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 Whelan, 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 … 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 . . .
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In this exciting new read by Nancy Bush we meet Jamie Whelon, a young girl in her sophomore year of high school. Jamie has been asked by a boy she has a crush on if she will be showing up at a party one Friday night. Excited at the prospect of spending time with said crush Jamie asks her older sister to takeover the babysitting job she has that night. Her sister Emma agrees and even though she shows up late Jamie is still excited for what is to come. Things don’t end up like she planned though, she never sees her crush that night and her sister ends up being attacked and left for dead. Jamie soon learns that not only is Emma physically scarred but mentally as well, she’ll need someone to care for her for the rest of her life. This prospect is to much for Jamie and she leaves home as soon as it’s possible, not wanting the responsibility off Emma thrust upon her from her mom. Now it’s twenty years later and Jamie has a teenage daughter of her own. She soon learns of her mother’s passing and packs them up heading home to care for her sister. When a girl is attacked in a similar fashion to her sister Jamie wonders if it could be connected to what happened all those years ago. She worries about her own daughter especially since she is friends with the girl who was attacked and was actually suppose to be there that night along with her. Meanwhile her sister Emma starts talking about the night she was attacked, the problem is making sense of what she is saying. Jamie knows she must dig into the past to see if it is relevant to what is happening now. Can she put the puzzle pieces together before someone else ends up hurt or even dead? This was such an exciting read that will definitely take you back to the eighties when horror films with teens were must see. I loved the nostalgia it brought out in me, I’ve always gotten a kick out of horror books and movies and this book left me wanting more, in a good way!
Well hello, Nancy, you give good thrill!
In the best possible way this book reminded me of the movies I Ioooooooooved in high school where the babysitter was somehow stranded with a lunatic, vulnerable kids, and no viable escape route.
Emma and her sister, Jamie, switch places babysitting at the Ryerson’s so that Jamie could sneak off to a party. Her sister Emma is the victim of a serial attacker, stabbed and left for dead. Emma never completely recovers but neither really does Jamie.
Two decades later their mother dies, the attacks resume and the real questions begin…
Thank you to Nancy Bush, Kensington Books, Zebra and NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Twisted is a good word! You will be guessing right up until the end about who the masked villain is in this book! Prepare to sit for awhile!
Love this author
It’s been an awfully long time since I read a suspense novel like this. Years ago, I tore through books by similar authors like Wendi Cori Staub, Lisa Jackson, and Karen Harper but never one from Nancy Bush until now. This was a fantastic read! The page count may be just under 500 pages, but it felt more like 200 pages because of how fast paced it is! I can see why many readers adore this author as it’s clear her stories are intriguing and suck you in from the beginning.
In THE BABYSITTER, Bush tells the story of a family plagued by horrors of the past that just may be reappearing in the present. A so called “Babysitter Stalker” has ties to three killings in but is he back for vengeance when Jamie and her daughter come back to the small town of Glen River following her mother’s death? Readers will take the thrilling ride with Jaime, her daughter, Emma (a previous victim), and Cooper (the cop) as they search for answers not only from the past but the present as well.
This book will deliver everything that a romantic suspense (heavier on the suspense) fan expects; secrets, shocking twists and turns, and a story that will grip you from beginning to end. I can’t wait to read the second book (out on Tuesday June 29th)! While it is a part of the Glen River series it can stand completely on its own!
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• Suspense novels with a hint of romance
• Exciting plots that deliver edge of your seat thrills
• Authors like Lisa Jackson, Wendi Corsi Staub, and Karen Harper
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Amazing. but I did enjoy it! It twisted and turned – rather the plot did and you never knew who was on first, but it all worked itself out! An enjoyable read!
The Babysitter was a good easy read.
The story of the mystery started right away. The twist at the end, was not what I expected.
The only issue I had were there are so many typos throughout the book. Whoever edited did not do a very good job.
I enjoyed reading this book and it kept my attention from start to finish. The truth comes out in the end but never suspected it until the end. Already ordered the next book in the series.
Haven’t read a whole lot of Nancy Bush’s books that haven’t been written with her sister, Lisa Jackson, but this one, The Babysitter, was really a good read. However, I think it could have been less pages to get to the ending. It did have some twists that were surprises, but I felt the mystery could have been connected a little sooner. I did continue to the end and it was wrapped up quite nicely.
A babysitter attack 20 years before to one in the present time gives many trails for the detective and the sister of the original attacked sitter to follow together and also gives them time to ‘discover’ their true feelings toward each other (the romantic part). All in all, it gave me entertainment for a few days to complete. Thank you Nancy Bush.
