Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A DARK JOURNEY INTO SEXUAL DEPRAVITY!!!, November 25, 2002
Unlike Jack Ketchum's earlier novel, LADIES NIGHT, his newest one, RIGHT TO LIFE, definitely has the shoe on the other foot as a pregnant woman becomes the victim of a deranged married couple that kidnap her right off the street and hold her captive for several months while she's forced to endure their bizarre S&M games. The 139-page novella starts off with Sara Foster on her way to an abortion clinic to do away with the unwanted child that she's now carrying. Before Sara can even enter the clinic, she's grabbed and sedated by Stephen and Katherine Teach-a couple who's unable to have children-and taken to their home where she's held as a prisoner. The couple intends to hold Sara until the baby is born and then kill her. Stephen, however, has other plans for his beautiful captive as well. He's going to get the most out Sara's luscious body by using her to fulfill his own perverted desires. Forcing her to submit in whatever sexual manner he chooses, she's mentally and physically tortured on almost a daily basis. Even Stephen's wife decides to get in on the action by making the prisoner her sex slave when the hubby begins to lose interest after a few months have past. Sara instinctively knows that she has to find a way out before it's too late, but time is her worse enemy as she grows bigger and more powerless with her pregnancy. She also understands that if she does manage to escape, the couple may very well come after her. This leaves her with just one option-to kill them first! RIGHT TO LIFE will shock you to the core as it depicts one's person's attempt to survive unimaginable torture and humiliation in order to keep from being killed. Mr. Ketchum never pulls his punches with the violence and craziness. His prose is fast moving and creates stark images that are mind numbing. The reader is quickly carried into this dark world of depravity and made to realize that anyone can be a potential victim when least expected. The characters are well drawn, but it's the Techs that really steal the show. This is one psychotic couple you wouldn't want to have as next-door neighbors! All in all, RIGHT TO LIFE delivers in full form. Strong in sexual content, it's not for the faint-hearted or those with a queasy stomach. One final note, this edition also contains two extra short stories. The first is "Brave Girl" and it deals with a four-year-old child whose mother has fallen in the bathtub and is now unconscious. The second short story is "Returns" which is slightly different from the author's normal subject matter. It centers on the spirit of a recently deceased man who returns home to his hateful wife, hoping to stop her from killing his loving cat. These two short stories are a nice bonus for the fans of Jack Ketchum.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Disturbing Masterpiece, June 12, 2002
Right To Life might very well be Jack Ketchum's most striking, affecting and brilliant story since The Girl Next Door. Once more, he comes at us full force to have us face the most terrifying and most disturbing nightmare of all: Death.A woman considering having an abortion is kidnapped by a couple who desires a child. They will keep her prisoner for the full term of her pregnancy in the hopes of keeping the child for themselves once it comes. They will torture her and torment her for their own pleasure as they await the child's arrival. Dark, disturbing and terrifyingly realistic, Right To Life is a novella only the twisted mind of Jack Ketchum could conceive. Ketchum's strength lies in presenting his readers with realistic horror. His stories rarely rely on the paranormal, opting instead to investigate the demons that can plague one's mind. And this book isn't an exception to the rule. Right To Life is a psychological tour the force that will leave you breathless. It's the kind of book which you will forever remember, which will haunt you long after you have finished reading it. This is Ketchum at his best and darkest.
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26 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Stillborn, April 4, 2003
A woman is kidnapped in front of an abortion clinic by a desperate, psychotic couple so that she can bear a child for them. Feeding her unlikely stories of an organization that deals in human slaves, they lock her up in their basement and torment her for the remainder of her pregnancy. The plot is thin even for a 140-page novella. Beyond the initial abduction and imprisonment, the drama never escalates, and so it grows tiresome. The story might have actually been more interesting had it been expanded into a longer form, and shown us what is going on elsewhere as the woman's lover and family try to find her. But unfortunately the author doesn't concern himself with any of that. The story's other major flaw is how inept the villains are. At one point they go so far as to reveal their full names, in an attempt to set up a safety net that would never work. And though the wife is a nurse, she doesn't seem to be aware that what they're doing can very likely affect the health of the baby she wants so badly. Despite their actions, they just don't feel threatening, and the reader gets the impression that their captive could easily outwit them if she waits for the right moment. The abuses heaped upon the protagonist are so mundane that it doesn't even earn points in the extreme horror category. Also included in this edition are two short stories. "Brave Girl" follows the aftermath of a child's emergency call. "Returns" is a bittersweet tale of a ghost who has one final task to complete.
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