Renaud Marhic (born July 1965) is a French writer and journalist. He has written non-fiction books on topics including

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

s, the

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

, and

religious fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...

. Marhic is also the writer of several crime novels, and the children's book series .

Early life

Renaud Marhic was born July 1965, in Brest,

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, France. He had a column in the newspaper ', which focused on rumors. He contributed as an investigative journalist to several other publications, including ''

Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; ) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publication has been described as anti-racist, sceptical, secular, libertarian, and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism ...

'', ''

Le Nouvel Obs (), previously known as (2014–2024), (1964–2014), (1954–1964), (1953–1954), and (1950–1953), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, ' is one of the three most prominent French news magazines ...

'', '' VSD, and ''. Marhic was the founder and president of the group . Formed in June 1999, they gathered in Paris to celebrate the failure of

Paco Rabanne Francisco Rabaneda Cuervo (18 February 1934 – 3 February 2023), more commonly known under the pseudonym of Paco Rabanne (; ), was a Spanish-born naturalised-French fashion designer. Rabanne rose to prominence as an ''enfant terrible'' of ...

's predictions of the ''

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

'' space station crashing into France. The group was to be disbanded later in August.

Writing career

Marhic has written non fiction books on topic relating to

s, the

, and

. He has been referred to as a cult expert by the media. He was the editor of the series, which focused on pseudoscientific and paranormal topics from a scientific perspective. In 1995, he published a book discussing the

Order of the Solar Temple The Order of the Solar Temple (, OTS), or simply the Solar Temple, was a new religious movement and secret society, often described as a cult, notorious for the mass deaths of many of its members in several mass murders and suicides throughout ...

cult affair (a religious movement that had committed several high-profile acts of mass murder-suicide). The following year, he released an updated and expanded edition. In the book, he argues that the OTS did not dissolve after the first mass suicide, and a new leader had succeeded the dead ones; the group would commit another mass suicide later that year. He does not name the supposed third leader, but implicates

Michel Tabachnik Michel Tabachnik (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss conductor and composer with an international career. A promoter of contemporary music, he has premiered a dozen works by Iannis Xenakis, among others. He is also the author of essays on musi ...

. His past experience writing books related to crime, including the Solar Temple case, led to his interest in writing crime fiction. After the turn of the millennium, he wrote fiction novels and children's literature. He is the writer of the novel series Polars & Grimoires, published by and the children's book series published by . is inspired by Marhic's childhood experiences being told Breton folk tales. In presenting his works, he sometimes has displays of his characters as holograms.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

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Fiction

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Children's literature

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References

External links

* {{authority control 1965 births French writers French people of Breton descent Order of the Solar Temple Living people People from Brest, France