Pat D. (pat0814) reviewed The Guest Room: A Novel (Random House Large Print) on + 379 more book reviews
In this latest book, Chris Bohjalian has taken on the most unsavory of subjects: sex trafficking of underage girls. Richard has no idea what life-altering horrors he has unleashed when he opens his upscale home for his brother's bachelor party. Instead of a relatively harmless regulation stripper, two young women and their bodyguard thugs show up, resulting in an evening of debauchery that ends in death. His home, previously a safe sanctuary for Richard, his wife and daughter, becomes a crime scene covered in blood and gore with his life in shambles.
The story is told in alternating chapters with Alexandra, the Armenian girl tricked into sex slavery, relating her background and Richard and his family recounting the aftermath of the horrendous evening. It is a riveting story told in Bohjalian's masterful style. In the hands of a less gifted author, we might have missed the layers of pain behind the story. Bohjalian has added another voice to the concern about this growing international crime committed by the monsters who enslave children and the reprehensible pedophiles who abuse them.
The story is told in alternating chapters with Alexandra, the Armenian girl tricked into sex slavery, relating her background and Richard and his family recounting the aftermath of the horrendous evening. It is a riveting story told in Bohjalian's masterful style. In the hands of a less gifted author, we might have missed the layers of pain behind the story. Bohjalian has added another voice to the concern about this growing international crime committed by the monsters who enslave children and the reprehensible pedophiles who abuse them.
