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  • The Girl Next Door

  • Written by: Jack Ketchum
  • Narrated by: Jack Ketchum
  • Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (76 ratings)

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The Girl Next Door cover art

The Girl Next Door

Written by: Jack Ketchum
Narrated by: Jack Ketchum
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Publisher's Summary

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....

©1989 Dallas Mayr (P)2016 Tantor

What the critics say

" The Girl Next Door is alive...it does not just promise terror but actually delivers it.... It's a page-turner." (Stephen King)

What listeners say about The Girl Next Door

Average Customer Ratings
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, terrible narrator

I really enjoyed the book when I could overcome the hard candy bashing against the narrator's teeth. One of the worst audio experiences I've ever been put through. This book should be redone with a professional.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • AFH
  • 2023-07-22

Good book sad story

A truly heartbreaking story. Well written and well narrated.
It was a good book but the story was troubling.
I enjoyed it but it was sad. I however loved the ending.
It’s the first book I ever read that is narrated by the writer.
Will read more from this writer.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Men Writing Women and Children

I knew this was going to be disturbing and I knew it wasn't going to have a happy ending due to it being inspired heavily by the real murder of 16 year old Sylvia Likens in 1965. But what I didn't expect was the way the author was going to describe literally every single woman and GIRL in this book. The narrator being a pre teen boy doesn't excuse it. No one needed to know the shape of children's nipples and breasts. There is no story on earth where that ever needs to he described to the reader. Straight up bizarre just read a non fiction account of the murder.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing Build-up

For a shorter novel the author has done an amazing job at building tension and showcasing the very real realities of escalating abuse.

narration is great especially since it's also done by the author.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Deeply Unsettling but Engaging

I knew this book was going to make me squirm, but I think it takes the cake for being the most disturbing book I've ever read. I had a terrible nightmare about one of kids once, and felt deeply unsettled for days. This book had the same effect...so be forewarned. With that said, the characters were engaging, the story was well written, and the author did a decent job of narrating. He kind of has that almost lazy, casual style. Would definitely recommend to the right reader, but absolutely gut wrenching.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Disturbing

I was not expecting the story to unravel the way it did, and at times I wanted to just stop listening, but I had to know the outcome. Listening to the story from the David’s point of view, rather than the victim’s makes it so much more disturbing and sad and…. sick. But overall I thought it was a good book, well written and narrated.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Decent book

A little stupid when you know the real story and what these girls went through but overall it was a good fiction

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Amazing narration of a difficult book

I’m not sure how this book got into my Audible library. I will say that the late Jack Ketchum narrates it himself and he does an amazing job; and truth be told, this is an amazing book. It’s just too much. Growing up with an abusive father, it triggered so many things and quite frankly, I only finished it because I refuse to DNF anything. The whole ordeal left me sad, and numb…and haunted.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Quite disappointed

I didn’t find this to be what I had hoped and expected (from written book reviews) it to be. I found the story uninteresting, characters dimensionless and plot just kind of cringeworthy. I get that there is an audience for this kind of thing and I am trying to weigh my review on the writing and story itself more than anything else, and I just didn’t find anything to appreciate about this work. Give it a try, you might like it, though personally I did not.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Highly Recommend!

This was not the story I was initially expecting, but once I started it, I listened to the whole thing in one sitting. It was incredibly heartbreaking, but an interesting look at the process of "grooming", both from the victim's perspective and the perpetrator's. There were a few unanswered questions that permeated the story, but there was enough hidden detail to allow you to come to those conclusions on your own. Do not start this if you are expecting a light mystery, it has some pretty heavy themes, and may be triggering to some people. Carefully consider it before you start, but if you do, it will not disappoint

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