But, Hurwitz didn't just keep his research intellectual or detached. He did what George Plimpton used to do; he became a part of his research, diving in to experience a profession or group first hand. In this case, he went undercover to cult meetings and even endured cult testing. Hurwitz was then able to build his own cult to hang his plot on for The Program.

"I sort of pulled back the veneer of the cult service and showed all of the workings and all of the psychology that they employ," he adds. "And I witnessed a lot of that stuff first hand."

This brings an authenticity to his work, making it more than some contrived idea about how people behave. It gives his readers a glimpse into specific ways of life and adds the necessary color and what Hurwitz calls "the telling detail" that makes his fiction ring true. "You know it's about creating that veneer of verisimilitude. As Mike Conley says, 'I'm never going to write a book that's as real as if I were a cop.' But what you want to do is do your research so that people don't have any issues of disbelief, to get it as close as possible, and to have readers feel that they are taking something away without feeling that they're being lectured to or being overtly educated."

Recently coming off a book tour for The Program, Hurwitz was confronted by readers and reviewers who wondered why he wasn't writing a non-fiction book about cults since he had done so much research. "People were just fascinated by mind-control cults." But writing an expose about cults didn't appeal to him. "For me, fiction is so much more interesting than writing an article about cult methods," he says. "I'd rather show people how it works by showing people getting into trouble with the cults, by showing the manipulation, showing the psychological warfare, and to get characters in there." Then, he wants to make people think about the issue.

He has a wider vision for his work, especially for The Program. "One of the reviews, I think, wrote and said that it should be required reading for any kid before they go to college. Because if you've read the book, you will be so much better armed with what cults do and what they are and how they'll manipulate you. That's kind of one of my hopes, and it's more likely because it comes in the form of what I hope is page-turning crime fiction. People are more likely to read it and find access to it." But, Hurwitz insists, "The primary goal of it is to entertain, and if you can help people take something away, that's all the better."

The Program is a well-written page-turner, and definitely is must reading!