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  • Published: 29 August 2013
  • ISBN: 9780753549797
  • Imprint: Virgin Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336
Categories:

Help Me

A Vulnerable Girl. A Dungeon Hell. A Staggering True Story of Survival




An inspiring true story

In December 1992, a nine-year-old girl was kidnapped and locked in a secret underground dungeon. She was chained by the neck in a coffin-shaped box. She was regularly raped. She thought she would die in that dank, dark hole. But, somehow, she survived to tell the tale.

Virgin Books is proud to publish HELP ME by Katie Beers, an extraordinary true story which has already shot straight into the Top Ten in The New York Times.

But perhaps what’s most troubling about Katie’s tale is that, as the world started hunting for this lost little girl, it uncovered a horrific scale of abuse carried out by her godparents before she was taken. Katie was neglected. She was treated like a slave. She was sexually abused from the age of two. And no one had ever noticed, or cared, or helped.

Katie needed to be rescued … instead, she was groomed by another paedophile and taken to a dungeon hell.

In HELP ME, Katie recalls memories long since buried, writing together with the journalist who uncovered the awful crimes against her, to create a unique book: part crime thriller as the search for Katie intensifies; part inspiring memoir, as Katie frankly describes the horror of facing your own death, and tells us how she survived to build a new life.

  • Published: 29 August 2013
  • ISBN: 9780753549797
  • Imprint: Virgin Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 336
Categories:

About the authors

Katie Beers

Katie Beers is a married mother of two, currently working in a family-run insurance business. As a profoundly neglected and abused child, she was kidnapped and locked in an underground coffin-like box for 17 days. The kidnapping of Katie Beers made worldwide headlines in late 1992. Katie, at the centre of a national media storm, dropped out of sight 20 years ago. Katie has a Bachelor's degree in accounting and lives in rural Pennsylvania with her husband and their two children. This is her first book.

Carolyn Gusoff

Carolyn Gusoff is an Emmy-award-winning broadcast journalist who has covered the Long Island beat since 1987. She is currently seen on air at WCBS-TV in New York. As a reporter for WCBS, Fox5 New York, WNBC and News 12, Carolyn has covered some of the most high-profile news stories in New York City and its suburbs, including the kidnapping of Katie Beers. Carolyn has a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Government from Cornell University. She lives with her husband and their two children on Long Island.

Praise for Help Me

A true heartbreaking story with a beautiful ending.

Amazon.com reader review

From the first page, I couldn't put this book down... I loved the dual perspective from both the child herself and the reporter who from the beginning covered the story... Despite the incredible sadness and shock I experienced at times reading the book, in the end it was so inspiring and uplifting

Amazon.com reader review

This is an amazing account. If it were not true, no one would believe it. It is exceptionally well written... I read through the book quickly cover to cover to know the story. I will most definitely read it over again, slowly, for the wisdoms of this brave and resilient survivor.

Amazon.com reader review

Starts out like "true crime". Grabs you in with each compelling detail. A real "page turner". Neither Katie nor Carolyn backs away from any detail, no matter how painful or difficult it is. This is a formidable, comprehensive examination of an amazing person, presented in a compellingly readable way. A "must-read".

Amazon.com reader review