The Girl Next Door in Overdue Podcast

Aug 18, 2023 Emily rated it liked it

How does one rate a book that is well-written; a book that subtly leads the reader to consider themes of good and evil, complicity, misogyny and adolescence while also being book that is completely disgusting?

I suppose I can say it's a relief that I did find the book gross and upsetting, as opposed to intriguing. I'm also pleased that I was able to see Jack Ketchum's skills despite the horrors enacted.

How's this for a cheesy line: similar to the way humans can be both good and evil, a book can ...more

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Dec 31, 2020 Natasha Curulli rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A difficult book to read from start to finish. Jack Ketchum’s the girl next door is loosely based on a true story about a teenage girl held captive and brutally tortured by a neighbourhood mum and children.
I’d like to place emphasis on the fact that this story is loosely based on a true story. I’m sure a simple google search will provide details on the identity of the person who suffered these atrocious acts of human depravity. I won’t mention her name in this review out of respect for the fami A difficult book to read from start to finish. Jack Ketchum’s the girl next door is loosely based on a true story about a teenage girl held captive and brutally tortured by a neighbourhood mum and children.
I’d like to place emphasis on the fact that this story is loosely based on a true story. I’m sure a simple google search will provide details on the identity of the person who suffered these atrocious acts of human depravity. I won’t mention her name in this review out of respect for the family who did not wish this book to be published in the first place. From research of the actual person, I do think Ketchum sensationalised certain parts of the story to really emphasis the horror of what happened.
The book Is narrated by David, who lives next door to Meg, the lead character of this story. Meg moves into her aunt’s house with her sister Susan after her parents died in a car accident. Ruth, Meg and Susan’s aunt, treats them relatively well in the start. As the story progresses, she slowly escalates her torture of Meg. She views it as a kind of ‘game’ and includes her children and the boy next door in these acts of torture. Tying her up naked hitting her, starving her, etc. It gets progressively worst when she starts to include other neighbourhood children. This is where things get really twisted – beware – the middle to end part of the book is hard to read; it is very graphic and the things that happen to Meg are horrific and sickening. David, Meg’s next door neighbour struggles between his loyalties with Ruth and his conscience throughout the book. He finally decides to help Meg escape and ends up being locked in a basement with Meg.
Ketchum as a writer did a good job with how he used David as a tool to tell the story. David reminisces at the start of the book about what happens to Meg. It is clear that he is still dealing with grief and feelings of guilt. He has never truly gotten over what happened to Meg and his inaction when she needed help the most. This is evident in chapter 1 when he describes his failed marriages and how nothing in life has been right since the summer of 1958 when he and the others met Meg and her sister Susan. The book ends by circulating the poorly lived and criminal lives of all the neighbourhood children that participated in the torture and murder of Meg. I appreciated the preview of how these children got some form of comeuppance as and ending.
Did I like this book? It was OK. I think since I did research the real case, I was not pleased with how much he sensationalised this story to make it more horrific. I guess that was the point though. The scene that really hit me was when Meg got raped, which as a women was so hard to be OK with reading. As a man writing a rape scene – did Ketchum really understand what he was writing? I think only a women who has been raped can really only be the ones that can explain how violated they felt. I don’t think Ketchum did this justice. He just used it as a tool to make the book slightly more disgusting than it already was.
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Nov 07, 2021 Steph rated it liked it

Shelves: audio

A good book, but I'll never read it again. Absolutely horrifying ...more

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Jan 06, 2014 Beth rated it liked it

Shelves: horror, truecrime, thriller

This book is a " good" read kind of hard to say (type)considering the content. Good meaning that this book made the wheels turn in my head. I felt like I was watching some horror movie and shouting at the characters. It sickens me to think that someone could be that cruel. In my opinion no amount of crazy is a excuse for being that heartless and inhumane. ...more

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