Question F

[Jonetta]

Alden Pike was able to create an entire community off the grid. Given the amount of uninhabited land in states like Wyoming, do you think something like this can really happen for this long? Should someone or some authority have become suspicious?

[Charlene]

I do wonder whether such communities could truly exist.

I am bothered by the fact that I've read a story line very much like this one not so long ago. I began to wonder if I'd read this book before (as I was working my way through it), but I realized that it was a different story. I hope not too many romantic suspense authors pursue such similar plots.

[Jonetta]

I read about one in Robyn Carr's Thunder Point series but it was significantly different in so many ways.

With all the satellite capabilities, it's hard for me to understand how they could have sustained a community like this for over ten years undetected. But, some of those western states take pride in respecting this type of lifestyle.

[Charlene]

I don't think it was the Robyn Carr I'm thinking of, but I could be wrong. The woman "undercover" in the vaguely familiar story was much more into the life of the community before she was discovered as an agent. There were arms and revolt against the government, and the community was a cover for the second sinister plot, if memory serves.

[Jonetta]

Was it Killing Time by Cindy Gerard?

[Charlene]

It could have been, thanks. I was scanning some other reviews of Killing Time, and one person made the comment that she'd read something with a similar plot of someone getting into a Compound, so I'm not the only one who finds herself reading something familiar, but definitely going another direction, in this case.

[Quynh]

I don't know too much about the U.S. geographic regions but even as remote as his tranquility was, you'd think in that 10 years, somebody would have come across it, hikers/campers etc. This kind of community and brainwashing do happen unfortunately, just look up Jonestown. *shudders*

[Jonetta]

Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Utah...they're all states with enormous uninhabited geographical areas. It's possible, especially with how they protected it.

[Jonetta]

One more thing...

About Jonestown, they knew about it but couldn't penetrate it.

[Quynh]

Yeah that's true. It would be harder to get to remote areas. Though I wonder how Alden got his buildings and such built? Was the supplies brought up by his people themselves? Even building things that big would garner some attention, though if he purchasing things from different places like how he kidnapped the girls from different states, I guess he would be able to get away with it.

[Jonetta]

Really good point. I'd imagine he had the men go pick up all the supplies and deliver them. I assumed they were self sufficient in all areas.

[Quynh]

I would think so as well. They would have to grow their own food, get their own water supplies etc.

[Jonetta]

Honor was shown their infrastructure system during the tour and it was clear they were growing their own food. With all that snow, they had plenty to create water reserves.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life)]

Places like that scare me...not just coercing someone to join but actually kidnapping! It is scary thinking that there are men out there like that.

[Charlene]

After thinking about it some more, and after reading your comments, I agree that the remoteness of some of the northern and western states [with declining populations, in many cases], might provide areas where such a community could exist.