Keep Her Contained

by Oscar Corral

Based on a true crime that dates back 40 years, Keep Her Contained is a story of how a mummified body hidden beneath a Long Island mansion triggered a tale of ambition, dashed hopes and murder. The novel follows the intense, modern investigation that followed the discovery of a young woman’s fully-clothed and perfectly preserved body beneath a luxury home in Jericho, New York. While state-of-the-art forensic technology provide critical breaks in the case, it’s old-fashioned shoe-leather investigating and reporting that flesh out the victim and the circumstances that led to her death. The seductive and intelligent Hispanic woman, Karina Fuentes, surprised even detectives and journalists with the unusual intrigues in her life in the years before her mysterious death. But how did this beautiful young woman become a time capsule from the 1960s, stashed so meticulously beneath a mansion? And what was it about her life that made her both a 1960s feminist hero and a target?
Follow the trail of clues and leads that helped piece together one of the great modern crime mysteries. The novel is based on the real-life story of Reyna Angelica Marroquin, a Salvadoran immigrant who disappeared in New York in the late 1960s, and whose discovery decades later unleashed an international sensation about immigration, crime-fighting science and lust. Her case has been featured on the A & E show Forensic Files, on the news magazine show 48 Hours and was the basis for an episode of Law and Order.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 23, 2012

About the author

Oscar Corral, an award-winning journalist for some of the largest newspapers in the United States, has covered several presidential primaries around the country. His experience living in New Hampshire and traveling through other early primary states as a political correspondent for the second-largest newspaper chain in the United States is forever frozen into his memory. His other Michael Cervantes novel, Keep Her Contained, is about a modern day mummy discovered underneath a Long Island mansion and the police investigation that ensues. Corral has also directed and produced several documentaries, including Tom Wolfe Gets Back to Blood, Exotic Invaders: Pythons in the Everglades, and the Emmy-nominated The Crossfire Kids. He lives in Miami with his wife, Cecile, his two daughters and his pound mutt Cleo.

Reviews

[Tokesy2000 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a brilliant story with a great storyline. I couldn't put it down. It's good how it bears a strain resemblance to the true case of Reyna Angelíca Marroquín, who the story is based off. Although it's a brilliant read, it's riddled with errors. Another review has pointed this out and I have to agree it seems very first-draftish. Sometimes the names of the characters are wrong and there are spelling mistakes. This lets it down a bit as the name changes can make it hard to follow.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would've given this five stars because it's one hell of a story, and paced quite well, but the book is presented in more or less rough draft form, with spelling errors and other typographical errors galore. It's a shame, because it was very enjoyable otherwise.

[Allison Delestowicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just ok

Good storyline, but man are there a ton of misspellings in here and off tangents that have nothing to do with the book. Ending leaves you hanging a bit wondering how she actually died.

[Faith Muchai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would give it 5 stars were it not for all the spelling mistakes. Not sure why the writer didn't use the real names of most of the players in this.