Stranglehold: Prostitution & Murder

by Bas Dekkers

"Working in prostitution id not without danger. After all, you never know to whom you sell yourself and whether their intentions are good. Likewise, the ladies of ill repute are not always innocent sweethearts themselves. It brought about this book, containing eleven stories about prostitution and murder. Some gruesome, some mysterious, at times distressing, and occasionally unbelievable , but all of them exciting. And every one of them true."

125 pages, Paperback

Reviews

[Abi Thorn]

There were several spelling and grammar mistakes. Many of the stories were extremely short. There were very little details about the victims and the aftermath of the tragedies. There could have been more effort put into each individual story.

[Puslapių Žavesys]

Buvo keletą klaidų, nors knyga ir angliška, vis tiek jas pastebėjau.

O šiaip knyga man labai patiko. Ji man primena detektyvines knygas, kai bandomq išsiaiškinti kas nužudė tam tikrą žmogu.

Šioje knygoje buvo nužudytos ne tik prostitutės moterys, bet ir vyrai, kurie nieko nepadarė, arba kurie bandė jas užpulti. Kai kurios žmogžudystės yra labai šiurpios, bet man buvo labai įdomu skaityti. Dažnai buvo aprašomi nuteisti žmones, jų emocijos ir mintys. Kai kur buvo vietu "plot-twist" kai tikrai to nesiti ir štai staigmena.

Patarčiau šią knygą skaityti žmonėms, kurie mėgsta detektyvines knygas ir dar paremtas realiais įvykiais.

Knygoje buvo nuotraukų, tiek aplinkos tiek žmonių, tai truputį pagyvino knyga. Suteikė įspūdį, kad skaitai autobiografinį kūrinį (aš jų nemėgstu, bet čia buvo įdomu). Knygoje aprašomas ne vienas ir ne du žmones. Tai yra 11 tikrų ir šiurpių istoriju. O žmoniu aprašytų ten yra daug.

Viena iš nužudytų moterų buvo žymi, apie jos gyvenimą yra aprašyta ir parodyta net Amsterdamo muziejuje: "Museum of prostitution", kuriame buvau ir tiesiai iš jo pasiemiau šią knygą. Todėl pabuvus tame muziejuje knyga skaitosi dar aiškiau ir įdomiau. BET VIS TIEK SIŪLAU JA VISIEMS! Tik nežinau ar ji yra Lietuvoje ir dar lietuvių kalba!

[Kaleigh F]

1.5⭐️

I bought this book in Amsterdam in the Red Light District Secrets Museum. Unfortunately, it was a huge disappointment. The amount of typos and grammar mistakes was astounding. I literally lost track of how many there were. This isn’t even like a translation issue because this book was only ever published in English. I was shocked when I checked and this book actually had an editor because I truly wouldn’t have guessed there was one. Even a quick run through the free version of grammarly would’ve solved many of the issues. (Issues included: than vs then, it vs is, he vs her, none the less vs nevertheless). It felt like literally no care was put into this book.

And that’s truly the worst part, the author tried to make it seem like he really did care about prostitution and sharing these stories but it’s evident from both the amount mistakes and the way he told the stories that he really doesn’t care. Some of the 11 stories inside this book were literally 2 pages. Like I picked up this book because I am a bit of a true crime enjoyer but most of these stories felt like they were directly pulled from a wikipedia summary. He constantly used the word “whore” when describing the women which felt like an odd choice when he was also trying to explain why it’s sometimes their only option. There were really no details in most of these stories and imo if he wasn’t able to tell a detailed account of the event then he shouldn’t have included the story at all.

It just felt exceptionally low effort and frankly pointless all while the author seemed to think he was doing something novel and fascinating.

[Nederlands]

Some of the short stories don't go very deep, but there are other books for that. They are easy to read. The lists at the back are an interesting addition. Interesting photos.

Here are my two cents on this booklet. Some find a number of stories very short, which is why they give the book a poor(er) rating. There are indeed a few short stories in it. But I don't see why that would be bad. One story is about Molly Hatchett, a historical figure. How much research is needed into a person about whom there are so many stories and myths, but no one knows if she actually lived? Furthermore, the book is from 2017. As I already indicated in a comment, it is possible that now, almost ten years later, new information is available that was not there back then. Should the booklet have been smaller in format so that the stories could be longer? Another comment is that more effort should have been put into providing more facts. I don't see why; the stories are well-rounded and complete. It is not always possible (or necessary) to provide more (background) information. As for the language errors, I cannot judge those; I am not a native English speaker. But the Dutch version (Wurggreep) doesn't have it. And a quick search reveals that Bas Dekkers is a Dutch author. Did he write the English version? I give this book a higher rating. Not an ‘A’, but still a high mark.

[annie]

Bought from the museum of prostitution in Amsterdam. I was really interested to learn more but this book isn’t the best. There are some spelling and grammar mistakes throughout. The chapters are extremely short snippets of a variety of true crime stories. It was interesting but i definitely prefer more details and discussion of the impact of the crime.

[Laura]

In the world of true crimes we often hear the plight of many victims. Sadly prostitutes are often forgotten victims as many believe their line of work provokes such attacks/violence. The book was fully of grammatical and spelling errors but I am pleased there is a narrative for these often forgotten victims

[Teah Langley]

Quick and easy read not too exciting

[Katreena]

Not translated properly lol

[Matzaplouata]

Not bad for a generic summary of prostitution related crimes, but would not reccommend for anyone who wants more detailed accounts. It was a superficial read.