New Mormon Books

In Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer interweaves this true-crime 1984 murder story with the fascinating history of the Church of Latter Day Saints, showing the undercurrent of violence and bloodshed prevalent in the religion since the early days, a legacy that endures in the Mormon fundamentalist sect which the Lafferty brothers wholeheartedly embraced.

Book Review: Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
By Friend Mouse
Blogcritics Books, Jul 06, 2009.
http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-under-the-banner-of1/

Don’t miss this book. It’s easily one of the best I’ve read in a while. Krakauer seamlessly intertwines the history of the Mormon faith with the story of Ron and Dan Lafferty, two Mormon fundamentalists who killed their sister-in-law and baby niece. It’s a fascinating and an addicting story. I couldn’t put it down.

Summer reading suggestions
By Elizabeth Held
Schenectady NY Daily Gazette Blogs: Held Out for Comment, June 10, 2009
http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/held/2009/jun/10/0610_books/

Part true crime, part Mormon expose, this book focuses on the pockets of fundamentalist Mormons that have flourished in years past in Utah, Idaho and the Four Corners area. Wrapped around the murder of a young Mormon woman and her infant daughter committed by fundamentalists, the more sordid side of this sect is uncovered in this compelling book.

We’re feeling rather evangelical today….
By Michelle
A Reader’s Respite, June 21, 2009.
http://readersrespite.blogspot.com/2009/06/were-feeling-rather-evangelical-today.html

Like a train-wreck followed by a tornado followed by the Holocaust, the story of the Mormon Fundamentalist religion is confounding and nightmarish. Jon Krakauer focuses on the 1984 murder committed by Ron and Dan Lafferty of their brother’s wife and baby daughter. But to understand the case (or, to fully comprehend the amount of historic horror that backs it up), Krakauer unpacks the Mormon story from its inception.

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
by Micah Ling
BookPunch, June 6, 2009
http://bookpunch.blogspot.com/2009/06/under-banner-of-heaven-story-of-violent.html