Introduction

"Weible deftly unpacks the cunning charm of the cult leader in this unsettling novel...a powerful story."

--Kirkus Reviews

In this compelling novel, a young girl is thrust into a dark and dangerous faith.

Celia’s family is like so many others struggling in a bad economy. In the small town of Brock, South Carolina, Celia’s father delivers newspapers, and her mother works in a dentist’s office. They are a hardworking, industrious family, but that isn’t enough. When Celia’s father suffers an injury and is unable to work an extra shift, the family begins to crack. Celia’s mother loses her job soon afterward.

In an effort to cope with their poverty and depression, Celia’s parents become more active in their church. The church, led by the charismatic young preacher Barrett Higgins, gives Celia’s parents hope for a better life. They become more and more enthralled with his warnings of the Second Coming of Christ and an upcoming revolution against the secular world. When the family loses their house, they move onto Barrett’s compound. There, in the heart of a growing and powerful cult, Celia begins to realize the horrible truth behind the pastor’s teachings.

Prophet of Loss explores the dark charisma of cult leaders and the desperation that leads a congregation to blindly follow them into deadly places.

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

In the early days of the compound, before rape was followed by champagne and before she helped murder a man, Celia crouched over a baby bird. Its feathers were nothing like feathers as she knew them but a gray down resembling fur that parted in the breeze revealing a thin line of nude raw flesh, like a scar. "Repent," she demanded of the small puff of sin. It peeped unrepentantly. Her friend Rebekah, squatting beside her, thrust a splay-fingered hand over the bird and cried out, "Cast your sin to the…" she turned her head into her shoulder, pondering whither the bird's sin would best be cast, "…the wolves," she decided. "And taste the bread and jam that is Christ's salvation." The bird remained an inert lump for a few seconds, then shat small and white in the dirt. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

How did you experience the book? Were you immediately drawn into the story—or did it take a while? Did the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, irritate, or frighten you?

Which characters do you particularly admire or dislike? Did your feelings towards any of the characters change as you got deeper into the story?

Can you pick out a passage that strikes you as particularly profound or interesting?

Does the book remind you of your own life? An event? A person—like a friend, family member, boss, co-worker?

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