Mesmerizing Story. Average Presentation.

The events in this book are jawdropping. Three women were abducted and kept captive as sex-slaves in a quiet (if gungy) Cleveland neighborhood for 10 (TEN!!) years. Somehow, no-one noticed. The terror, despair, and straight-up evil in this story are viscerally gripping. I felt a deep discomfort throughout the listen.. affected by the bizarre inconsistency between a matter-of-fact recounting and the horrific realization that this is NOT fictional. Reading this book is like witnessing a car-crash where you can't look away. It's a harrowing read.
The biggest advantage of the book is that the chronicle is complete: with in-depth biographies of every individual involved, material drawn from autobiographies and police reports, interviews with survivors/law enforcement/peripheral people involved (e.g. Ariel Castro's abused ex-wife), courtroom transcripts, and recreated dialogue. No aspect of the story is left untold.
Notable problems include an excessive presentation of Castro's own explanation for his pathology (abuse as a child, porn addiction, etc.), too much peripheral material (e.g. Castro's persecution of his ex-wife's new boyfriend), and a scientific, almost disinterested approach from author John Glatt. It reads very much like a decent (if unremarkable) TV documentary. There are other books (and even YouTube docudramas) that do a similar job if you look.

The book is essentially a fairly dry fact-based presentation of a horrifying crime.

Another disappointing feature of this audiobook is the narration. Shaun Grindell gives a below-average reading. I didn't find the British accent distracting (as other reviewers have commented). In fact, I thought his reading voice was clear and professional.. but could see how some might complain. I further appreciated his reticence to "perform" - Grindell doesn't try accents or impersonations. What I did find distracting was the plodding rate of reading (I had to speed playback to 1.25X to get a palatable pace) and an overall disinterested tone.

In all, this production rates 6.5 stars out of 10. If you're looking for a clinical evaluation of the crime, this book is excellent. I was looking for more of a narrative and was a little disappointed - but the topic is so gripping..  'The Lost Girls' is worth hearing - I got the book before it entered the 'Plus' catalog, but I don’t regret spending the Credit.

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