A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology

Written by Mike Rinder

Narrated by Mike Rinder

One of the highest-ranking defectors from Scientology exposes the secret inner workings of the powerful organization in this remarkable memoir that is “not only a cautionary tale but also an inspiring story of resilience” (Leah Remini, New York Times bestselling author).

Mike Rinder’s parents began taking him to their local Scientology center when he was five years old. After high school, he signed a billion-year contract and was admitted into Scientology’s elite inner circle, the Sea Organization. Brought to founder L. Ron Hubbard’s yacht and promised training in Hubbard’s most advanced techniques, Rinder was instead put to work swabbing the decks.

Still, Rinder bought into the doctrine that his personal comfort was secondary to the higher purpose of Hubbard’s world-saving mission, swiftly rising through the ranks. In the 1980s, Rinder became Scientology’s international spokesperson and the head of its powerful Office of Special Affairs. He helped negotiate Scientology’s pivotal tax exemption from the IRS and engaged with the organization’s prominent celebrity members, including Tom Cruise, Lisa Marie Presley, and John Travolta.

Yet Rinder couldn’t shake a nagging feeling that something was amiss—Hubbard’s promises remained unfulfilled at his death, and his successor, David Miscavige, was a ruthless and vindictive man who did not hesitate to confine many top Scientologists, Mike among them, to a makeshift prison known as the Hole.

In 2007, at the age of fifty-two, Rinder finally escaped Scientology. Overnight, he became one of the organization’s biggest public enemies. He was followed, hacked, spied on, and tracked. But he refused to be intimidated and today helps people break free of Scientology.

“An intensely personal, cathartic memoir of blind allegiance, betrayal, and liberation” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), A Billion Years reveals the dark, dystopian truth about Scientology as never before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Sep 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781797149776

Mike Rinder

Mike Rinder was raised as a Scientologist from early childhood. He went on to serve as Scientology’s international spokesperson and as the head of its Office of Special Affairs and was a member of the Board of Directors of Church of Scientology International from its creation in 1983 until he left in 2007. Since renouncing Scientology, Rinder has become a prominent whistleblower against its abuses. He appeared in the HBO documentary Going Clear and cohosted all three seasons of the Emmy Award–winning show Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath on A&E. He and Remini currently cohost the podcast Scientology: Fair Game.

Reviews for A Billion Years

[Jane · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating account of life in Scientology. Well written and narrated. Highly recommend.

[Jennifer Whitehead · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I appreciate him sharing his story so that others can know the horror of scientology

[Jill Kedzuch Cullinan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thank you, Mr. Rinder, for the courage you have to not only speak out against the abuses of Scientology, but to also express vulnerability in the actions you took while in the cult as well as your continued empathy and compassion for those who are still in its grasp.

[Linda Moreland · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating read. If you want to know about Scientology this is the book to read as this guy grew up in this cult and was able to rise to a prominent position.

[Kristin Eller · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book appealed to me because I watched Scientology And The Aftermath, it is fascinating, to say the least, Mike's book is a candid and heartbreaking recounting. He offers a truthful and, for me a tearful portrayal of the abuses he subjected others to, and he was also subject to, this is an all too familiar, yet unique story. Having been intrigued by the whole cult mentality, and what renders someone so submissive, that they can be coerced into surrounding their own rational and free will, defies belief. The only way to begin to understand something like that is to understand that almost everyone who has found themselves in a situation like that, is someone who had sincerely good intentions and believed that they were doing the will of a higher power. This book illustrates that, in vivid detail, and how subtle the indoctrination process is, a lack of intelligence has nothing whatsoever to do with it, more a sense of contributing to the greater good and being motivated by a desire to sacrifice one's self, while gaining insight into one's self. Highly recommend that you listen to or read this book, I think you'll be glad that you did.

[Joanne Matties Moorman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved it, Thanks for writing this book Mike Rinder…

[Christopher Dimmock · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great read. Gives a detailed insight to the inner workings of Scientology and how people can be prisoners of their own mind.

[Shelly · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mike Rinder is a great communicator. Engaging and informative, this book speaks to the heart (and heartbreak) of the victims of Scientology.

It's easy to be a judgmental spectator from the outside looking in and vow that this could never happen to them but how many times have you been duped by someone you thought would never in a million years betray you? Believed in something that turned out to be a total fabrication? We're all lied to by the media and our government on a daily basis but some of us are still true believers. Why? Because it's easier to go with the flow than to question our beliefs and those things that we guard with all of our hearts.

When we lose the ability to believe in something or someone we trust, it feels like we're being ripped in two. That's the tragedy of religious abuse. We are created to believe and trust but unfortunately, there are those who know how to exploit that God-given instinct and turn it into something ugly.

I applaud Mike and have so much genuine respect for his ability to break through the chains that bound him and to see the truth. But he didn't stop there. Instead of letting it defeat him, he's taken his talents, insight, and compassion and now uses them to shine the light on Scientology's abuses and lends his heart and hands to help other people who are ready to escape its clutches.

Thank you for this book, Mike. You didn't have to lay yourself bare for all to see but you did it anyway. That makes you a hero in my eyes. I pray for your peace, continued safety, and reconciliation with those you love.

[Brian Cook · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Start listening now, you will not be disappointed, for real.

[Diane Johnson Plevelich · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an important book for all of us to understand and seek the truth from these lunatics that turn their followers into sheep using fear and abuse to keep them in line. Cults are about money and power to its leader using sadistic practices to steal their members free will, possessions and above all their families. Scientology is growing around the world and needs to have their secrets exposed. L. Ron Hubbard was a power hungry lunatic. His Succesor, David Miscavich, is Caligula reborn and is crazier and more dangerous than Hubbard. His goal is to collect the powerful and rich like Hollywood celebrity’s to get at their millions and give this cult an appeal to others to join and become enslaved by Miscavich. Case in point is Tom Cruise who is just as loony as his best buddy Miscavich. These people need to be stopped from recruiting and brainwashing others while exposing their secrets and lies.

[Stacey Stanley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read by the author, this is an immersing memoir about his time in and out of the Scientology cult. He deserves a lot of credit for exposing this organization’s abuses and practices to the mainstream public, and his courage to stay the course.

[Iveta J. · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great story, thank you Mike, you are very brave and I'm sure, you are saving peoples lives

[Janna Brock · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book on the horrors of mind control and Scientology. It’s so much like the series Mike did with Leah Remini, but it’s his own story from his youth in the cult to adulthood. It’s truly as eye opening as it gets. And one can see how easy it is to fall into such deception and manipulation. Thank you Mike for telling your story.

[rita dostie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a revealing look at a true cult. How can people allow themselves to be enslaved in this day and age. Thanks to Mike Rinder for opening the public eye to this wretched organization!