Customer Reviews: Read 153 more reviews...
 Great book November 17, 2008
One of the best books I have read in a long time. It scared me to think this could actually happen. Even scarier to think that people are capable of such violence.
Horrifying October 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you have been a victim of child abuse, do not read this book. If you are sensitive to this subject matter, do not read this book. Many times I knew that I should have put this book down and taken a shower, but it just kept drawing me back in. Definitely a book that will stay with me a long time. A horrifying tale of abuse of a young girl at the hands of the neighborhood children and her own relatives. While the subject matter is hard to deal with, Ketchum's writing is wonderful and really makes you turn the pages, whether you want to or not.
 Just plain Gross September 12, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book has absolutely no redeeming value what so ever, I know these things occur in the sick minds of monster humans but I would prefer not to read about them in detail. It is definitely not a horror novel at least in my definition of what horror is supposed to be.
The book is just plain gross, it does not take any kind of talent to conjure up sick images, just a sick mind. I stopped reading a lot of King when he used a child in Pet Sematary getting hit by a semi trailer.Cheap tricks if you ask me. Good horror is akin to Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampire. Read it if you must. Skip the first 135 pages nothing happens.
 The fictionalized account VS the pure facts of this case September 4, 2008
I recently watched An American Crime, the film based on this true story of the 1965 imprisonment & torture of 16 yr old Sylvia Likens in an Indiana home. The director of the film admitted he had held back in his account...keeping it purposely lower key (which I think is a grave disservice to the victims). I was stunned by this story and searched for more information on it, wondering how much worse it could possibly have been. I found a plethora of info on CourtTV's web page, read the chapters presented there, was even more stunned with the additional facts presented there, & made note of the references to all the material that has been published covering this case, determined to try to understand the full scope of this story. I found TGND at my library. I was quite disappointed with this book - finding the court/truTV account much more riveting. The first third or so of Ketchum's book dragged on..it felt like I was reading a story geared to teenagers. The torture of Sylvia is horrendous, made even more macabre by the cold participation of the children in the family and neighborhood. But the book didn't get me inside any of these characters, including the mother, & wasn't particularly well written. For me, the fictionalized twists offered by the author actually detracted from the true story. There was so much potential here in the pure facts of the case that wasn't given to us; a story the likes of which would be hard to match.
Riveting August 31, 2008
The Girl Next Door is one of the few books that I have read that I absolutely could not put down. I devoured the book in just under 24 hours. The story focuses on David, a young teen, and what he witnesses as Meg and her sister move in with a neighbor, Ruth.
The story builds slowly, hinting at the horrors to come, and then explodes into one of the most brutal, riveting, and memorable books you will ever read. Ketchum does a wonderful job at allowing the tension and to build, and does so with with amazing flow.
There has been much said about the graphic nature of this book. Please note that this story is by no means "torture porn". Sure, there is inhuman cruelty, and sure, it is shocking in its impact. But the real reason that The Girl Next Door will turn your stomach and leave you in tears is because this is based on a true story and you simply cannot believe what one human can do to another.
You will remember Meg, Ruth and David, and they will linger with you for quite some time. That is the highest compliment I can give this book. A must read.
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