A review by mollyringle
Into Captivity They Will Go by Noah Milligan

5.0

Noah Milligan is an excellent writer, but more importantly than that, he's an amazingly sympathetic and fair writer. In a story like this, about Christian extremism in modern rural America, it'd be easy to go into ironic dark parody or grim horror, but Milligan skirts both of those and shows all the people involved as humans instead. Even those truly believing that an ordinary 14-year-old kid is Jesus reborn, and encouraging their neighbors to turn away from civilization and speak in tongues and invite the apocalypse, are shown as complex people who care about their families and their community--the way people really are, if we look closely and mute our prejudices. It's the kind of nuance it's too easy to forget in our divisive world. And even though it's clear in my mind, at least, that this type of extremism is dangerous and misguided (and it'd be hard to imagine anyone coming to a different conclusion after reading this story), it's important to recognize that it's our isolating society itself that sometimes encourages such extremes, and that maybe we could all do with a little more caring for our neighbors and less ostracizing and sensationalizing. America may have a long way to go yet, but the existence of thoughtful writers like Milligan gives me hope.