THE GIRL NEXT DOOR
by Jack Ketchum
I wish I’d written this ...
... because it breaks boundaries!
This is a brilliantly written novel but a damned hard one to read due to the transgressive nature of the subject matter. It puts you, the reader, in the position of a rubbernecker. Your instincts tell you not to turn the next page, but like someone driving past a car crash, you can’t help but look. The sadistic abuse of a teenage girl is graphically described, witnessed through the eyes of one of her friends who, while innocent of himself harming her, does nothing to stop the torture. His confused emotions are so extremely well communicated that you can’t help but experience them yourself. Powerful, powerful writing, and more horrific than anything supernatural. People are, for sure, the worst monsters.
From the publisher
Suburbia. Shady, tree-lined streets, well-tended lawns and cozy homes. A nice, quiet place to grow up. Unless you are teenage Meg or her crippled sister, Susan. On a dead-end street, in the dark, damp basement of the Chandler house, Meg and Susan are left captive to the savage whims and rages of a distant aunt who is rapidly descending into madness. It is a madness that infects all three of her sons and finally the entire neighborhood. Only one troubled boy stands hesitantly between Meg and Susan and their cruel, torturous deaths. A boy with a very adult decision to make.
