The Lost Girls

The True Story of the Cleveland Abductions and the Incredible Rescue of Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Gina Dejesus

By: John Glatt

Narrated by: Shaun Grindell

Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

In The Lost Girls, John Glatt tells the truly amazing story of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight - who were kidnapped, imprisoned, and repeatedly raped and beaten in a Cleveland house for over a decade by Ariel Castro - and their amazing escape in May 2013, which made headlines all over the world.

This audiobook has an exclusive interview with Castro's secret girlfriend, who spent many romantic nights in his house of horror without realizing that he had bound and chained captives just a few feet away. There are also revealing interviews with several Castro family members, musician friends, and neighbors who witnessed the dramatic rescue.

©2015 John Glatt (P)2015 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"For a wide-angle view of the horrific string of crimes start to finish, Glatt constructs an absorbing winner." ( Kirkus)

British accent in OHIO???

The story was informative,but using a narrator with a British accent didn't keep me as interested as I could have been. Felt like I was listening to a crime story that occurred in England.

Enthralling

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The author does a great job of providing the background of Castro and the victims, and of the timeline of the events. It isn't fictionalized, which is good. It's a straightforward account of everything you could ever want to know about this story. It was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to know what made this guy tick, and it was the same thing that made Josef Fritzl "tick", which is a fear of abandonment. These two have many similarities. They both said, "I'm not a monster" and they had similar relationships with their mothers.

Any additional comments?

I liked the narrator. I was not distracted by the British accent. I could hardly stop listening to this audiobook and glad I found it.

Excellent overview

I first read Michelle’s book, then Amanda’s & Gina’s and then “The Lost Girls” (this book). I would recommend to read them in this order. This book relates this horrible story from the police, family and Castro’s point of view. The narrator is fantastic, some readers complain of his British accent but it absolutely did not bother me at all. I highly recommend to read this book after the other two, great read/listen!!!!

Eh

Narration was annoying to me. The writing is mediocre and gave too much salacious detail and leeway for Castro. Skip this and buy the books the women wrote instead.

So interesting, and heartwarming when they finally escape

I loved the book overall, however it is almost unavoidable that the story will slow down once they victims are out of harms way, and this is definitely true here. I appreciated the attention to detail but at the same time it got a bit drawn out. If it had been a book instead of an audiobook I might have skimmed the last chapters instead of reading it

Very compelling

This story was very compelling! John Glatt did an amazing job of telling what happened in the Cleveland abductions. The survivors in the Cleveland abductions are amazing women!!!

includes various perspectives

Any additional comments?

The story speaks for itself in both the empathy and outrage it entices, but the narrator's voice seems a bit out of place. I'm not trying to speak ill of Mr. Grindell, who has a lovely speaking voice, it's just that I think the narrator of any audiobook might be better served in either the tone of the author or main character. The inflection lends a certain kind of authenticity to the story being told, as if we are told the story by the intended voice rather than being read a book by a third party. Just my opinion! Either way, a fantastic journey into the dark place of human deviancy.

Did we have to have a British guy read this?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. I think this is a story that should be known.

What did you like best about this story?

The fact that it's over. Those women made it out.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was actually ashamed at one point. When the narrator was reading the 911 call where Charles Ramsey spoke I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Hearing the voice of a British man reading what an African-American said was classic.

I got bored

I thought it was boring 😴 It just wasn't told in a way that grabbed me.

Well written

This was a well written book without being too graphic. I couldn't have handled the horrible details.

My heart goes out the the survivors.

Great listen

A Very detailed account of the story, informative. However the way the narrator read dates was very annoying...minor issue but, I don't think it would of hurt to add rd,th or st after reading the numbers haha a little petty I know, but it did drive me a little potty ;)

Incredible

I always try to get as much information as possible about a particular case and find that documentaries struggle to fit everything in. John Glatt has written a very informative book on what Ariel put those 3 innocent through and how they survived. The narration made this book very easy to listen as well

Gripping but emotional read

I have so much admiration for what these girls went through. I dont know how they had the will to survive. I especially admired michelle as she was the first taken and was a lone victim in the house for a while and was there the longest. Plus she helped care for the others. Had me hooked all the way through. Good narrator too.

gripping from start to finish

amazing strength the girls had to get through the years. Great book. loved it, would recommend it

Disturbing

A very well written account of what happened to those poor women. I found it difficult to listen to their ordeals and at times I thought I could not continue listening. But I wanted to know that justice would be done.

Powerful

This story is terribly harrowing, these three women have overcome the most horrendous crime inflicted on them. They are all incredibly strong, powerful women who should be recognised as hero’s.

A true life story - very sad but a good listen

loved this book, I enjoy listening to real life stories although very sad the outcome was as good as it could be. Not for those who struggle with abuse stories.

Poor narration let the book down

This was an interesting audio book to listen to, however the narrator was a let down; he seemed to struggle to read at a normal pace which took away from the book's content and some parts were quite repetitive

Such a sad story but very repetitively told

Tragic story but it felt like quite a few sections were copied and pasted to fill pages.

Monotone narration

Very interesting story but ready dreadfully and randomly Swapped between narrators with no obvious reason. A little repetitive doesn’t do the story justice