Customer Reviews

A Young Girls's Crimes

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book had been on my to-read pile for a very long time when I decided to give it a whirl. I cannot believe it took me so long to read it! A Young Girl's Crimes is a gripping, thought provoking tale of a teenager who loses her innocence in the most disturbing ways. Flora is a girl who has had everything in life -- after all, her father is wealthy and influential -- save her freedom. Her father is domineering and abusive and does whatever is possible to keep Flora locked up in the mansion. But Flora rebels in the most disarming ways. She seeks love and attention in all the wrong places, only to feel emptiness afterwards. In an attempt to clean up her act, she turns to God to find spiritual guidance and escape her inner demos. However, the odyssey to self-discovery has just begun...

I love the dark language in this novel. Flora's thirst for love and acceptance is gripping beyond compare. I was able to feel a great deal of compassion for this character -- even when I found her behavior appalling at times. I like how the author uses elements of Marquis de Sade within the story. Marquis de Sade is one of my favorite authors, and the fact that the works of said author are incorporated in this story made this novel all the more enjoyable for me. David Rehak is a brilliant author and I look forward to reading his other books. In the meantime, I recommend A Young Girl's Crimes most highly. It is one of my favorite reads this year thus far. He uses the sort of dark language that I adore in this sort of fiction. Again, I have no idea why it took me so long to read this compelling, thought provoking novel, but am sure glad I did!

111 pages of a story with a lot of promise, and evidence that Rehak had definite talent and good ideas. But he tries to do too much in a book that doesn't know if it's a philosophical foray or a television drama. The one lesbian sex scene has its place in the book, but Rehak handles it like Penthouse Forum. 111 pages is not enough room to have philosophy, cliche television moments, and bland erotica.

What Rehak shows is ambition in his effort to bring together interesting ideas, his writing style is clear, and he is organized in his thinking. He shows himself as a writer trying to challenge himself and his readers. Lots of promise here, but what is delivered is subpar and dragged down by corny plot twists, and overambition . However, with all sincerity, I think Rehak will improve and his second book should be worth reading.

like several of the reviewers I found it very manipulated; the characters trite and used; the conversations stilted and I would never believe that people actually speak in this way. The author wrote what could have been a really good 3-400 page book and jammed it into a cramped, almost silly scenario.

Someday, if he takes the time and energy to explore his ideas and fully expand on them...he will write a best-seller. As for me, I wish he had taken his time and filled in his outline. I believe he needs to read more, preferably very good books, to see how it is done. He started with a good idea and ended with a not-too-good two hour read. I am afraid that the battle between good and evil cannot be over that quickly.

If this author reads the constructive critiscism that is given him in several of the reviews, he just might just be great some day. I wish him the best of luck and urge him to continue his quest, but at a much slower and much more thoughtful pace.

...This is the least boring novel I have ever read,... The clear writing style flows like water and the storytelling technique is perfect and perfectly engrossing. The story itself grabs you like it's hard to describe in words and you won't be able to put this book down, whether you're an avid or occasional reader. It's just that good and suspenseful. Secondly I think the spiritual redemption in the story is obvious...in this tale of murder, child abuse and incest... I guess there are those who will be appalled by the detailed descriptions, but not me. I was intrigued and found it quite educational. However, I wouldn't recommend this book to teens or "young adults." This is clearly a book for grown adults who can handle and understand this subject-matter. Also, I feel the characterization would have been even more well-rounded in a longer book. All that said, this is a truly amazing little novel, certainly one of the finest I've ever read, and the most exciting. I was literally on the edge of my seat on every page because the story develops so fast and interesting. It will be interesting to see what Rehak comes out with next, how similar or different it will be from this first one. I know I'll be first in line to snatch up a copy.

A Young Girl's Crimes is a very thought-provoking and original debut novel. Rehak has a fine sense of atmosphere and storytelling...my only complaint? That it wasn't longer! A terrific read. I look forward to his next book.

