The Family Next Door

The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the 13 Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue

By: John Glatt

Narrated by: Shaun Grindell

From New York Times best-selling true crime author John Glatt comes the devastating story of the Turpins: a seemingly normal family whose dark secrets would shock and captivate the world.

On January 14, 2018, a 17-year-old girl climbed out of the window of her Perris, California home and dialed 911 with shaking fingers. Struggling to stay calm, she told the operator that she and her 12 siblings - ranging in age from two to 29 - were being abused by their parents. When the dispatcher asked for her address, the girl hesitated. "I've never been out," she stammered.

To their family, neighbors, and online friends, Louise and David Turpin presented a picture of domestic bliss: dressing their 13 children in matching outfits and buying them expensive gifts. But what police discovered when they entered the Turpin family home would eclipse the most shocking child abuse cases in history.

In the first major account of the case, investigative journalist and author John Glatt delves into the disturbing details and recounts the bravery of the 13 siblings in the face of unimaginable horror.

©2019 John Glatt (P)2019 Tantor

Heartbreaking story

John Glatt did an amazing job delivering this story. This was truly a heartbreaking story. My heart goes out to the magnificent 13!

Bad narrator; good book

If you can get past the horrible narrator, most of the book’s ok. He talks in that same sing song cadence all thru the book. Read the prologue then skip book one, family history. That’s just useless information.

I knew nothing about this so I found it intriguing.

Terrible

Was sick a sad story how can any parents do that were is there heart

Mind Blowing

Loved it! Extremely detailed. Had some issues understanding the author. Had to rewind often.

Really know the story but...

I think I’ll buy the paperback - I had such a hard time listening to narrator as he sounded like a cpu reading - very cut words and got very hard to follow cuz it bothered me so much

too repetitive

it could have been half as long - we heard the same scenarios over and over

Horrible Parents that should be put under the jail

These poor kids, hard to believe what these parents did! Also hard to believe nobody came to their rescue!

A lot I didn’t know

This book is a really good example of a true crime book. No opinions, just facts. Brought a lot of things I didn’t know to light. Really feeling for those kids.

These Kids Need A Happy Ending

The writing was done well, though why John Glatt felt the need to repeat things several times is a mystery… Maybe he had a word count to meet? But it was tolerable and I felt that he did a good job of laying out the details in an accessible manner. I feel that I learned a lot about the Turpin children, the tragedy, and their “parents”. I don’t think it matters at all that Louise Turpin was molested by her grandfather, other than to illustrate why she’s such a monstrous human being. It certainly didn’t make me feel any sympathy for her.
The narration was unbearable. I don’t know what the narrator is going for, why he narrates like a drunk AI, or what the purpose of that particular tone and cadence is, but oh my God man. Please knock that off immediately and take some vocal lessons.

Deja Vu

The author tells of the horrors from the kids side then again at the end during the hearing using the exact same words. That irritated me. I actually checked the chapter once because I knew I'd heard that previously.