Karen Runge

This is the first Karen Runge novel I've read. Her biographical information promised darkly disturbing horror, and this book definitely delivered on that.

A teen mother lives a life of desperation on the road, dragging her daughter along from place to place. In order to survive, the mom exploits both herself and her daughter. She allows strange men illicit access in exchange for money or a temporary room and board. Thus the daughter grows up numb and confused, understanding little about life and relationships beyond doing whatever you can to survive.

Runge spends the entire novel inside the daughter's head. Occasionally, nearing a point of tedium as a result. However, she never completely crosses that line.

Overall, DOLL CRIMES is an engaging (albeit emotionally destructive) read. You won't want to digest this one in bed. Your head will be too busy crying out for someone to show this mother and daughter some fucking empathy. You'll be desperately searching for solutions for these ladies, and wishing in vain that the world was a better place.… (más)

I picked this up because it got a little extra press due to the author being brutally attacked by poachers during a hike shortly before the book's release. It's one of those books that I can't say is bad, but I can say I really didn't enjoy as it is very disturbing. It's a non-supernatural horror story about a teen girl and her mother, who had her when sh was only fifteen. As the story goes on, you realize that these two are really messed up people, and that their relationship is very disturbing, so much so that when the book ends with the mother's current boyfriend murdering her and pimping out her daughter, the girl's situation has actually improved.… (más)