This was a good one!! The story begins with Olivia getting ready to go off to college. The very day she is dropped off by her dad, she is kidnapped and held prisoner by two very dark, sick, twisted and tortuous men. These men are known to Olivia as Gorilla and Jackal by the masks they wear when they enter her room.

For five years Olivia is held in this same room. It is unreal what she goes through at the hands of these two sickos. The graphic torturing events in the story were hard for me to read. Eventually Olivia is able to escape along with two other girls who also had rooms in this warped “Doll House”.

After Olivia’s escape she returns to live with her father who has become an alcoholic during her years of captivity. I did find myself getting irritated at Olivia’s dad, Harry, when Olivia had to take care of him and his alcohol problem after she had been through so much.

The author takes you through the thoughts, emotions, anxieties, and fears of Olivia’s post-captivity life. Olivia and Harry have so much emotional baggage to carry around after this set of horrific events. They both feel guilty and at times blame themselves for what happened.

The point of view switches throughout the story mostly between Olivia and the Jackal, who by the way was never captured and is still out there somewhere. The best part of the story for me was trying to figure out the identity of the Jackal. The police find out after interviewing all of the girls that the Jackal did things different when it came to Olivia. They believed the Jackal may be someone Olivia knew since he never spoke to her but he did the other girls.

The action rises towards the end…just wait until you find out the identity of the Jackal. Overall this is a great book…I give it 4 stars.

Thank you John Hunt, Black Rose Writing, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

A horrific but brilliant book that kept me guessing until the end, very graphic and gory early on but not in an exploitive way.
Olivia is great as the tough but damaged heroine and is a very likeable character, I felt so much compassion for her and her father.
The book was also very original in that you heard from a few different characters viewpoints throughout, Olivia's, her Dad's and the Madman's, I was so immersed in the story that I read it in a day, the lead up to the ending was exceptionally tense but I was a bit disappointed with how it turned out.
Will definitely read more from this author.

I couldn't put this book down and finished it in one sitting!! This book had me on the edge of my seat from the first page to the last! The description of this book doesn't do it justice and I almost skipped over this title. I'm glad I didn't. The story is not for the weak of heart, it has violence, rape, torture and even cannibalism. However, the characters and story line is riveting, shocking and intense. The author does an excellent job of keeping you on the edge of your seat!

This is a very dark, gritty, disturbing, suspenseful thriller and will keep your heart pounding while turning the pages. If you have certain levels of grittiness that you can't handle, this book is not for you because it covers all levels of grittiness. This book scared me and had me shaking and shuddering. I don't scare easy. There were a lot of Oh No! moments. I loved this book and kind of felt guilty loving it. I really can't recommend this book unless I know your level of grittiness. If you can take on everything in a gritty book then this one is for you.

Olivia is on her way to College. She ends up getting abducted by two masked men who have masks on. Their names are The Jackal and the Gorilla. She is taken to a house and put in a pink room made for a doll. She is not the only girl in this house, there are several others. These masked men are doll collectors. This Dolls House is a house of terror. They are raped, tortured and abused. These girls are just another doll to be played with by these sick captors.

Olivia's Dad has been waiting for years for Olivia to be found. He starts drinking and turns into an alcoholic because he can not accept her not being found, until the day he receives a phone call and the voice on the other end says Dad! I am not going any more into the story. You will just have to read it if you want to know what happens next.
It is so creepy.

I thought the characters were done very well. It was a very quick read and was racing to the end.

I want to thank NetGalley, John Hunt and the publication sher for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. Dark, suspenseful, gritty, a real page turner. I kept wanting to close my eyes so I wouldn't see what happened.

I like that a lot of time wasn't spent on the torture that Olivia went through. There was enough to make you really uncomfortable, but not too much as to make you want to stop reading.

