Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Review - The Babysitter

Title:  The Babysitter
Author:   Nancy Bush
Publisher:   Zebra
Genre:   Mystery/Thriller
Format:   Kindle 
No. of pages:   421
Date of Publication:  June 30, 2020
Rating:  4 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

The whispers may scare you . . .

In River Glen, Oregon, rumors are spreading about the Babysitter Stalker. One victim was fatally stabbed. A second fell—or was pushed—from a rooftop deck. High school sophomore Jamie Whelon, scheduled to watch the Ryerson twins tonight, isn’t worried. She’s more interested in the party she’ll go to later, as soon as her sister Emma arrives to take over babysitting duties. But nothing goes according to plan . . .

But the truth . . .

Twenty years after that night’s vicious attack, Emma remains scarred in body and mind. Jamie, back in River Glen after their mother’s death, still feels guilty over trading places that fateful evening. Then suddenly another young babysitter is attacked. Jamie, with a teenage daughter of her own, fears something much more twisted than coincidence.

Is even more terrifying . . .

Is this new nightmare connected with those long-ago crimes? Emma’s fractured memories may contain the answer. But the deeper Jamie digs, the darker the secrets waiting to be uncovered—and avenged .



MY THOUGHTS:

My days of babysitting were never like that! There was a "Babysitter Stalker" rumor for years. One girl was stabbed to death, another landed after a fall from rooftop deck. Even so, Jamie Whelon is excited to babysit a set of twins, especially since she was able to talk her sister Emma into doing it, so she could sneak off to a party. Well, twenty years later proves to the fact that Emma was indeed a victim of the stalker, and her scars, both inside and out, still plague her. 

Jamie had left their hometown, but she is back and still has guilt after having Emma trade with her that fateful night. Their mother has recently died, so the sisters have to deal with that trauma. But, Jamie and her teenage daughter do step in to assist Emma since their mother is now gone. 
However, for some odd reason, the stalker strikes yet again and another girl is attacked. Why two decades apart? Are the event of the past and the present connected? 

Jamie might have been a selfish teen who only wanted to party, but she is far from that now. She is now a responsible mother and a loving sister, and now determined to connect the dots between the past and the present. 

What a thrilling story! Creepy for certain, with enough twists and turns to definitely keep me turning pages. I loved the way the book was written, from the drama, to the family issues, to the incredible tension that saturated the pages.

Many thanks to Zebra and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bestselling author Nancy Bush has had an eclectic writing career. She started her first story when she heard how young mothers were making money writing romance novels. She thought, “I can do that,” and talked her sister, bestselling author, Lisa Jackson, into joining her in her foray into writing. At the time Nancy was a young mother herself. Now, she says she's just…a mother.

Nancy began her career in the romance genre, writing both contemporary and historical novels, but being a mystery buff, she kept trying to add suspense into the plot, as much as her editors would allow. In 2002 she was chosen by ABC Television to be part of a writing group “think tank” which was tasked with developing story for ABC's daytime dramas. She was one of two people selected from that group to actually become a breakdown writer for, at the time, one of ABC's top-rated daytime shows: ALL MY CHILDREN. Nancy made the move to New York to join the AMC team while she was writing for the soap. That was an experience, she admits. Ask her, and she'll swear that the pressure cooker of delivering story every day – lots and lots of story -- helped focus her writing.

When Nancy returned to her home state of Oregon she channeled that newfound energy into writing the kind of books she's always loved: mysteries. She wrote three Jane Kelly Mystery novels in the space of three years, and has another one currently in proposal form. The last several years she's turned her attention to romantic suspense novels, writing both with her sister and on her own. Like Lisa, sh e's now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, both in her co-writing ventures and on her own merits as well.

Nancy's latest project? Summer 2012 is the kick off for her newest suspense series with NOWHERE TO RUN debuting in August and NOWHERE TO HIDE in September. A third ‘Nowhere' book is scheduled for next year.

Nancy has recently received the rights back to many of her earlier novels and the Danner Quartet, one of her most beloved series, is available again in e-book form. LADY SUNDOWN, MIRACLE JONES, JESSE'S RENEGADE and SCANDAL'S DARLING follow the ups and downs of the irrepressible Danner family in turn of the century Oregon. Nancy also has a number of contemporary romances that have been updated and reformatted and now have new life as e-books. Look for THE PRINCESS AND THE PAUPER, DEAR DIARY, and the Summer Lovin' Duets: SUMMERTIME BLUES and IMAGINARY LOVER along with many more in the coming months.

If you would like to get “up close and personal” with Nancy, check out her blog: Nancy tells all….or at least some of it.

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