I would like to thank Kesington books and the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book.
The story takes place in Oregon at River Glen where there are rumors about the stalker babysitter. People are being stabbed, others pushed off a rooftop. As for Jamie, a high school student, she’s not worried at all on a night like any other. She’s supposed to babysit twins and go to a party later that night when her sister Emma comes to take over the watch. But nothing goes according to plan.
Twenty years later, Jamie still blames herself for leaving Emma in charge that night. When another babysitter is attacked, Jamie becomes afraid for his teenage daughter.
I was immediately hooked on the story which was so gripping, addictive, captivating, full of suspense and twists and turns with very relatable characters. This book kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.
I received this book as an ARC from BookishFirst in exchange for an honest review.
Wow! What a great book. Jamie and Emma are sisters. One night, during high school, Jamie convinces Emma to take her babysitting job so that Jamie could go to a party. Emma babysits and is stabbed while babysitting. She is cognitively impaired from the attack.
Twenty years later, their mother dies and Jamie comes home with her own daughter to look after Emma, her older sister. Jamie and Harley move into Jamie’s childhood home and begin taking care of Emma and their mother’s estate. Harley enrolls in the same school Jamie and Emma attended and befriends the daughter of one of Emma’s classmates. One night – at the same house where Emma was attacked – someone enters the home and attempts to attack the babysitter.
Cooper Haynes was a classmate of Emma’s and is now a detective in the town. He begins looking into Emma’s attack with Jamie’s help. When someone else is attacked and another person may have been murdered, Cooper and Jamie begin wondering if the two attacks are linked.
Sisters Emma & Jamie decide to share a babysitting job so that both may briefly attend a party taking place on the same evening. Jamie starts the evening babysitting & Emma goes to the party. Emma arrives at the home & Jamie sets out to the party. While the children are asleep upstairs some of the boys Emma knows from school decide to play a little prank on her & try to scare her. She recognizes them, chastises them & they leave. At some point after they leave someone breaks into the house & assaults Emma leaving her with scars & permanent brain damage. Her disability forces her to live with her mother. When her mother dies, Jamie & her daughter move back to the family home to care for Emma. A similar assault occurs when Emma’s friend is babysitting & the investigation is resurrected.
This was an entertaining read, well written & with a good story line. The characters were all pretty real & interesting. I found it a bit repetitive with the story being discussed by every character, over & over, but overall I recommend this book for those who like a contemporary whodunit.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author Nancy Bush & the publisher Kensington Books for the free ARC in return for my honest review.
Twenty years ago, Jamie convinced her sister, Emma, to take over her babysitting gig so that she can go to a senior party. Not a big deal until Emma is viciously attacked and left for dead. Emma survived but was left with cognitive issues, and Jamie, who never got over the guilt of switching places with her sister, left her small town after graduation. Now she’s back to take care of Emma after her mother’s death, and so is the killer …
A well-written, well-plotted thriller that kept me hooked until the end. Great tension build-up and I loved the 90s vibe – it remained me a lot of R. L. Stine’s Babysitter series. The setting really adds to the story as well. It’s that typical small town with plenty of gossip and secrets among the residents. Some who know a lot more about Emma’s life than they’re letting on.
The identity of Emma’s attacker came as a surprise to me and there is a nice little twist at the end.
All in all, this is a solid thriller and I do recommend it. I would like to point out that this is a very slow burn thriller, so keep that in mind when going into it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was an exciting thriller! Jamie returns to River Glen, Oregon with her daughter to care for her sister after her their mother’s death. Emma, her sister, can not live alone because 20 years before she was the victim of a vicious attack while filling in for Jamie at a babysitting job. Jamie still feels guilt over that night and now that she is back in town the wheels are set in motion to reopen The Babysitter case. When another young babysitter is attacked, the town wonders if the Babysitter Stalker is back. Read this page turner to discover who the killer really is!
This was my first book by author, Nancy Bush. I thought it was a thriller but moved it to my mystery shelf. I’m more of the mind it is a mystery with a splash of thriller and dash of horror. I enjoyed reading it though it moved slowly for me. This resulted it a longer time reading it where I picked up various other books. This is how I read though so your experience may be different. I usually have several books going at once.
