great Depression bankrupted his parents. The financial loss sent his father, a physically disabled and unemployed World War I veteran nicknamed Big Jim, over the edge. On the day the bank foreclosed, Big Jim beat his fists on the floor. "I've gone as far as I can go!" he cried. "You go ahead and cry," Jimmy's mother, Lynetta, replied, "but I'll whip this if it's the last thing I ever do." Moving her family to the slightly larger town of Lynn, just five miles away, she rented a cheap house and found work at the glass factory. She wasn't the only working mother in that sleepy little town. The Depression had forced plenty of women into the role of breadwinner. But she was by far the most unconventional. In those days people in Lynn did little more than earn a living, raise their children, and go to church on both Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. Since there weren't any African Americans, Catholics, or Jews living within the town limits, there wasn't any reason for the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan to appear with their hoods and fiery crosses. (Around that time 30 percent of all native-­born white men in Indiana were KKK members.) Alcoholic drinks were not sold within the town limits, and dancing, which many considered immoral, was prohibited at the high school. Crime was rare. Into this conservative Christian community barreled Lynetta Jones. She cursed in public, wore trousers, and puffed on hand-­rolled cigarettes. It was eyebrow-­raising behavior, especially for a woman. Her worst transgression, at least in the eyes of Lynn's citizens, was not attending church, and the town boasted six of them. There were the Nazarenes and the Methodists, the Disciples of Christ, the Baptists, the Quakers, and the Pentecostals. As in the rest of the state, evangelical Protestantism reigned. It was commonly believed that those who were not in a pew every Sunday were on the road to eternal damnation. Lynetta Jones thought it all poppycock. It seemed ridiculous to her that some spirit in the sky decided who got into heaven. Those folks who went to church were, in her opinion, mindless dupes. While Lynetta worked and Big Jim sat wheezing and in pain by the front window, their little boy wandered all over town, alone and unsupervised. Sometimes he was half-­naked. Sometimes he scampered along the sidewalks gnawing on the sandwich Lynetta had left for his lunch. He loved animals, perhaps because they gave him unconditional affection, and he could often be found playing with the neighbors' cats and dogs. The town's homemakers clucked about the neglected child. Was he going hungry? When was the last time he'd had a bath? Had anyone taught him the Lord's Prayer? They invited him into their homes, cleaned him up, and fed him. Jimmy--­not yet five years old--­quickly learned how to say or do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted. He had an instinctual ability to quickly surmise what was important to someone, and he could convince that person that he felt the same (even if he didn't). He swore to each woman that hers was the best pie, or biscuit, or cookie. He acted polite and grateful. He played on their sympathies, spinning false tales about his father's cruel and terrifying behavior. Having sussed out a homemaker's interest--­needlepoint, gardening, baking--­he claimed to share her enthusiasm. Each woman felt she had a special bond with Jimmy Jones. Little Jimmy was simply trying to survive. "Manipulation was not a conscious thing for him," his son Stephan would later claim. But because of these early experiences, the act of manipulation became second nature, an ingrained part of his personality. Across the street from the Jones family lived Myrtle Kennedy. Myrtle was dedicated to God. She led prayer meetings, organized church potlucks, and taught Sunday school at the Nazarene church, where her husband, Orville was pastor. With a glad heart, she followed the Nazarenes' strict rules: no dancing, no card playing, no short sleeves or short skirts. Like many of the other ladies in town, she felt sorry for little Jimmy Jones. One morning while Myrtle stood in the grocer's line, she heard a neighbor talking about the child. Jimmy, now seven, had been playing on the tracks when a train came along. He'd almost been run over, exclaimed the woman. The wheels had actually grazed his cheek. The neighbor saw it as another example of Lynetta Jones's carelessness as a mother. Myrtle, however, took it as a sign from God. The Lord, she believed, had saved the boy so she could take him under her wing. Now whenever she saw Jimmy out wandering, she called him in for cookies or pie. She learned his favorite meals--­macaroni and cheese, and grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup--­and made them for him. Soon he went to Myrtle's home every day. Sometimes