Oh gosh it was awful.

The writing was cheesy, the characterizations incomplete, the pacing slow. There are seemingly random interjections of political viewpoints on feminism and social movements that add nothing to the story but turn readers away from the characters. I know very little about the wars in Central America in the 1980s, and after reading this book honestly I know almost as little. I wanted more mystery and more characterization of people and places to give the story roots. ( )

This is a story of what it means to love, to help others, to forgive. It is also a bit of a mystery -- we know who killed whom, but why?

The story centers around a psychiatrist who meets a young woman kept in a box in Guatemala and brings her home to Canada to treat her. His long-time partner is a journalist who is supportive of his efforts. However, when the young woman murders the psychiatrist, the journalist's loyalties are torn apart. Her partner is dead, but she is the only friend the young woman has: a young woman far from home who is non-verbal and obviously suffers from emotional and mental problems.

The story moves along well and the main characters were well developed. The secondary characters weren't as strong, and the motivation for the killing could have been developed a bit more. ( )

When I read the back of the book this book made me think of the movie "Nell" but once I started reading the book I realized that it was nothing like that movie. I had the same idea of a feral children but other than that they are totally different. The books starts when Jerry was in Guatemala and finds Inez. The book then jumps to the present day when Caitlin finds out that Jerry was killed Inez. It jumps back and forth quite a bit as Caitlin starts to write a book and looking into why Inez killed Jerry. Lets just say that I never saw the book ending how it did. Even now while I am writing this I am still in shock about how it ended. The author does a great job keeping the person interested and making you feel like you are there with the characters. I couldn't help but like Inez and even feel bad for her. I know that most people would find this book interesting if you like mysteries and/or thrillers.

FTC- I received a complimentary copy of "The Girl In The Box" for this review and I received no other compensation. The opinions expressed in the post are mine and only mine. ( )

Emotional and intense, the characters stay in your thoughts long after the reading is done. Superbly crafted and engrossing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could not put it down. ( )

"Was it possible to keep loving someone who had destroyed my life?"

I've done really badly with review copies from LibraryThing in the past - I had two thrillers turn out to be uber-religious proselytising. However, this one (which I wasn't all that convinced by on the blurb) was a revelation - it was the cause of failing-to-go-to-bed-because-of-book, which is always a good sign for a book.

Psychoanalyst Jerry goes to Guatemala to track down some shamans and talk to them about the use of drugs in therapy. What he finds is an abused Mayan girl, to whom he could give a better life in Canada. His partner Caitlin is very understanding and co-operates with his plan to bring Inez back to Canada for political refuge and therapy, but when Inez is found holding a marble lamp over Jerry's dead body, Caitlin's world is shattered. She can't figure out why sweet, mute Inez would kill Jerry so violently. And thus Caitlin's story begins...

The characters in this novel were far better constructed than I had expected. Both Caitlin and Jerry are deeply intellectual, sympathetic people, although Jerry is quite free-spirited and Caitlin more given to unpredictable bouts of anger. Inez is a terrific creation - sweet tempered and loving but with a terrible past which flares in nervous outbreaks. The supporting characters (Margaret, Inez's live-in nurse; Michael, Jerry's fellow analyst; Molly, Caitlin's confidante) are kept to a minimum in number and thus also developed strongly.

As a murder mystery, this one does not play by the rules - we know who the victim and perpetrator are right at the start. The mystery is the motive - and the suspense is kept up throughout the novel; we get an idea of the villain pretty early on but the explanation comes very late.

Definitely worth a read - not a book I would have bought but one I am very glad to have read! ( )