I have read the book, because I ordered it on the basis of one of the early positive reviews on a general site, before I'd seen the general reaction to it in the Pagan community. I have all the same criticisms that you do. I read the early chapters with growing incredulity that those mentioned would consent to being identified as they are, until I came to the mention of our mutual friend, at which point various things clicked and I realized what was actually going on. Not long after that, I got to a point of "well, this strains my credulity so much that I'm just going to assume everything you say is made up from here on", which yeah, is not what makes a book I'd put in the hands of a seeker.