The book was fast paced, but scary. It's very well written, and the characters are very believable. I also very much liked the fact that it took place in Canada. I would highly recommend this book. I honestly thought I figured out who it was and I was positive that I was right, and I wasn't. I had to re-read the paragraph because I couldn't believe that I was wrong.

The only reason I took a star away is because I felt it wrapped up too easily and I still had some unanswered questions. An short epilogue would have finished the book off nicely.

College freshman, Olivia, is kidnapped on her very first day at her new university. Trapped in a pink cell and treated like a doll, Olivia is repeatedly raped and tortured by her two captors. After five years of this, Olivia manages to escape, and is reunited with her dad. She is constantly on edge, because while one captor died…the other, known as The Jackal, is still out there, and no one knows who he is. Told through two perspectives, Olivia’s and The Jackal’s, Hunt weaves a story about a dark, chilling, cat and mouse game.


I loved Doll House! It was really dark, and there were some graphic scenes, which don’t bother me. I was so engaged from the very beginning of the story, and couldn’t wait to see what happened and how everything played out. I really loved Olivia as the main character. She was strong despite her circumstances, and refused to let her captors break her, as they did to many other women before her. After escaping, she was understandably shaken and paranoid, but she still was able to help her dad kick his alcohol addiction and took steps to be proactive in make her feel safe.

There were a few times around two thirds into the story where it felt like the plot was moving a little slowly for me because not much was happening. The story wasn’t moving forward yet, so it felt like it was at a standstill, however the book picked back up at the end and definitely went out with a bang!

I was able to predict the outcome of the book, which always makes me feel like Sherlock Holmes! All in all, Doll House is definitely a book I’d recommend if you’re okay with reading scenes that contain torture/rape, even though they weren’t overly gory, they are definitely there. Doll House was a win for me, and I’m excited to keep an eye on what John Hunt writes in the future!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. Dark, suspenseful, gritty, a real page turner. I kept wanting to close my eyes so I wouldn't see what happened.

I like that a lot of time wasn't spent on the torture that Olivia went through. There was enough to make you really uncomfortable, but not too much as to make you want to stop reading.

The book was fast paced, but scary. It's very well written, and the characters are very believable. I also very much liked the fact that it took place in Canada. I would highly recommend this book. I honestly thought I figured out who it was and I was positive that I was right, and I wasn't. I had to re-read the paragraph because I couldn't believe that I was wrong.

The only reason I took a star away is because I felt it wrapped up too easily and I still had some unanswered questions. An short epilogue would have finished the book off nicely.

OMG, This book, can I just start by saying Doll House was an intense read, you will need a strong stomach to get through the earlier chapters, so be aware you are reading a HORROR!!! book and if this is not your thing well you have been warned.
That being said I do love this genre and I am a sucker for the blood and gore and psychological warfare that comes with these type of stories (much to the other half's dismay when I make him sit through the latest horror flick) I loved Doll House. From the opening innocent lines that could be from any YA novel of bunnies and rainbows and that first magical day at university, where Olivia's dad & uncle leave her to take her first tentative steps into the world of adult responsibility and then BAM!!!!

We are plunged into another story one of such extremes and the most awful god awful depravities, snatched off the street, Olivia's world has imploded and her whole existence now revolves around the whims of her two heinous kidnappers the Jackel and the Gorilla.

Raped and subjected to the most extreme torture which involves lobbed off body parts, you would think that this is the point of this tale, but it's not. Dolls house shows us what happens when the unthinkable occurs, how the human psyche can still endure after five years of captivity, the reserves of spirit needed to escape and also rescue others along the way just WOW and this is where our tale really begins Olivia now free from her pink prison hopes her nightmare is over but it is truly only just beginning.

