A Billion Years

My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology

Preview

Failed to add items

Sorry, we are unable to add the item because your shopping cart is already at capacity.

Add to Cart failed.

Please try again later

Add to Wish List failed.

Please try again later

Remove from wish list failed.

Please try again later

Follow podcast failed

Unfollow podcast failed

$0.00 for first 30 days

LIMITED TIME OFFER

Get 3 months for $0.99/mo

Get this deal

Try for $0.00

Offer ends January 29, 2026 11:59pm PT.

Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.

1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.

Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.

Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.

Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Billion Years

Written by: Mike Rinder

Narrated by: Mike Rinder

Get this deal

Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends January 29, 2026 11:59pm PT.

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $29.64

About this listen

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.

Adventurers, Explorers & Survival

Other Religions, Practices & Sacred Texts

Spirituality

Inspiring

Scientology Memoir

Most Relevant

I absolutely loved this book. Maybe my favorite one yet since I started with Audible.