he even slept there overnight. Lynetta didn't care. It kept the boy out of her hair. She might have been more concerned if she knew her son called Myrtle "Mom." The title pleased Myrtle, who had no children of her own. She saw herself as Jimmy's spiritual mother. And she set out to save his soul by reading to him from the Bible. The boy--­bright and always eager to please--­soon quoted scripture back to her. She was charmed. Eventually, Myrtle got up the nerve to ask Lynetta if she could take the boy to church. What could it hurt? decided Lynetta. She figured Jimmy was too smart to fall for all that church baloney. Besides, without the kid around on Sunday, she could put up her feet and drink a forbidden beer or two. That first Sunday morning in the Nazarene church felt like a homecoming to Jimmy. People welcomed him warmly. Ladies patted his round cheeks with the soft tips of their white-­gloved fingers. Men thumped his scrawny back congenially. Everyone said it was good to see him. He slid into a pew beside Myrtle. An organ began to soulfully play, a signal that the service was about to begin. The air smelled of perfume and hair pomade. But it was the preacher who transfixed Jimmy--­his shiny satin robe, his booming voice and fiery words. He commanded everyone's attention. The entire congregation sat riveted. And they did e verything the preacher told them to do--­stand, sit, open their hymnals, pray. Jimmy suddenly wanted to be just like that preacher. Respected. Admired. The center of attention. After that, Jimmy could hardly wait for Sunday. He memorized everything he heard at church. Within weeks he could repeat hymns, prayers, and lengthy Bible verses verbatim. His ability dazzled Myrtle. What a whip-­smart, marvelously gifted boy she'd been called to save. He was going to make a fine member of the Nazarene church. Excerpted from Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In riveting detail, Fleming (The Enigma Girls) recounts the murder of more than 900 Peoples Temple followers in Guyana by American cult leader Jim Jones (1931--1978). A prologue poses complicated questions ("What caused seemingly 'normal' people to get caught up in something so fanatical?"), provides historical and contemporary cult definitions, and includes examples of their potentially destructive values and demands. Searing accounts of Peoples Temple survivors and defectors go on to examine Jones's personal history, which a quote from the subject's son Stephan asserts one must know to understand the formation of the organization. Frank text notes Jones was "bossy and controlling. And always got his way" during his upbringing in Indiana. Struggling to make ends meet in adulthood, Jones earns money and gains his initial following by traveling with the revival circuit, a nomadic group of preachers who "claimed to have been called by God to spread the Gospel." An author's note highlights Fleming's hope that this fascinating and disturbing work will help readers "recognize the destructive groups in their own midst." Includes b&w photographs, biographies of key players, and source list. Ages 12--up. (Apr.)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up--Fleming tackles the harrowing story of the Jonestown massacre, at which over 900 people, one-third of whom were children, died in a mass murder-suicide at the direction of Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones in Guyana in 1978. She covers how by preaching racial equality and faith healing, Jones, a white, charismatic Pentecostal preacher, founded his church in a poor, segregated section of 1950s Indianapolis. His ministry quickly became popular, particularly among African Americans. Fearing nuclear attack, in 1965, he moved his church and followers to northern California, where he started a communal living compound. He soon expanded, amassing a few thousand followers who signed over everything from their property to even guardianship of their children. Some members became disillusioned, and a few managed to leave, but overall numbers grew. By the early 1970s, Jones renounced all religion, was an avowed socialist, and lived a drug-addicted, paranoid life, controlling every aspect of his followers' lives. In 1978, reports of financial misconduct and physical abuse led to a Congressional visit and the murder of visiting officials, the antecedent to Jones's order for "revolutionary suicide." Fleming's writing is riveting as she adeptly chronicles Jones's motivations, appeal, and downward spiral of his mental state while compassionately portraying the heartbreaking account of many victims. Extensive documentation shows her detailed research, including interviews with survivors interested in seeing their story told as a cautionary tale for young people. VERDICT Gripping and wrenching. A must for all libraries.--Karen T. Bilton