Yes Doll House is graphic and extreme but honestly, this is what originally attracted me to this, The rape in this is only implied and we do not experience it happening so though we know it's occurred it truly makes it a lot easier to read about, I would have found graphic rape scenes harder to stomach than the removing of body parts, this was YUCK but was a much easier pill to swallow in my opinion .

so in conclusion, very gripping graphic writing that pulled me in, kept my interest, and I read in a very short time, downsides for me were very few, I felt the ending was a bit disjointed with not enough closure and I did kind of guess who the bad guy was, but this was right near the end and so didn't take away from my enjoyment a tall.
I received a free e-copy of this e-book from NetGalley for a review and this is my own honest opinion.

Doll House by John Hunt was one of the creepiest books that I have read in a long time; it takes quite a bit for me to be truly frightened, but this one had my skin crawling. I was glued to my seat. I was compelled to keep reading. I could have read this one easily in one sitting, but I had to take a break when it became too dark.

I had to read this one during the daytime.

The novel opens and immediately jumps into the action; Olivia is abducted and her descent into hell begins. Explicitly written, but not overdone, Hunt relies on the reality of a psychopathic mind instead of ostentatious shows of violence. In fact, the scariest part of this novel was the fact that it felt so real. There was no paranormal element, nothing supernatural, just the pure, raw and macabre horrors of human nature.

From the pace to plot and a kick-ass female protagonist, I found not much to fault in Doll House. This novel is out now, so if you want a “scare your pants off” type horror thriller, then look no further.

Olivia embarks on her first year of college but before she can even get settled into her dorm room or attend her first class, she's abducted and terrorized in a tiny pink room... just another doll to be played with by her abusive captors. Harry, her father, drowns himself in alcohol to cope with his daughter's disappearance until he answers the phone one day, five years later, and hears, "Daddy?". But this isn't the end, it's only the beginning of a continued nightmare where every shadow, every knock on the door, every tap on the window, could be someone coming for her. You never truly get away after going through what Olivia endured.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It's deliciously dark and gruesome. Extremely fast paced, yet somehow you feel every part of the girls' pain. I don't mind explicit gore in a book and this walks a fine line - just enough to make you squeamish without ever going too far (at least for me, but I don't mind squeamish). Moving from action to suspense to action again, your heart races throughout. What's even scarier is there are no supernatural monsters, ghosts or demons - just a plausible scenario which will have you paying more attention to your surroundings. 5 full creepy screaming stars for this quick read and because I haven't been this creeped out in a while..

Oh my god. This book was incredibly creepy and I loved every second of it. This twisted tale gets going right away and doesn't stop.

Disclaimer: This book includes some very difficult topics that aren't for everyone. Rape, torture, lots of violence, and even acts of cannibalism. So I recommend against this book if you are squeamish/not a fan of these topics.

We start with Olivia leaving for college and moving into her dorm. She doesn't even get to spend a night there when she's abducted off the sidewalk on her college campus. She wakes up in a tiny pink room, almost as if made for a doll, and she faces her abductors daily. She knows them by their masks: Gorilla and Jackal. She is used for their pleasure and brutally punished when she resists (losing body parts, torture, etc).

Fast forward five years later and Olivia manages to break free and kill one of her abductors. When she goes to escape she finds more rooms like hers with two other girls inside. She and the two manage to escape. But now they must deal with the after-effects of such trauma, and Olivia knows there is still one of them out there. He is obsessed with her and will do anything to get Olivia back.

This book is told from different perspectives. From Olivia's, her father's, both of her abductors, and one of the girls that she saved. This is a very fast-paced and quick read. Incredibly creepy and demented, but I loved it all. It just hits you and doesn't stop!

Thank you to the publisher for an ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia and her dad Harry said their good-byes when he dropped her off at University. He knew he would miss her terribly but he never dreamed it would be the last he saw of her.

Olivia was kidnapped that very night by 2 masked men she would come to think of as The Gorilla and The Jackal for the next 5 years. She is dumped in a cell of putrid pink, and systematically raped, tormented and tortured on a regular basis by the Gorilla as the Jackal watches.

