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.
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Because he'd touched her. Just her wrist. SHE ASKS HERSELF WHY
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(@penguinrandom, 23 August 2022, ebook, 448 pages, #ARC from the publisher via @ NetGalley)
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I liked this book a lot. It's written in JCO's trademark style, bleak language, a sense of stark reality. It took a few chapters for me to get into the flow of the book. The story is told from Hannah's point of view. I struggled to like her. She seems so vapid and near-hysterical at times but quite fascinating. I had a love/hate thing for her. I didn't like her but I also didn't hate her. At times it wasn't clear if Hannah was describing the truth or a fantasy or part fragmented reality. The book is very dark at times as Hannah's bizarre affair becomes threatening and the Babysitter closes in.
