Spooky edge of your seat thrill ride. This book was wonderful

This was a really good story I didn't want to put it down, I won't lie its not going to be to everyone's liking as it is at times a disturbing read which features some difficult subjects such as rape, mutilation and extreme violence but it hasn't been overplayed or sensationalised. The story centres around a young girl - Olivia, who on her first day of Uni is snatched by two men and then shes not seen again for five years, held a prisoner with no way of knowing what will happen to her apart from knowing she is at the whim of two very sick individuals, What I liked about Olivia was she never gives up, she keeps her fighting spirit, always looking for a way to escape and return to her Dad. The characters in the book are believable and you are rooting for her escape and its been very well written and keeps you guessing right to the end of the book.

3.5 Stars. DOLL HOUSE is a shockingly gruesome thriller!

Author John Hunt wastes no time introducing his two creepy masked characters GORILLA and JACKAL quickly demonstrating their intent to maim and violate their newly acquired young captive Olivia without a care in the world.....except their personal gratification.

Olivia's nightmare in the "twisted pink doll house" begins the very first day her beloved father gets her settled in her new dorm room when she decides to take a walk around campus.....BIG MISTAKE....and father Harry, well, he lives his own nightmare as he turns to drink to survive his daughter's absence.... but then there's a phone call, and the plot takes a satisfying turn......but the fear does not end.....

Be forewarned, DOLL HOUSE is quite graphic with horrific abuse and cruelty, and filled with blood and gore throughout most of the story; and although I sped right through it to find out the true identity of the evil behind the masks, there were times the dialogue and actions were a bit 'off' in respect to our resilient Olivia, hence my 3 Star rating.

Many thanks to NetGalley and BLACK ROSE writing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Olivia has lived with her dad Harry all of her life. Its now time for her to go off to college but both her and her dad are struggling with her leaving. Harry drives Olivia to her college dorm and leaves with a heavy heart. That same night Olivia is kidnapped and neither Olivia or her dad Harry were prepared for the nightmare they would both end up living through.

I absolutely loved this book! It is a story that grips you and keeps you hanging on until the very end. I could not put this book down. There are many twists and turns to keep you hanging on and keeps you wondering whats going to happen next. This story isn't for the faint hearted. Its a story of a young womans horrific journey through hell and back. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that loves some gore, horror and some mystery. I can't wait to read more from this author!

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.

The premise of Doll House was a fresh idea. Howerver,I found the story jumped all over the place. It held.my attention, until halfway through the book. You could see the end coming amd it.was only a matter of pages until.the author got to the point. I found the ending to be void of any real resolution. It felt as though the author simply wanted to.finish the book, without writting ending.

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.

I did not like the writing style and found it to be all over the place. I gave up far too early for usual and for that reason I will not review on my social media or blog. I wish the author all the best with the publication. This one just wasn't for me. thank you & sorry

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