The Lost Girls

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)

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.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

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.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

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.

5 of 8 people found this review helpful

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.

I love it

I love it so was so good and I love that the girl share story

Heartbreaking

Very detailed accounts of the horrific torture that these young women went through. They are so incredibly strong.

Great book!

Good read that keeps you engaged. However I didn’t care for narrator’s accent. Well worth your time to read!

The author was very good.

The research was excellent. I found the repedetive parts reinforcing the events that happened by a different source. Very well written.

Great read after listening to the girls' stories!

What made the experience of listening to The Lost Girls the most enjoyable?

Several of these facts I had already heard from listening to the girls' stories & their books. This was the perspective from the other side & the author did a fantastic job of research! I learned even more about horrible situation from this book.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The additional facts compiled by this author was fantastic. Just when I thought I had "heard it all", he sheds more light on the subject from the point of view of the courts, police, outside, etc. The other two books were from the girls' experiences. Hard to believe that people in America have to survive people like this pathological liar. My heart goes out to these amazing survivors & hoping they can return to some life of normalcy.

What about Shaun Grindell’s performance did you like?

I love a British accent, but besides that he did a great job. Narrator keeps you involved. Good inflexion in his voice, easy to listen to & did a great job of telling the author's story. I was interested all the way & listened to this book as quickly as I could. Couldn't stop!

If you could give The Lost Girls a new subtitle, what would it be?

The "Normal" Guy Next Door

Very informative book!

This book was written well and full of facts! I wasn't too impressed with the narrator's accent though.

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.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

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 ;)

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

Chilling from start to end

If you could sum up The Lost Girls in three words, what would they be?

Chilling. Fascinating. Disturbing.

What did you like best about this story?

Very well written, definitely recommend 'finding me' by Michelle knight. Still baffles me to this day how he got away with it so long.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful