[1] In addition to covering the Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple in articles in the San Francisco Examiner, Reiterman also accompanied Representative Leo Ryan on his November 1978 investigative trip to Jonestown.

[3] During the course of his research for the book, Reiterman traveled to Indiana and visited locations where Jim Jones grew up and conducted interviews with local residents who knew him.

[6][7] Marshall Kilduff of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote highly of the book and recommended it in a 2007 summer reading list: "This stands as the definitive history of Jim Jones and his bizarre Peoples Temple.

[21] Harold G. Barrett utilized Raven as a reference in his book Rhetoric and Civility, and described it as "a thorough, highly detailed and documented account".

[22] Eugene V. Gallagher and W. Michael Ashcraft referenced the book in their work Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, where they referred to it as "an engaging journalistic account".

[23] In 2016, it was announced that Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad and The X-Files would be developing an HBO limited miniseries based on Raven, about Jones and the 1978 Jonestown tragedy.