Ratings4
Average rating3.5
From one of America’s most renowned storytellers—the best-selling author of Blonde—comes a novel about love and deceit, and lust and redemption, against a backdrop of shocking murders in the affluent suburbs of Detroit. “Unsettling, mysterious, deft, sinister, eerily plausible.” —Margaret Atwood, best-selling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Testaments, via Twitter In the waning days of the turbulent 1970s, in the wake of unsolved child-killings that have shocked Detroit, the lives of several residents are drawn together with tragic consequences. There is Hannah, wife of a prominent local businessman, who has begun an affair with a darkly charismatic stranger whose identity remains elusive; Mikey, a canny street hustler who finds himself on a chilling mission to rectify injustice; and the serial killer known as Babysitter, an enigmatic and terrifying figure at the periphery of elite Detroit. As Babysitter continues his rampage of abductions and killings, these individuals intersect with one another in startling and unexpected ways. Suspenseful, brilliantly orchestrated, and engrossing, Babysitter is a starkly narrated exploration of the riskiness of pursuing alternate lives, calling into question how far we are willing to go to protect those whom we cherish most. In its scathing indictment of corrupt politics, unexamined racism, and the enabling of sexual predation in America, Babysitter is a thrilling work of contemporary fiction.
Reviews with the most likes.
I think this wasn't the right book at the right time for me. I absolutely love the true crime element of The Babysitter case and I would have liked more on that. I found Hannah was a frustrating and naive character to follow but I think that was the point. I hated the perspective of the ponytail etc characters and completely skipped those chapters. I also found Hannah and her fascination/ affair with this Y.K character confusing and i lacked interest in the development of that plot point. I really respect JCO as an author and want to read all her back list. Maybe this novel needed me to read it much slower and reflect upon it more. Or maybe it just wasn't my cup of tea. I think I will return to this book in physical form one day and find out.