Home :: Books :: Audiocassettes  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes

Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Perfect Victim

Perfect Victim

List Price: $15.95
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Intriguing, but not crude
Review: Although "Perfect Victim" deals with very crude and disgusting elements, it does not go into so much detail that one gets ill reading it. The book is well-written and tells the unbelievable but true story of a girl who is kidnapped and held captive as a slave for seven years. The book covers the seven year time span with a few gaps in the story, but still gives enough information for the reader to know what is going on. Although it is not difficult to determine the outcome of the story, this is still a great suspenseful read. I especially liked the photo inserts because seeing the box that held Stan captive and getting to put faces with the names makes the story even more realistic than just reading about it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Unimaginable...
Review: true story about seven years in captivity full of deprevation, sexual abuse and torture. Colleen Stan is an amazingly strong person to be able to live through her ordeal at the hands of Cameron Hooker. This book starts with her abduction while hitch hiking, ironically she refused a few rides because she felt unsure about them. Along comes they typical American family and she accepts their offer of a ride.

The story continues back and forth between her captivity and the investigation/trial after her escape. While reading the chapters about Colleen you often wonder why she didn't try to escape when she was free of the box or when she was allowed certain freedoms. But, I guess that unless we were in her situation we would never be able to comprehend exactly what she was feeling.

This book is a great read, however, it's extremely graphic at times and is not for the weak at heart.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very interesting
Review: Written by the Colleens Lawyer, it takes you through the whole crime and court case very thoroughly. Its hard to believe what Colleen went through as a victim but the book does a good job making you see it from all points of view. A great book for those readers who love the terror and love the pyschology behind the captors and the victims.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Gritty and Real True Crime
Review: "Perfect Victim" tells the bizarre story of a young woman kidnapped while hitchhiking from Oregon to her home in California in 1977. Colleen Stan is sadistically kept prisoner for most of 7 years. She is forced to spend many nights in a small box; a "dungeon" would be too generous a description. She is raped, tortured and just plain denigrated by her captors, Cameron and Jan Hooker. In the process she becomes their virtual slave. Apparently "brainwashed", she ignores opportunities to escape. This is the most difficult part of the plot for the reader to fathom. Why didn't Colleen run? Was she truly brainwashed? This reviewer believes she was, but others will certainly disagree. Suddenly! Colleen is a free woman and the wheels of justice begin to spin. The second half of "PV" is concerned with the arrest and trial of the Hookers. In a special -and positive- twist, a co-author, Christine McGuire, is the prosecutor! As an author, she may favor her position. She takes an obvious shot or two at the defense counsel, but who can blame her, given the low life of a defendant? I firmly believe reviewers should not divulge endings (or how Colleen became "free"), so I will end quickly. "PV" is definitely recommended to true crime devotees. The only drawbacks are the disturbing nature of the plot and the amount of space devoted to the trial. It could have been edited down, but this is a minor detail. Who can blame author McGuire for writing about prosecutor McGuire? It's unclear if "PV" is readily available. My advice is to persist in finding a copy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is a hard one to forget.
Review: Wow. I had thumbed through this book one day at a bookstore and could not forget the chilling details I had uncovered. 1 week later I was compelled to buy it. 2 days later I had finished it. This is a hard one to forget.

I can not comprehend how any human being can be THIS sadistic. I have read MANY true crime books. This guy makes John Wayne Gacy look like a mercy killer. There aren't words to describe Cameron Hooker's twisted sexual hell he inflicted. Like many people have said, this story is hard to believe. I think part of the reason for this may be that it is just too horrible to accept. Upon completing this well written book, I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. I can't believe humans can reach this low.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: interesting crime, dull book...here is a free synopsis
Review: Everything interesting about this case can be read on the back of the book. In sum, a man with control issues and low self- esteem marries a woman with even lower self-esteem. Together, they kidnap a woman with still LESS self-esteem and keep her in a box off and on for 7 years. The victim enjoys periods of freedom intermittantly but never tries to escape because she has been so completely dominated psychologically.

That is it!!!!!!!!!

There is nothing else interesting about this book......unless you like reading a lot of detail about court testimony, the prosecuter's personal life, expert opinions.

Honestly, I almost could not finish this book it was so dull. Any true crime should focus more narrowly on the psyche of the criminal, but we got almost nothing.

This would have been pretty good condensed to about 25 pages.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Stunning, Horryfing, Shocking
Review: This is a true crime book about a woman named Colleen Stan who was a sex slave to a mad man for seven years! It is the most freaking crazy book I've ever read, but also the most fascinating. Although I think Colleen should have run away when she had the chance this book really delves into her mind and is an amazing story. If you are a true crime freak like me, buy this book!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Appalling and disturbing
Review: When I first began reading this book, I could not even fathom what was about to happen. 20 year old Colleen Stan was on her way to visit a friend when she decides to hitchhike from Oregon to California. A man and a woman with a baby stops and picks her up. Quickly they bound and blindfold her and take her to their home. Colleen is subjected to excruciating torture and confinement in the home of Cameron Hooker. By brainwashing Colleen, Cameron now has exactly what he wants.. a slave. For seven years Colleen lives with the Hooker's until one day Janice Hooker, Cameron's wife, informs Colleen of the truth.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Husband and wife exchange glances...
Review: Colleen stuck out her thumb and hitched the wrong ride with Cameron and Janine. The husband and wife exchanged glances, and soon the woman in the backseat was locked into a "head box" and hidden under her own sleeping bag.

Seven years later, neighbors considered Colleen a part of their family, babysitting and gardening, working as a hotel housekeeper, and going to church. What happened between her capture and the sensational "Sex Slave" trial?

This book tells the astounding and alarming tale of a young woman who was turned into the submissive slave of a sadist. The author, who prosecuted the case, alternates between the chronology of Colleen's pathetically circumscribed existence, and the tale as it unfolded seven years later when she was "'freed" by his wife.

Colleen's situation is terrible to contemplate, but the author portrays the case in a sympathetic yet professional manner, allowing the reader to develop a gradual emotional callous. I would imagine that the prosecutor herself went through the same process during her months of mind-numbing investigation.

This is a classic account, and a must-read and must-have in every crime library.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A true-Crime Must read
Review: As a lover of true crime books, this book ranks as one of those "must-reads". It is well written, clear and horrifying yet not gratuitous. Hard to put down, you will find yourself pulled into Colleen Stan's desperate situation right until the end. You will question everything you think you know, and just how cruel people are willing to become.

Not really for the faint of heart, this book is disturbing. I read it in one day and felt a little disillusioned with life afterwards. :) Colleen's story will definately help you reexamine what a bad day really is... and appreciate all the freedom most of take for granted.

I would recommend this book.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates