Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #160896 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

Customer Reviews

Horribly engrossing
I have read hundreds of books in my lifetime. This one takes the cake for being the boldest, and most graphic. Even more so than Clive Barker. And to me, this is a good thing. Ketchum oversteps the boundaries of politically correctness on every page. The story itself is very simple. A young girl gets torchered in a basement by her legal guardian, and her sons. Why do they do this? We really don't know. I felt for this poor girl. I also felt for the boy who thinks he is in love with her. He can't decide to help her, or help the family with the massacre. This is why, I think, the novel succeeds. There is little plot to the novel. But it is without a doubt a page turner. if you are not easily offended, try this book. It will surprise you, and shock you. And like I said before, this is a good thing.

Still tore it up afterwards, though
Truly, finished the book, took a shower, cried, then ripped the book to shreds and threw it away.

I read it more than 2 years ago, and I still felt compelled to review it. I've given it 5 stars because it is excellently written, but I can't help but think the only people who will want to read this book are people who are very dark. "Dark" is the only way I can describe it. People can analyse his "unflinching style" as much as they want, but the book is plain and simple dark.

Its being based on a true story seems tenuous, and part of me thinks this was written for its horror and darkness, then explained away (justified?) with a moral p.s - whether you get that, too, isn't for me to say. I know nothing about the author, but there *is* a certain amount of erotic joy that's translated itself into the way its written.

The 5 stars is because if you want to read a book about abuse - the worst, most disgusting, most hellish you'll ever read - and get a dark (again that word, but honestly) thrill out of it, this is the book for you. But, if you want to stay in the light, and things like rape and torture don't turn you on, stay a million miles away.

Horrifying and truthful
The Girl Next Door is probably the most disturbing book that I have ever read. The horrors depicted in the book almost all come directly from the Sylvia Likens murder case which took place in Indiana in the 1960's.

Given the extreme nature of the case that the book is based upon, it sometimes reads as sensational, or even exploitational, but the facts of the case add an element to the story that makes it incredibly difficult to dismiss.

Its a hard book to recommend because of the intense emotional impact that it has, yet in that respect, it should be read. Some of the acts described in the book will make you wince or turn your stomach, others hit some primal fears that exist in all of us and make the book impossible to forget.

The Girl Next Door is a true horror book and represents, in my opinion, one of the best works in that genre.

Read the book if you feel you have the stomach for it and, for once, do believe the hype.

As a footnote, I would also recommend The Basement by Kate Millett, a semi fictional account of the true story, told from the imagined perspectives of some of the people concerned. It adds further impact to the events described in The Girl Next Door.