The Basement

True Story of Serial Killer Gary Heidnik

By: RJ Parker

Narrated by: Don Kline

Length: 1 hr and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

This is a shocking story of kidnapping, rape, torture, mutilation, dismemberment, decapitation, and murder.

The subject matter in this book is graphic.

On March 24, 1987, the Philadelphia Police Department received a phone call from a woman who stated that she had been held captive for the last four months. When police officers arrived at the pay phone from which the call was made, Josephina Rivera told them that she and three other women had been held captive in a basement by a man named Gary Heidnik. He imprisoned women in chains, in the filth and stench of a hole dug under his home.

©2016 RJ Parker (P)2016 RJ Parker Publishing

Narration was awful

Short book & the narrator was awful. His tone is suited more for reading children's stories than true crime.

Terrible narration.

The narrator sounds like he's just reading. Absolutely no emotion in his voice. Story was good- well sad and disgusting but well written.

Terrible narrator, interesting read

Absolutely terrible narrator. Interesting story loaded with facts. Last 5 minutes could be removed as it serves only as advertisement for additional books from this publisher.

Great book about serial killer Gary Heidnik

Would you listen to The Basement again? Why?

This is a great book about serial killer Gary Heidnik. It was a fast read (it took me less than a day) and I enjoyed it. Gary Heidnik was a sick and twisted man who was executed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This book explored his life and also the crimes he committed, which included rape, kidnapping and murder. This is a must read for those who read true crime.

Interesting

This book gives all the facts of this gruesome murderer. It is the second time I have listened to a book narrated by Don Klein I'm not a fan of his reading style.

Basement Baby Factory

I cannot even imagine what it must have been like to have been one of the women held captive in this idiots basement, subjected to his nasty raping, torture, neglect, and abuse! And living on dog food! *Cringe* All in his quest to start his own "baby farm" (to keep them). Not to mention the awful things he did to the others that never made it out alive!

This book doesn't go into too much detail at length about each victim and ALL the sufferings they personally endured...which would have surely been gut wrenching. I for one would have liked to have heard much more about this case. It's just SO unbelievable (as in omg) !

This is a GREAT introduction to a killer that you may have not known about, or knew little concerning their deeds. I like that this author strays off the "over-done" path when choosing crimes to write about, and selects these unusual cases. <--- Awesome.

Narrator: I had flashbacks of being in the 7th grade all over again, with someone standing in front of the class reading his book report aloud...emotionless with awkward pausing throughout. Teacher says you get a D- for that.

flat

unfortunately this book falls short of what is could have been. It reads like a police report. there's no interest in the storytelling and it reads just like a police report. In addition to Performance of the reader doesn't make the book any better. He's incredibly emotionless and dry. I'm disappointed that I wasted a credit on this book.

Horrible narration

I had a hard time even finishing this book and it's not even 2 hours long. The narrator is horrible and it was hard to even listen to. I recommend if you want to know more about the character in this story, just Google it and read the facts that way

Vague

Ugh. This was written and read like a school book report. Its more like a vague overview, with very little details of Heidnik’s life or the lives of his victims. VERY disappointing.

Poorly written, poor narration

The story may as well have been read by Siri, the narrator was monotone, and his cadence repetitive.

The story itself was written like a newspaper article. Facts and events listed, very little humanity.

While the events themselves were horrific, no effort was made to flesh out the lives or characters of the women involved. It was like listening to a robot recite court transcripts.