Editorial Content for Cultured: A Jake Longly Thriller
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
This latest entry in the Jake Longly series makes a six-pack for cardiologist-author D.P. Lyle. It starts innocently with whimsical humor but turns dark: “This is freaking evil on steroids.”
Clarice Wilkerson’s daughter, April, dropped off the radar a few weeks ago after becoming involved in Jonathon Lindemann’s self-help and enlightenment retreat called The Lindemann Method, with its $120,000 membership fee. TLM recruits wealthy people and promises enormous financial returns, sort of like that Bernie guy who made off with wealthy people’s money. Clarice won’t give April an advance on her lottery-like inheritance to pay TLM’s hefty fee, so April had been working there as a courtesan. Rhea Wilson, Lindemann’s second-in-command, says, “We need hostesses who are attractive and smart and can present a professional and cultured face.”
"Readers who can get past troubling events in this novel --- events that happen in real life --- will find it an enjoyable read. And perhaps become more aware of cults and those who consider people expendable 'merchandise.'"
Tommy (Pancake) Jeffers “lumbered his six-five, 280-pound frame” over to Jake and Nicole sitting by the Gulf Shores, Alabama beach. Jake’s dad, Ray, is a no-nonsense private investigator. Pancake is his partner PI and cyber-wiz. “Each time I became entangled in Ray’s business, dangerous and chaotic situations popped up.”
Perhaps April quit communicating with her mom out of spite over the inheritance, but Clarice has hired Ray to investigate what she believes is April’s disappearance. He dispatches former pro-baseball pitcher Jake and famed Hollywood screenwriter Nicole to infiltrate Lindemann’s posh retreat, on the pretense of joining the group of wealthy people in an elite club that “will fix what ails you and make you rich.” The question begs: Why would wealthy people pay $120,000 to become rich? But this is America, where too much is never enough.
The celebrity couple is dazzled by TLM’s Vegas-like luxury suite, champagne and all. They meet the hostesses, all of whom speak highly of The Farm. Several of them allegedly have married wealthy guests and are living the good life. But they never return to get richer, as Lindemann purports. April was last seen voluntarily and alone taking a flight from Tallahassee to Tampa, where she attends parties at Andrew Heche’s home (“It’s more like a boutique hotel”) and cruises the Gulf on Andrew’s 85-foot luxury yacht, After Hours. Ah, the good life!
The dark side of CULTURED seems to tear a page from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s rap sheet.
Readers who can get past troubling events in this novel --- events that happen in real life --- will find it an enjoyable read. And perhaps become more aware of cults and those who consider people expendable “merchandise.”
Teaser
Jake Longly is back where he belongs: relaxing on the beach in front of his restaurant in Gulf Shores, Alabama. His peace is interrupted, however, when he receives a call from his private investigator father. April Wilkerson has gone missing from Lindemann Farms, the rustic yet posh resort built by self-help and financial guru Jonathon Lindemann. Lindemann, founder of The Lindemann Method (TLM), recruits wealthy people to join his program, charging a hefty entry fee but in return promising huge financial gains and self-enlightenment. Jake’s celebrity status makes him the best person for the case. When Jake and his girlfriend, Nicole, go on an undercover visit to Lindemann Farms, some suspicious activity makes them wonder about the legitimacy of TLM.
Promo
Jake Longly is back where he belongs: relaxing on the beach in front of his restaurant in Gulf Shores, Alabama. His peace is interrupted, however, when he receives a call from his private investigator father. April Wilkerson has gone missing from Lindemann Farms, the rustic yet posh resort built by self-help and financial guru Jonathon Lindemann. Lindemann, founder of The Lindemann Method (TLM), recruits wealthy people to join his program, charging a hefty entry fee but in return promising huge financial gains and self-enlightenment. Jake’s celebrity status makes him the best person for the case. When Jake and his girlfriend, Nicole, go on an undercover visit to Lindemann Farms, some suspicious activity makes them wonder about the legitimacy of TLM.
About the Book
Money, sex, power. Jonathon Lindemann offers it all --- just don’t mind the missing girls.
Jake Longly, ex-pro baseball player turned restauranteur, is back where he belongs: relaxing on the beach in front of his restaurant in Gulf Shores, Alabama. His peace is interrupted, however, when he receives a call from his private investigator father --- April Wilkerson has gone missing from Lindemann Farms, the rustic yet posh resort built by self-help and financial guru Jonathon Lindemann.
Lindemann, founder of The Lindemann Method (TLM), recruits wealthy people to join his program, charging a hefty entry fee but in return promising huge financial gains and self-enlightenment. Jake’s celebrity status makes him the best person for the case.
When Jake and his girlfriend, Nicole, go on an undercover visit to Lindemann Farms, some suspicious activity makes them wonder about the legitimacy of TLM. Soon, a private conversation with one of the girls hired to work at the resort reveals their unorthodox, and immoral, recruitment methods.
As the layers peel away, darker edges appear. Does Jonathon truly make money for his investors, or is he a scam artist? Is April merely the latest in a series of missing young women? Jake and Nicole need to find her, and soon, before TLM catches wind of their true reasons for visiting the farm.
