Church of Scientology leader's father, Ron Miscavige, to publish 'revealing' memoir

9 News, Australia/March 18, 2016

The estranged father of the leader of the Church of Scientology has written a memoir about his relationship with his son that the publisher is billing as "riveting" and "revealing".

Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me chronicles the family's history with the controversial church, and David's rapid rise within it.

Having joined when he was 10, he was a part of founder L Ron Hubbard's inner circle by the age of 16.

When Hubbard died in 1986, Miscavige was ready to take the reins; The LA Times even claimed that the then 26-year-old had told a private investigator "that if it was Ron's time to die, to let him die and not intervene in any way."

Ron Miscavige alleges that his son said more or less the same thing about him in 2013, also to private investigators working for the church leader.

While secretly watching Mr Miscavige, the goons assumed the old man was having a heart attack (he was simply trying to pull his phone out of his top pocket) and called David to ask what to do.

If He Dies, He Dies, was the original title of Ruthless.

Co-written by Dan Koon, a former high-ranking member of the church, Ruthless is not shaping up to be a flattering portrait of the now 55-year-old leader of the church, which has been decried by many as a cult rather than a religion.

Miscavige, who is well-known for his relationship with the actor Tom Cruise, did not come off well in Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, a recent documentary by Alex Gibney exposing the methods the Church of Scientology uses to protect itself and its vast wealth.

Famously litigious and notoriously difficult to get out of once you're in, it would appear the church has used intimidation, stalking and harassment to keep dissatisfied followers under its thumb.

Gibney's documentary also implied that John Travolta may have been forced to remain loyal to the church against his will.

Ruthless is set to be released on May 3.

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