What started out as a night of celebration for Aimee soon turned into a nightmare. Snatched by cruel, sadistic monsters – the worst creatures mankind has ever produced – she’s thrown into a metal container, among other victims too frightened to make a single sound.

The game-keepers force everyone to play. They deliver torment and pain in equal measure. Every hunter has their own agenda and reasons to maim and torture.

Detective Johnson is one step away from catching the killers. Wrestling with his instincts as a father to serve justice his own way, this is no ordinary case for him. Can he stop the vile sadists before they damage more young girls, as well as his own daughter?

Aimee’s ordeal within the compound brings her to the conclusion that she’s no ordinary girl. But can she hang onto her sanity long enough to escape? And will she find a different way to play?

This crime thriller will keep you riveted. It’s no ordinary story.

Please note: contains graphic content.

Albeit short in length, the book clings to you, due to its graphic and often sadistically candid telling. The underbelly of the sick beast of man is laid out in the plight of Aimee, who takes a 180 degree spin from party to game and must prove herself, hurdle after hurdle, running from the inside out of a nightmare not of her own design. Running parallel to this is Detective Johnston, who is trying to penetrate Aimee’s horror from the outside in. As the page count increases, so does the brutality, with little or no respite between each and every horrific act. There is very little in the way of cut scenes or “pontification points,” as Elaine drives you breakneck to the conclusion. Let the squeamish be warned:  lines are blurred between justice and retribution.

The writing style is fluid and visceral; hard hitting and honest. It really has to be this way for such a graphically intense novel. The horror and mystery shine in the writing, for that is what it is – a horrific graphic mystery. Readers familiar with the movies House of 1000 Corpses and perhaps more poignantly, its sequel, The Devil’s Rejects will have a good idea what they are getting into – a very staccato piece of brutal literature. All being said, though, it pays off dividends in the end, whetting the reader’s appetite for more of Elaine’s style.

Characters, as one would expect in No Ordinary Girl’s 190 pages, are not as fine polished  to the degree that they would be in a longer work, however a three dimensional archetype is all one really needs in order to flesh out a primarily action driven piece of literature. Aimee, the main character is perhaps the most thought out, and represents strength, willpower and human resolve personified, Detective Johnson, is thoughtfulness and meticulous investigation and the Game Keepers, well, they are the most base and perverse of all human endeavors. All are played up to their fullest, and the interactions through these archetypes cause enough tension and action, that it’s easy to read them for what they are and concentrate on the mystery  and brutality of the novel..

Crime Noir doesn’t even begin to describe this descent into human depravity, sheer brutality and utter horror experienced for any parent in this day and age. While faint hearted readers would be apprised to eschew this book, fans of gritty crime, horror and contemporary graphic mysteries will find themselves with a new affinity in Cheryl Elaine’s s. It is definitely worth the price of admission, and lingers long after the scent of prey dissipates. Cheryl Elaine has a promising future and I certainly look forward to her next work with an almost perverse pleasure.