By John Glatt

On August 23, 2002, Michelle Knight, 21, left a family member’s house and was not heard from for another 11 years.

On April 21, 2003, Amanda Berry, 16, was walking home from work at Burger King – on the phone with her sister – when she said “I’m getting a ride, be home soon.” And was not seen for the next 10 years.

Almost 1 year later, Gina DeJesus, 14, was walking home from school and was not heard from for another 9 years.

What ties these three women together is horrifying; a man named Ariel Castro.

Castro, born July 1960, was faced with abuse and hardship as a young child and instead of finding help, he turned into a monster. In a long-term relationship with his first girlfriend, Grimilda Figueroa, he fathered 4 children. This relationship proved to be a long slow death for Grimilda as Castro beat her regularly, breaking her nose, ribs, and even causing a blood clot in the brain that led to a tumor that was inoperable. When Grimilda finally left Castro for good and married a security guard named Fernando Colon, she thought she was safe, but Castro continued his rampage, frequently “abducting” (I use quotes because the courts dismissed these complaints, but after everything we know it was true) the children and convincing his daughters that their step-father MUST have molested them. Allegedly (but we all know he did it), Castro gave money for drugs and pricey iPhones to his daughters to buy their testimony against Fernando.

While Castro was wreaking havoc on his ex-common-law wife and his children, he was boarding up his house and locking it down with chains. This house of horrors was where he brought and held Michelle, Amanda, and Gina, raping, beating, and dehumanizing them for about a decade.

Michelle suffered several miscarriages during her 11 years of hell. It seems she was starved and brutalized more often and more harshly than the other girls. And the inhumane torture only became worse every time Castro got her pregnant.

Amanda gave birth to a baby girl around year 4 of captivity, and because she was Castro’s new “wife” she was permitted to keep her child. Michelle was forced to deliver Amanda’s baby in the dirty, urine soaked basement. When the baby was born not breathing, Castro threatened her life if she did not bring her back. Michelle did CPR on a newborn that night and the baby miraculously survived.

Gina and Michelle became very close during these years as Amanda was commonly not allowed in the same room with them. Gina cared for Michelle during her miscarriages and when she was forced to ingest mustard (which she was highly allergic to).

However, on May 6, 2013, the door was left unlocked. And Amanda risked her life to escape with her daughter and get help for the other women.

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I… I can’t even really review this book the way I normally would.

I didn’t pick it up because I wanted to get lost in the trauma and brutality – sometimes the way we find horror movies entertaining. No, I chose this book because I remembered the news about this incredible escape and rescue. I remembered thinking, “this only happens in movies.” But it happened to real, live flesh and blood human people. The story of Michelle, Amanda, and Gina is a true testament to resilience and the human spirit to keep fighting.

But to review the book itself:

I loved the way the author chose to write this book. It felt like a documentary or a very long episode of CrimeJunkies. Yes, it’s important to keep readers engaged, but Glatt stuck to the facts without embellishing to make a better story. I didn’t feel like he was taking any creative liberties and stayed true to the events that occurred.

Another aspect I appreciated was how much attention Glatt gave Michelle. She was the forgotten Lost Girl. Amanda and Gina were both underage teenagers when they were abducted, so naturally police took their disappearance more seriously. Their families held vigils every year on the anniversary of their disappearances (WHICH CASTRO ATTENDED AND EVEN HELD HANDS AND PRAYED WITH THEIR MOTHERS). But Michelle? It seemed no one was looking for her. Glatt seemed to take extra care with Michelle’s story to make sure we never forget her again.

Glatt spends the first third of the book introducing us to our villain, giving us his backstory and the events leading up to one of his many atrocious crimes. The middle digs deep into the details of the day-to-day life inside the house, the events over the course of 11 years, and even how Castro carried on in his normal activities while he was literally being the worst human on the planet.

The final third of the book is the escape, the investigation, and the trial. Ariel Castro pled guilty to 937 charges including rape, kidnapping, and aggravated murder (for the forced miscarriages Michelle went through) and was sentenced to life in prison without parole, PLUS 1000 years in prison.

One month in prison, in conditions far more superior than he deserved or ever provided for his victims, Castro committed suicide in his cell. He couldn’t handle even a sliver of a fraction of what he put those women through. Pathetic pile of [insert worst insult here].

While I could go on forever about how much I hate this man, I think it’s time to wrap it up. I believe Glatt handled Michelle, Amanda, and Gina’s story with care so as not to exploit their story, but instead to show how they found the strength within themselves and each other to come out of it alive. The final chapters of the book give special mention to Michelle’s autobiography, “Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, A Life Reclaimed” and Amanda and Gina’s co-written memoir, “Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland.” I believe he did this to help bring the spotlight back to these women who have the power to tell their own story.