THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (Jack Ketchum) - September 25/08

Though Ketchum is certainly a good writer, The Girl Next Door never even remotely becomes the horrifying piece of work it's clearly meant to be due entirely to the inauthenticity of the situation. I mean, okay, that lady might've been crazy enough to torture Meg, but all the neighborhood kids too? Including the narrator?? It's just too ridiculous to be plausible, and while the whole thing is basically readable, it never becomes compelling or engrossing. ** out of ****