Booklist Review

Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple have remained a subject of fascination long after the horrifying, infamous events in Guyana in the 1970s, and Fleming brings her trademark deep research and thoughtful approach to this account of Jones' ascension and violent downfall. Working roughly chronologically, she begins with Jones' early life in the Midwest, the initial idea behind the Peoples Temple in Indiana, the opportunistic ways he used rhetoric of social justice and spirituality to attract followers, and the increasing paranoia and conspiratorial thinking that led him to uproot (and, in some cases, kidnap) his followers to Jonestown. Fleming focuses largely on Jones' increasingly unsettling behavior, but she clearly works hard to give voice to many survivors of Jonestown, allowing them to describe their own reasons for following Jones and how they have dealt with the aftermath. Notably, Fleming emphasizes that Jones' final violent act was not, as it is often assumed, the consenting suicide of almost 1,000 people; rather, she carefully notes the many documented dissents of his victims. It's inherently a gruesome story, but she does a skillful job of balancing the need to satisfy readers' curiosity about the details with empathetic attention paid to the survivors and their families. Teens fascinated by cults will find plenty of that here, but they'll also come away with a more nuanced understanding of a highly sensationalized historical event.

Horn Book Review

On Saturday, November 18, 1978, more than nine hundred members of Jim Jones's Peoples Temple died at Jonestown in Guyana. Though the event was originally described as a mass suicide, it eventually became known that many, including infants, children, and the elderly, were murdered. Early chapters present a biographical treatment of Jones, covering his boyhood, marriage, and early Christian ministry in Indiana. Uncharacteristically for the time, his congregations were racially integrated, and they appealed to many as the civil rights era dawned. Eventually, in 1965, he moved Peoples Temple to California, shed Christianity in favor of socialism, and began steadily to exert control over every facet of his group, including members' property, income, and relationships. Jones often used gross manipulation and deception to do so, and increasing scrutiny drove him to Guyana. When Congressman Leo Ryan came for an investigative visit, it set the tragic events in motion. It's a testament to Fleming's storytelling prowess that the book becomes more and more compelling despite our knowledge of the outcome. If some of her recent titles have contained elements of true crime, this one (along with Murder Among Friends, rev. 3/22) also dabbles in another genre: horror. Black-and-white captioned photographs are gathered in the middle and at the end of the book. An annotated list of key people prefaces the volume, while an author's note, sources, a bibliography, and an index are appended. Jonathan HuntMay/June 2025 p.108 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

An account of the pathology and charm of Jim Jones, who led 918 people to their deaths in the Guyanese jungle in 1978. Neglected young Jimmy learned the art of manipulation early--pathos and compliments could earn him a meal from mothers in his small Indiana town. He studied both local preachers and Adolf Hitler to learn persuasive oratory skills and was fascinated by death and power. Marrying in 1949 at age 18, he worked in a Methodist church before hitting the revival circuit as a fraudulent faith healer until he'd attracted enough attention to start his own church. At first, Jones seemed to be a powerful force for good--encouraging full racial integration and providing church members with material as well as spiritual assistance. As his Peoples Temple grew, he began preaching socialism, coercing members to obey nonsensical commands, and convincing them that nuclear annihilation was imminent. He relocated to California and then Guyana, where, despite his heavy drug use, dismissal of the Christian "sky god," and assumption of the mantle of "earth God," he held enough sway over his followers to cause their deaths, many by suicide (hundreds of others were murdered). With her trademark precision, absorbing writing, and meticulous research, Fleming leads readers to understand not only what Jones did but how. Her heart-stopping, heart-wrenching work with its substantive backmatter draws heavily on survivors' memories, both from her own interviews and archival transcripts, and shows how cults strip their victims of autonomy. Extraordinary and illuminating.(Nonfiction. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.