Successful, college educated men in their twenties and thirties are admitted to psychiatric institutions claiming to be angels in a satanic army. They know their rank, mission, and commanding officer. Many had no prior religious background. Friends, Jonathan Hart, a reporter, and Charles Atwater, a psychologist collaborate on studying these patients with Angelic Psychotic Disorder. They discover that what they call the Dark Angel movement has people placed in the highest levels of government. The book examines the ease of which a charismatic leader promising peace could persuade people to give up their individual rights. It questions the strength of faith, what normal people are capable of when confronted with enormous challenge, and the impact on individual relationships.