Meanwhile Her father Harry has slipped into a stupor of alcoholism, never knowing for sure if Olivia is alive or dead until that one fateful night when her captors make a fatal mistake and she seizes the opportunity to make her escape. The Jackal however, is not willing to give up on tracking her down and bringing her back.

This was a fast paced, suspenseful thriller often quite brutal in it's graphic violence. Not for the faint of heart and not something to read while snacking if you are weak of stomach. 4 out of 5 stars from me. Currently free at Amazon at the time of this post.
I received a complimentary copy for review.

I loved this story. I couldn't put it down. Great writing style. A very quick read - I loved it that much.

Fantastic story! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

<i>Doll House</i> is definitely not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of explicit violence.

When I read the blurb for this book I thought that this could be an episode right out of my favourite show, Criminal Minds. A pink cell, two sickos wanting to make this girl their doll - I wondered what made them tick.

The more I read the more disappointed I would get. The characters felt flat, and not only do we not get to know how these guys came to think the way they did but we also do not even find out how they met and teamed up.
And it is indeed creepy to read a man gets an erection every time he thinks of maiming a girl but after a while it is just not enough.

There were other ways in which the psychological aspect majorly lacked. I could never even relate to any of the characters. Harry did not sound like the middle-aged adult he is supposed to be and Olivia just sounded fake, like the author worked too hard to make her sound like a heroine.
Even the constant swear words, which I usually don't notice because they blend in with the stories when properly used, stood out like a neon sign because they did not add anything.

The writing drove me insane since I kept reading the same things over and over again. Because of that, the book actually dragged on for me.
It also sounded very immature, especially when the voice turned to Harry, or the police detectives, who I just could not take seriously.
Even the attempts at humour were too silly to be funny. Example:

Sargent: <i>So? You're sure he's not our guy?</i>
Detective: <i>I'll be sure when we get DNA. But I'd have to say, at this point, his story checks out. We've proven that much of it.</i>
S: <i>Poop.</i>
D: <i>Yes. Poop.</i>
S: <i>Call if you need anything.</i>

The lack of punctuation was an issue as well. The writing just felt clumsy.

Example:

<i>After Davis left Olivia closed the door and locked it behind him. She felt exhausted and leaned her heard against the door, her head swimming with information.</i>

Still, <i>Doll House</i> has its qualities. This is not a book just about twisted men abducting and exerting extreme violence over young women. It's about what happens if the unthinkable becomes real and the captive breaks free. Would you be able to lead a normal life? Especially if the person who caused you so much pain was still out there? Would you ever feel safe?

It does explore these questions so not all is bad and I am sure several people will enjoy it very much. Unfortunately I did not find it memorable at all and could not help finishing the experience feeling disappointed, especially since even the last line seemed corny.

<i>Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.</i>

Absolutely gripping! Olivia, on her first day of university, is kidnapped and imprisoned by two mysterious men, one the Jackal, the other the Gorilla. Unbeknownst to her, there have been other girls in her place. The effects of this are obviously horrendous, and she must have the will to survive and escape. Well written and fast paced, with great plot twists, this is well worth the read!

It should have been the start of a exciting new phase in Olivia`s life,leaving home,moving to university and making new friends but on her very first night she is kidnapped,thrown into a van and transported into a pink living nightmare,the doll house of two twisted psychopaths.

Five years later Olivia`s dad Harry is now a alchoholic who is only holding on to his job because of the sympathy of his bosses.Then one day a miracle happens,he answers the phone and hears a voice that he never thought he would hear again.

Olivia is alive,after enduring years of being beaten,raped and tortured she has killed one of the kidnappers and escaped with three other girls that she found in the house of horrors where they were being held prisoner.Unfortunately Olivia`s nightmare is far from over,one of the kidnappers is still at large and he wants his living doll back.

