In The Catcher in the Rye Enigma: J.D. Salinger’s Mind Control Triggering Device or a Coincidental Literary Obsession of Criminals?  we dissect Salinger’s 1951 classic novel The Catcher in the Rye – and not everyone’s happy about that judging by some reviewers’ comments.

Some reviewers, it seems, don’t like the fact that we remind readers Salinger’s often-banned, often-censored bestseller was branded communist propaganda by American school principals and more than a few teachers were fired for assigning it to students. Little wonder Salinger’s Catcher  was nicknamed ‘the Bible of teenage angst’ and, from 1961-1982, it was the most censored book in libraries and high schools across the US.

Nor do some reviewers appreciate being reminded that Catcher  either directly inspired or was associated with some of the most infamous crimes of the 20th Century.

Presidential assassins and would-be Presidential assassins, stalkers and murderers of film stars and music icons are among the known deranged individuals who were obsessed with Salinger’s book – a book which many claim to be an assassination trigger device. The allegation pointed at Salinger is that he craftily implanted into the book coded messages that act as post-hypnotic suggestions or mind control triggers. In turn, these enabled CIA handlers to activate Manchurian Candidates for planned assassinations.

Many believe the novel was part of the CIA’s extensive mind control program known as MK-Ultra, and that while assassins, or future assassins, were being brainwashed they were forced to read the book over and over until it was embedded in their minds.

These ideas and others have been covered in pop culture, especially in the 1997 film Conspiracy Theory, in which Mel Gibson’s character carries a copy of Salinger’s book with him at all times. The cleverly-written film, which at first appears to be nothing but a lightweight romantic comedy co-starring rom-com queen Julia Roberts, becomes more intense as the story progresses and it’s revealed Mel Gibson’s character is entwined with the CIA and is a mind control victim of the agency’s MK-Ultra program.

Season three of the TV series Criminal Minds  features an episode called Limelight  in which the character of David Rossi, played by Joe Mantegna, mentions having once interviewed serial killer Ted Bundy who told him, “If you wanna stop people from becoming like me, don’t burn Catcher in the Rye.”

An episode of the animated TV series South Park  also covers the mind control theory in a humorous way when one of the show’s young characters reads the book then picks up a knife and starts saying, “Kill John Lennon, kill John Lennon.” The boy is disappointed when his father informs him the former Beatle was assassinated years earlier.

But seriously, can The Catcher in the Rye  really wake MK-Ultra sleeper assassins from their slumber? That’s up to readers to decide by the end of our book, The Catcher in the Rye Enigma.

It must be noted the idea that assassination codes are buried deep in Salinger’s book is one of the oldest conspiracy theories around and has often been explored over the decades. In fact, many readers familiar with Catcher  conspiracies may think all the theories have already been proven to be false and there’s no need to drag them up yet again.

Given what we’ve unearthed in our research for this book and indeed the entirety of The Underground Knowledge Series – especially the unique revelations on the history of mind control, the effectiveness of subliminal messages, the latest scientific studies on the brain, the Americanized Nazis in Project Paperclip and the recently declassified documents on real-life Manchurian Candidates – we believe some of the theories swirling about Salinger’s classic deserve another look.

The Catcher in the Rye Enigma: J.D. Salinger’s Mind Control Triggering Device or a Coincidental Literary Obsession of Criminals? (The Underground Knowledge Series Book 4) is available via Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Catcher-Rye-Enigma-Coincidental-Underground-ebook/dp/B00YVROKZ4/

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