The psychology behind cults, particularly suicide cults that have made the headlines, has long fascinated the public. Kellerman attempts to explain the mentality behind such cults, and their tension with "normal" society. As with many concepts in Jupiter's Bones, however, the explanation turns out to be in relative terms, with no absolute good or evil, no absolute answers.

1. In reflecting on her father, Europa states that "I think the Order made Dad better. Better meaning more sane or more . . . conventional. The sect gave him a title, gave him a forum for his lunatic ideas, gave him respect, gave him a home and a woman." Could one support the argument that the older members of the Order, or at least some of them, were better off inside the Order rather than in a society that rejected them? What about the children in the Order?

2. Kellerman implies that...