Perfect Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box Mass Market Paperback – July 1, 1989

Great read! Well researched and written. Literary art. The writer style is so much enjoyable. Excellent trial coverage! Well done to the prosecution team.

The book seemed respectable given the topic it was on. The book bounced from different perspectives. There was never a point I had to force myself to keep reading. It was a attention grabber from the beginning. I originally heard about the book from the Morbid podcast and I think it was a good rec.

"Perfect Victim" tells the bizarre story of a young woman kidnapped while hitchhiking from Oregon to her home in California in 1977. Colleen Stan is sadistically kept prisoner for most of 7 years. She is forced to spend many nights in a small box; a "dungeon" would be too generous a description. She is raped, tortured and just plain denigrated by her captors, Cameron and Jan Hooker. In the process she becomes their virtual slave. Apparently "brainwashed", she ignores opportunities to escape. This is the most difficult part of the plot for the reader to fathom. Why didn't Colleen run? Was she truly brainwashed? This reviewer believes she was, but others will certainly disagree. Suddenly! Colleen is a free woman and the wheels of justice begin to spin. The second half of "PV" is concerned with the arrest and trial of the Hookers. In a special -and positive- twist, a co-author, Christine McGuire, is the prosecutor! As an author, she may favor her position. She takes an obvious shot or two at the defense counsel, but who can blame her, given the low life of a defendant? I firmly believe reviewers should not divulge endings (or how Colleen became "free"), so I will end quickly. "PV" is definitely recommended to true crime devotees. The only drawbacks are the disturbing nature of the plot and the amount of space devoted to the trial. It could have been edited down, but this is a minor detail. Who can blame author McGuire for writing about prosecutor McGuire? It's unclear if "PV" is readily available. My advice is to persist in finding a copy.

Great book, I was fascinated by the story, but really sad situation for the victim. I’d recommend book for sure, especially if you’re into the true crime stuff.

It was okay, a rather bizarre story about some girl who was kidnapped and then kept inside a box for years. I hate to say it, but the girl was kidnapped because she was hitch hiking and accepted a ride from strangers, which a person should learn as a child is a no-no, so it's hard to feel a large amount of sympathy for her because she found her way inside the predicament and she was old enough to know better, as opposed to a lot of the other stories you might hear about in which a child is abducted simply from playing innocently in their front yard, or riding their bikes. After skimming the book, I then tried to look up pictures online and found none, which was disappointing. The boom itself shipped quick and was readable and packed good.

I just got this book yesterday and have already finished it! This is an amazing true story. If you are sensitive to sexual violence or violence of any kind then this book is NOT for you. If you like true crime books with total details then this is for you. It's hard to put this down once you start it. I used to own this book and have read it many times but lost it when I moved so I had to buy it again. It's just one of those books you can read again and again.

I wasn’t familiar with this case but when I learned of it, I had to have the book. It’s absolutely incomprehensible what Colleen suffered during these 7 years. This book describes all of it in detail and does a great job putting you in her place. It was a very easy read and I thought I wouldn’t like all the court chapters, but they were actually where a lot of details came from. I’m not a “book person” but this was an exception.

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.