A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology

ISBN: 1982185775

Author: Rinder, Mike

Condition: New

One of the highest-ranking defectors from Scientology exposes the secret inner workings of the powerful organization in this remarkable memoir that is not only a cautionary tale but also an inspiring story of resilience (Leah Remini, New York Times bestselling author).Mike Rinders parents began taking him to their local Scientology center when he was five years old. After high school, he signed a billion-year contract and was admitted into Scientologys elite inner circle, the Sea Organization. Brought to founder L. Ron Hubbards yacht and promised training in Hubbards most advanced techniques, Rinder was instead put to work swabbing the decks.Still, Rinder bought into the doctrine that his personal comfort was secondary to the higher purpose of Hubbards world-saving mission, swiftly rising through the ranks. In the 1980s, Rinder became Scientologys international spokesperson and the head of its powerful Office of Special Affairs. He helped negotiate Scientologys pivotal tax exemption from the IRS and engaged with the organizations prominent celebrity members, including Tom Cruise, Lisa Marie Presley, and John Travolta.Yet Rinder couldnt shake a nagging feeling that something was amiss-Hubbards promises remained unfulfilled at his death, and his successor, David Miscavige, was a ruthless and vindictive man who did not hesitate to confine many top Scientologists, Mike among them, to a makeshift prison known as the Hole.In 2007, at the age of fifty-two, Rinder finally escaped Scientology. Overnight, he became one of the organizations biggest public enemies. He was followed, hacked, spied on, and tracked. But he refused to be intimidated and today helps people break free of Scientology.An intensely personal, cathartic memoir of blind allegiance, betrayal, and liberation (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), A Billion Years reveals the dark, dystopian truth about Scientology as never before.