The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Girl Next Door
Book Review: One of my new favorite's (Repost)
Summary: 5 Stars
[...]
Stephen King said Jack Ketchum was one of the business, and that he is.
The Girl Next Door is a horrifying novel based on the true story of Sylvia Lykens, a girl that was brutally tortured and then killed by her aunt and cousins. The fact that The Girl Next Door was based off a true story inspired me to rent the movie, and it wasn't two days after I had watched the movie adaptation that I had read the book.
The book starts out with our narrator. Our narrator is the main character of the book. He's writing his story about what happened back at Ruth--the aunt's--house in the late 1950s, and it's a tale that pains him to write. Our character opens up with a thought of what true pain is, and how his first and second wife had never truly experienced it.
Then starts the story.
Our main character is David, a twelve-year-old boy who's crayfishing the day he meets a girl named Meg Loughlin. Meg's a girl, a real girl, not one out of the Playboy magazines that David and his friends look at. He's immediately attracted to Meg, but when he sees a scar, he questions it.
Meg's family had an accident... and only Meg and her sister, Susan, survived.
When David starts to see that Ruth is targeting Meg for some strange, unknown reason, he begins to get worried. Meg tells him that she hasn't eaten for three days one day while he and her are out walking together. This prompts David to buy her a sandwich, but Meg didn't know that sandwich would start the most brutal torture she has ever experienced.
The Girl Next Door is a truly frightening story. The novel is different from other books and movies that deal with torture. It isn't just an adult torturing someone in this film. No. The Girl Next Door shows us that children are just as capable of evil as any adult is, and that's what sets it apart. Speculation revolves around the book and why David chooses what he chooses to do, but I'm not going to go into that, as it would spoil the book.
The Girl Next Door is a thinking man's novel, and I promise you that it will make you question every single little thing you knew about the horrors that surround the world today. It only took this book to make me change my whole view on how the world can operate, and it only took this one book to make Ketchum one of my favorite authors.
Book Review: Real life horror
Summary: 4 Stars
Good story, very emotional, overall a good read, but I felt Ketchum held back at certain key points of this book where he could have really floored his audiences. Who knows, maybe there will be an uncensored edition.Book Review: Riveting
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Book Review: THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
Summary: 5 Stars
Make no mistake, this book isn't a happy book. It is, without a doubt, the most disturbing book I've ever read. Violence, rape, lewd behaviour, depravity, wickedness, it has all of these. Jack Ketchum never leaves any doubt about where he's taking us and everything you've heard about this guy is true.
But depravity's not the point Ketchum's trying to make with this book, I think. He wants to educate us, to help us identify the bad guys. Seriously, who expects a funny book from a premise like that? No one. What we should be doing with this book is evaluating ourselves and to change the way we think about abuse. To do something against it.
I think that's the best compliment I can give this book.
Book Review: The True Nature Of Horror
Summary: 5 Stars
Had it not been for the movie's release, I probably wouldn't have found out about this book, nor the author. But I wanted to check it out before I saw the movie and read some good reviews.
As many people have said it's a disturbing book. Not so much violent with raw gore and blood but just really gets to you, deep. Ketchum did a great job of taking the reader along on a ride that most people wouldn't go voluntarily. And I'll admit that I was tempted to put the book down almost halfway through the story. Not from the presence of violence, but because of the reactions of the protagonist. To me, that was the most disturbing aspect of it.
The writing style reminded me much of Stephen King's style in the 80's, especially `It' since it centered around children. It was a quick and easy read and I finished the book in 2 days.
Really nothing bad to say about this book. It was the first from Jack Ketchum that I've read and certainly won't be the last. Highly recommended.