Mr. Rehak has penned a suspense-filled novel that will keep a reader on edge and unable to stop until the surprising end. This compelling story is an account of how one adolescent girl and her family sink into the mire of murder, incest, lesbian acts and a darker side of life. After many mistakes, Flora is alone and hunted by her abusive, drunken brother, Bill. Because of his incestuous act, his wife has left him and he wants revenge. He holds Flora's past over her head. Bill's wife Stephanie is terrified after being stalked by him. Flora is forced to run, out on the street. She meets a religious man named John, old enough to be her father, who takes her in.
John thinks of her as his daughter, and through him, Flora is introduced to God and religion, and she repents her sins. She wants to love John as a woman but his religion will not allow him to accept more than a daughter's affection from her. Then Bill finds her and brings the police, convincing the law that she killed her teacher years ago in an unsolved murder case. Flora is arrested as John does nothing, left in emotional turmoil wondering if the girl he sheltered and loved as his child is a criminal.
As the two police officers are driving Flora to jail, there is a terible accident on a wooded road and Flora alone survives. The officers are dead, and she thinks her only hope is to run into the wilderness of the Rockies. Now she is accused of killing the officers as well as others and from a past incident, child abuse is added to her crimes. As an all-out manhunt ensues, Flora survives in the wilderness for days, calling on God for strength. When the authorities close in she loses all hope except Heaven, and ends her life.
The last of some poignant scenes is of John on his deathbed, lamenting he did not give his Flora the love she needed. He wishes to meet her in Heaven one day, dying before he knows of her death.
This book is no light inspirational read, and those looking for an uplifting, happy ending should not expect one. It is a riveting, often chilling account involving the dark elements that could lie anywhere. A YOUNG GIRL'S CRIMES is gritty reality, remindful of today's most shocking headlines. The end leaves some hope for heaven and salvation if one interpets it that way.

I loved it, I read this novel with much pleasure and enjoyed every word of it.
It is really not my usual reading habit to finish a book in one day without even laying the book aside. I usually read books in 5 to 25 times during a couple of months until I really finish it tho this novel is so good and I could not lay it beside me to finish it later on. I never stopped reading as I needed to know how the story ended and I finished it the same day as I started reading it.
Gosh, it is really good + erotic. Erotic in a warm and sensual way, making a person crave for warmth and love. Really a good novel, tho the ending was really sad I still loved it. It is also written in a fluent and pleasant manner and making it possible for the reader to feel and taste what the characters are experiencing. David Rehak is really a writer with great potential and great writing skills. He is heading for a successful future if he keeps up this good writing. I am looking forward to his next novel! A HUGE FAN FROM THE NETHERLANDS!
I wish the writer all the best and all the luck in the world.
AT LAST a good novel that does not end with an-always-good-ending-story!

Poor Flora Darby: she's practically a prisoner in her own home being held hostage by her father, home schooled by a Mrs. Danvers-type of teacher, Miss Strachey: ..."who shares her (Flora's) father's strict and narrow-minded opinions." Flora also has a fondness for Le Marquis de Sade and her brother Bill.
What befalls Flora in this smart, snappy little novella is piled on with expertise; albeit with a big swollen tongue held tightly against the cheek by David Rehak, the author.
Rehak has written a hilarious spoof of all those penny weepies of which the Edwardians were so fond. And he has done it with panache and style.
On top of all of this, his several erotic interludes are written in a style reminiscent of Jackie Collins crossed with Henry James: hot but prim and proper.
This is Rehak's first novel and I for one cannot wait to see what he has in store for us next.

As an English teacher and an avid reader, I was impressed with this first attempt to write a novel. Mr. Rehak gives an accurate profile of an overprotected, repressed young girl with a father incapable of love, and unable to comprehend the needs of a young girl from any perspective. We see the intimate workings of an emotionally immature girl's mind in an authentic way. She seems too simplistic unless one keeps in mind, she is a blank, lacking any kind of instruction in decency or moral code. She is unschooled for the reality of the real world due to her father's inability to guide her in any way. Shades of King Lear come to mind. Flora's dad wants the love of his children, but has nothing to give. Flora's life is the perfect example and warning to parents not to overprotect or stifle their children, because the sins of the father will be visited on the children. The sweeping statements about sex, cars,and life are proof that cliches reflect life. Quite profound if one digs deeper into this book's intentions. Flora acts and thinks like one raised the way she was. She sees hypocrisy and rebels, a cliche within itself, and real. As for the lesbian, only one as overprotected as Flora doesn't know [homosexuals] marry for various reasons, social acceptance, security, to have children...and just like straight people, not always for the right reasons. I applaud this first book and look forward to reading more; I know his work will just get better with each new foray.

I finished this book the same night I started reading it. It was different than I expected especially in the ending part. I cryed a long time hoping that some one would help the girl. to think for here and now and not for what someone else might say or other's opinion, was the best I could do to stop the tears.
It Is A Great book! A lot of Morals shined thru in more then one place. It could actually be used as an instructional guide into young teens, in my opinion. Thanks for writing it. Sincerely, Lura