Hallelujah City

* Fiction. By Tom LaMarr. University of New Mexico Press, $24.95. Grade: B

Plot in a nutshell: Coloradan La Marr offers a thought-provoking examination of how families are affected when one of their own joins a cult. For Scott Chambers, a passive, lonely, single parent, the pain is almost overwhelming when his 21-year-old daughter appears on his doorstep carrying the child of the leader of a Minnesota cult, of which she is a member.

Gone is the sweet little girl he had parented since her mother's death years earlier. The aptly named Mary is now hostile and contemptuous of her father's staid routine. Because she believes the world's end is imminent, Mary attempts to proselytize her father into believing doctrines espoused by Daniel, the cult leader and self- proclaimed son of God. But when the world does not end on the prophesied date, Mary blames her own weakness and resolves to return to Daniel. In an uncharacteristic show of strength, Scott insists on accompanying her as she drives across the country to the cult compound.

As Scott and Mary endure their on-the-road-adventures, Adrian Hummel, an author struggling to write a book about the cult, gains Mary's confidence and is in frequent cell- phone contact with her as she travels. From his motel at the edge of the isolated compound, the author becomes increasingly aware that Daniel is about to enact a dramatic Doomsday scenario of his own.

Sample of prose: "She just wanted to talk with Him now, face to face, to make sure He was okay and to ask His personal forgiveness. 'If I need it, teacher.' She'd add these last words because He still needed to clarify what it all meant. Her pregnancy? Was it good or bad?"

Pros: Moving beyond media sensationalism, LaMarr depicts the vulnerability of those who join cults and the family suffering involved.

Cons: Adrian's character is too underdeveloped for the role he plays in the plot.

Final word: LaMarr subtly but successfully portrays the manipulations of a self-proclaimed Messiah.