In the 1960s, Charlie Erlich was part of a rebellious, drug- crazed, free-love cult living in California and pursuing his dream of becoming a recording artist. But all of that stopped abruptly when a horrific event split the cult "family" and destroyed many lives. Charlie, bipolar and always a tortured soul, eventually married and had a son. The troubled family's quiet, obscure existence is funded by the state and occasionally by Charlie's younger brother, Jay, a highly successful surgeon. But their lives are devastatingly altered forever after Charlie's 21-year- old son is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Local authorities rule it a suicide, but was it?

Jay leaves his prosperous business and loving wife and kids back east as he once again goes to Charlie's aid during this difficult time. Once in California, Jay soon finds himself caught up in an investigation to find out what really happened to his nephew and why his brother lives with so much fear. The deeper Jay digs, the more secrets he uncovers from his brother's disturbed past and the ritualistic killings associated with a Charles Manson-like family. When people Jay has talked to are murdered, there is no turning back for him. He's now involved in an evil vendetta of death stretching back to the sixties that's still in full force today from beyond prison walls. Will Jay survive long enough to uncover the final truth and bring the culprits to justice?

Drawing on two real-life experiences from his past, Andrew Gross writes a totally absorbing, terrifyingly real story of a family torn apart by evil from the past. Once you start this book, there's no way you'll be able to put it down until the final page is turned. Those of us old enough to remember the deranged Manson cult's vicious murder spree in 1969, the trials that followed and then read any of the true-crime books written about it, will immediately make comparisons -- and be further chilled to the bone with this reading experience. EYES WIDE OPEN is one of Gross' best books.