The Believer

Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack

By: Ralph Blumenthal

Narrated by: Phil Thron

The Believer is the weird and chilling true story of Dr. John Mack. This eminent Harvard psychiatrist and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer risked his career to investigate the phenomenon of human encounters with aliens and to give credibility to the stupefying tales shared by people who were utterly convinced they had happened.

Nothing in Mack's four decades of psychiatry had prepared him for the otherworldly accounts of a cross section of humanity, including young children who reported being taken against their wills by alien beings. Over the course of his career, his interest in alien abduction grew from curiosity to wonder, ultimately developing into a limitless, unwavering passion.

Based on exclusive access to Mack's archives, journals, and psychiatric notes and interviews with his family and closest associates, The Believer reveals the life and work of a man who explored the deepest of scientific conundrums and further leads us to the hidden dimensions and alternate realities that captivated Mack until the end of his life.

©2021 Ralph Blumenthal (P)2021 Tantor

This is an incredible story of an enigmatic human being.

I absolutely loved this story. At the beginning I knew almost nothing about John Mack except for his connection to UFO research. After reading this book he may be one of my favorite human figures. He really did live a full life (despite its tragic end) and passionately pursued his interests and principles. For me personally, I was blown away by the overlap of several interests of mine: UFOs/ 60s counterculture/ plant medicine and psychedelics/ intellectual curious characters/ and the big questions of existence and death.
I loved it. Thanks to Ralph Blumenthal for this in-depth portrait of Mack, and for his own work in investigative journalism.

Beautiful work.

Listened twice and will return to this work again. Highly recommend to anyone interested in John E. Mack’s legacy and work!

Interesting

John Mack had a long and interesting career, may he RIP. I didn’t feel this was a book I could listen straight through. Overall it was interesting but at times was very slow. There are quite a few supposedly conversations with others but who’s to know. Lots of information on Mr. Mack, who was interesting on his own. Despite the things mentioned I would still recommend this book.

This ends well

I like it. I got this book because I’ve had “Abduction” from a used bookstore for decades so I was interested in a book about John Mac the author.

This was mostly middle of the road but the ending is strong.

Top notch biography

very well written but very long and sluggish as times, yet still worth a listen or read.