Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box [Mass Market Paperback]

Christine McGuire (Author), Carla Norton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1989

Called the "sex slave," and "the girl in the box" case, this is the story behind Colleen Stan's terrifying, seven-year-long imprisonment by Cameron Hooker as told by the district attorney who tried the case. Too bizarre to be anythin g but true, it is a tale of riveting intensity and gripping courtroom drama. 8 page photo insert. Soon to be a TV miniseries. HC: Arbor House.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Some may find it unbelievable that a 20-year-old Oregon woman could be enslaved by a sexual sadist for seven years--that even after being able to move freely during the day, she would allow him to lock her into a wooden box every night. Perhaps it's a minor failing of this book that the authors do not elaborate on the psychology that made her such a "perfect victim." In other respects, though, the story is well told, with an impressive accumulation of details: the woman's capture, the tortures she endured, the brainwashing techniques, the fiendish contraptions her captor constructed, the slave contract he made her sign, and the increasingly strained relations within the peculiar family that included master, slave, wife, and child, all inside a single-wide trailer. As well-known attorney and author Vincent Bugliosi writes, "A gripping and disturbing story of the secret life of apparently normal people. At once, horrific and engrossing."

From Publishers Weekly

Hitchhiking from Eugene, Ore., through northern California in 1977, 20-year-old Colleen Stan thumbed a ride into hell. Her kidnappersa sadistic lumber mill worker, Cameron Hooker, and his battered wife Janicesubjected her to seven years of torture and sensory deprivation. She was made a sex slave, kept locked in a wooden box and brainwashed into believing that an underground network of sadists would recapture her if she attempted to escape. Did Colleen fall in love with Cameron and make herself a willing partner in a love triangle, as the Hookers' defense lawyer asserted? The jury found otherwise, convinced by the evidence marshalled by coauthor McGuire, state prosecutor in the case, a trial that journalist Norton attended in 1984. Not for the squeamish, this harrowing tale shuttles between the courtroom and the grisly doings in the Hookers' basement.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Dell (July 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440204429
• ISBN-13: 978-0440204428
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > True Accounts > True Crime

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome read !, January 7, 2000

By 

Ellen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box (Mass Market Paperback)

This book has been around for a few years now. I first read it about six years ago and have since read it again. It's just as good the second time round. A very shocking story of sex,brainwashing and sick perversions. Not for the easily disturbed. Very graphic details and very shocking in places. On reading the back of the book I almost laughed at the idea of someone being held captive for seven years and being brainwashed into staying. On reading the book however,you come to realise just how this can happen and how frighteningly real it was for the poor victim, Colleen Stan. All the way through I couldn't help but wonder why on earth Colleen's family didn't suss out that something was going on. I mean, hey, your daughter suddenly goes missing and when she finally turns up she is like a different person and totally controlled by two individuals that she normally wouldn't associate with. Surely someone must have thought that something was up? Really excellent read. Buy it,don't borrow it as you'll definitely want to read it again.Comes with quite a few photos too. Powerfull and compelling.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unimaginable..., July 25, 2001

By 

Chynared21 (Staten Island, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box (Mass Market Paperback)

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.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Young Woman's Journey to Hell and Back, April 22, 2001

By 

Nancy Sherburne (Tucson, Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box (Mass Market Paperback)

The journey begins when young Colleen Stan is hitchhiking in California and passes up several offers by people she felt uncomfortable accepting rides from. Then along comes a nice American family and she accepts. So begins a 7-year ordeal presumably unmatched by anyone else. I find the book filled with details not only of the horror Cameron Hooker inflicted on Colleen, but also of the earlier horror he inflicted on a young Janice in the days before their marriage. As difficult as it was to believe how Hooker could have Stan so under control he would allow her to hold down a job, it becomes crystal clear when trial testimony describes hostages undergoing the same experience. My only problem is the book is not wholely written in chronological order but jumps back and forth between the current investigation and the years prior when Stan is held captive by a cold, calculating, very intelligent but depraved individual. If you can handle descriptions of immense pain, torture and terror get your hands on this book immediately.