This dark twisted thriller is voiced by Olivia,Harry,Jen who is one of the girls that Olivia saved and the kidnappers.The person who is still at large is a cruel,twisted individual who could be any one of the male characters who feature in this story.The twists and turns really keep the reader guessing and I changed my mind about the psycho`s identity a number of times.The story is very dark and intense at times,the torture scenes are quite graphic but the rapes are only implied and not gone into in a lot of detail.

I really enjoyed this gripping thriller,the story doesn't take long to get started,there is a constant sense of menace and danger and a nerve shredding final confrontation.It's a very well written book,the characters are realistic and believable and I think this would make a very good film.I would happily recommend this book to any reader who enjoys a dark,creepy thriller.

This book seriously blew me away. My head is spinning... I was clenching my hands and biting my nails the WHOLE time. It takes a lot for a book to make me step back and say... woah WHILE I'm reading it but this one did just that.

Olivia is off to college an hour away from home. She doesn't even make it a full 24 hrs before her worst nightmare happens and her life is changed forever. Abducted and forced into a prison made just for her. Everything is pink, bolted down to the floor, no sharp objects or anything to protect herself with.

"She became a meat puppet, her strings played by two masked men, evil in their own ways."

These men are sick , so sick I found myself wanting to look away from what I was reading.... but at the same time I couldn't. They are vile, repulsive... the things they do to women are unmentionable. Hunt's words are so well written I was scared for Olivia. Their masks, a Gorilla and a Jackal, make them seem even more the monster they really are. Olivia isn't their first and she's pretty sure she won't be the last, there are others, like her.

Gorilla can't control himself like Jackal can. After five years Olivia has learned this and will use it to her advantage when he comes to her alone. Rules are broken and the price must be paid. When things don't go as planned for one of the men, the other is on his own, to find his Olivia and bring her back. He won't let her go that easy.

"Five years of foreplay and then to have his moment stolen enraged and hurt him."

Between Olivia's dad and the detectives they are determined to keep her safe with alarm systems, fancy gadgets that alert the police and even a dog.... but not everyone is who they seem.


My rating: 5/5 Jackal stars

BEFORE....

Olivia is a college freshman, her first day of college, first day of living on her own. Her father worries, but don't all parents? Olivia never gets to even sleep in her dorm room. She is taken off the street by two men wearing masks. They take her somewhere... and put her in a pretty pink room. A room made for a doll. She has become a new member of their collection.

DURING....

For five years Olivia is kept prisoner in her pink room. She is tortured, she is beat, she is raped repeatedly, she loses body parts when she fights back.

Olivia's father is still grieving her loss. Nothing much seems to matter anymore. The police are no longer actively looking for her. The only thing that seems to help relieve the pain at least temporarily is alcohol .. and he is consuming more and more every night.

And then one night he gets a phone call. On the other end, he hears a voice saying ...Daddy, help me .. please help me.

AFTER....

Olivia has escaped. She has killed one of her abductors. She also finds 3 other girls locked in other pink rooms.

It's like having PSTD ... she can't forget and she's afraid all the time. One of her captors is still out there and she's so afraid he's coming back for her.

The story is told in different voices ... Olivia's, her father's, the two men who kidnapped her, and one of the other victims that she saved.

WARNING : Contains massive violence, rape, torture, even cannibalism.

It's very fast-paced with little let up. I was engaged from the very first to the very end. All of the characters are finely drawn and very credible. The ending was electric. Made me get up and double check the locks on the doors.

Many thanks to the author / Black Rose Writing / Netgalley for the digital copy of this novel. All opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Review: DOLL HOUSE by John Hunt

DOLL HOUSE is a deeply felt and admirably realized tale of an unending real-life nightmare. On the very day she moves into a freshman residence hall at university, Olivia is abducted and undergoes five years of unspeakable torment. During her absence, her devoted father Harry devolves into alcoholism, an addiction that continues even after Olivia' s eventual escape and return to their home. Since the ringleader has not been found, neither Olivia, Harry, nor the other victims can find peace, until a heartwrenching and traumatic denouement.