This is the hardest review I've had to write to date.
This review is going to be a little different from my normal format and I will try to articulate my words as best I can.
It's 1976 in Sao Paulo and Karen and Rick have just been married. They plan to live a long and happy life together filled with love. But when they are abducted from their bedroom early one morning in May and charged with a phony drug charge, they are plunged straight into hell. For 45 days they endured imprisonment along with starvation, torture and rape.
When they are finally released from their wrongful imprisonment their lives are anything but happy. Everyone tells them that they must be silent about the traumatic events that happened and about being imprisoned as a whole. With no one to turn to and no comfort to be found, the happy couple now finds their marriage crumbling into pieces as they drift further and further apart from each other. Yet somehow Karen has managed to survive all of it and to tell us all her story in this volume.
I personally find myself unable to find the proper words in the English language to express the gravity of this book to you all. This book did more than tear my heart out. To be quite honest with you all it gave me nightmares. It even made me physically ill at some parts. And yet it is a beautifully written and remarkable story. The fact that this was indeed a true story written by the woman who went through it all makes it even more brilliantly remarkable.
I believe that this book and books like it stand as testament to the strength of the human soul and the perseverance that we can all achieve when put through the lowest circles of hell on Earth.
This book will most definitely rock you to your core! It will make you question humanity in yourself and in others. Karen Keilt writes her story so vividly and paints the pictures so well that she puts you into her very own shoes. You are right there in the cell with her. Waiting for your next meal of sour rice and rotted meat. Counting the bugs crawling all over your skin. Sitting there waiting.... waiting for the monster to come again and take you.
This is not a book that I would recommend to everyone. The simple fact is that there are people who are not able to stomach the subjects brought to light in this book. But for the ones who can read it, I commend you. This is not an easy read in any respect. It is however very educational.

A note to the author:
Karen,
I can barely express to you the deep felt sorrow and sympathy that I feel towards you. You are an amazingly strong person. Obviously stronger than you knew. Even reading your story I'm sure does not give it justice. But perhaps it brings you some closure. I hope that it does. People know your story now Karen. It's not a secret and you can talk about it. I hope this is a comfort to you. I wish I could give you a great big hug and tell you how strong you are that you made it through. Just know that your story will probably be with me for the rest of my life. I will never forget reading your book. You are an inspiration my dear. Please know that.

Yours truly,
Tamara ( )

Parrot's Perch is a novel based on a true life experience in a Brazilian jail. Catlin, an equestrienne training for the 2016 Olympics, has a black sheep brother who gets entangled in the drug trade while going to Harvard. He thinks he can move back to Brazil and get away from it because he comes from a wealthy and privileged family. Two dirty cops follow him to Brazil and begin surveillance on him, as well as his family. Catlin unwittingly becomes involved.

This story will haunt you long after you've finished it. Reading about the prison, the torture and the brutal rapes you will see there's more to Brazil than Carnavale parades. This novel explores the corruption of Brazil's justice system where bribery takes precedence over dignity and human rights.

At the time Brazil was a military dictatorship teeming with police brutality. In April 2010 the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled to uphold a 1979 law stating that crimes committed by members of the military regime were political ones and therefore covered by amnesty.

I think the downside of this book was the author's skill at writing. The writing seemed amateurish and each chapter was only one or two pages separated by blank pages. I also didn't recognize the publisher. On the plus side the author was able to convey the horror of the story. ( )