The book has two time spans on the crimes. One happened when Jamie was a teenager. The one we are most concerned with happens when Jamie returns home as an adult. Emma, Jamie’s sister, was a victim in the first crime. She is still dealing with that when Jamie returns home with her teenage daughter, Harley. The attack on Emma has one group of characters. The fresh attack has a different, though connected, set of characters. If you aren’t good at keeping the characters straight, I would suggest using paper and pen to jot them down along with who they are connected to. (I would never be able to keep it straight if I had been listening.)
Both mysteries are well done. I was all over the place on who did what. Yes, I was surprised at the reveals. That’s about all I’m going to give on the mysteries.
I liked Jamie, Emma and Harley. I also liked Cooper, the detective. Jamie made a few questionable movies but I felt she was doing what she felt was right. Emma, though damaged, was a lot stronger than I think she is credited as being. The rest of the many characters were made up of a few people I liked but more that I didn’t. The dogs were amazing. Haha.
The book reminded me of being a teenager and babysitting at a time when babysitting cautionary tales ran rampant. I loved it. I was also reminded of the many babysitting books and horror movies I enjoyed. Overall, it’s a book I would recommend and I do plan to read more by this author.
The Babysitter starts when Jamie and Emma are teenagers. Jamie has a babysitting commitment but wants to go to a party, so arranges to switch partway through the evening with her older sister Emma. Emma is attacked and damaged mentally and physically.
Fast-forward to the present when Jamie’s mother dies, and Jamie must return to her home town (suburb, really) with her own teenage daughter to take care of Emma. She reacquaints herself with the complex web of characters focused around the local high school. The attacks start again and Jamie, with the help of a police officer and romantic interest, Cooper, investigate these mysterious occurrences.
The characters in this book were well drawn, especially Jamie who is very relatable. It was a mystery right up until the end – the perpetrator was difficult to guess. Definitely twisty! Full of secrets and lies. The Babysitter moved quickly and was hard to put down. The only downside I found were a few poorly constructed sentences and repetitive phrases which the editor must have missed. These were few and far between and did not affect the enjoyment of the story.
I’ve been a huge fan of Nancy Bush for many years now so whenever I have a chance to read her newest book, I don’t hesitate. The minute this book was announced I just knew I was going to need to read it and I wasn’t disappointed. It was full of suspense and so many twists & turns. It had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.
“The Babysitter” has been described as a reboot of slasher movies from the 1980’s. The cover is a creepy picture of a young set of eyes peering out window shades. Naturally, you go into this book expecting jolts and shocks and scares.
This book is the victim of misrepresentative marketing. This book is not a thriller. It is not scary.
“The Babysitter” is, however, a solid read if you like slow build mysteries. I loved the story: two sisters, one of whom is savagely attacked during a babysitting gig (Emma), never mentally the same again, and the other sister (Jamie) lives with survivor’s guilt. Jamie and her daughter return home to take care of Emma when Emma and Jamie’s mother passes away. Home is a small town with big gossip and even bigger secrets. It’s a perfect setting for a book like this.
What didn’t really work for me was the writing. Is this a young adult book or not? There were times when the author simply referred to “mom” as if Jamie’s daughter was the narrator In the first person. There were other times where the author referred to Jamie as “Jamie” or “Harley’s mom”. It was weird.
I also couldn’t stand the stupid choices Jamie made throughout the book, especially with a past like hers.
There were too many characters to keep straight, so this book works better in a format for people like me who like to constantly search keywords to remember who a character is. I read a paperback version and could not always keep up.
Last complaint: this was such a tight group of friends in their formative years, yet they all just distance themselves from Emma after her attack? Nobody keeps up with her? Nobody tries to maintain a friendship in any way? That threw me off. Mostly! I found almost everyone in this town pretty vile.
I loved Cooper. He is a nice, strong, comforting character.
The big reveal was predictable if you were paying attention, but the author showed restraint and didn’t beat you over the head with it.
Overall, I recommend this book to people who like slow build whodunnits, but I would classify it as a horror, thriller or “slasher” book.
Twenty years ago, Jamie was scheduled to babysit for the Ryersons. At the last minute, she begged her sister, Emma, to fill in for her so she could go to a party. But not all went well.
Someone attacked Emily, leaving her with stabbing scars, and a head injury that would go to affect her the rest of her life.
This wasn’t the only crime committed by the Babysitter Stalker. One was fatally stabbed.. another was shoved off a rooftop deck. The attacker was never caught.
Jamie is back in her hometown, following the death of her mother. She’s there to either take care of Emily, as she can not live alone, or finding someone else who can take care of her. Jamie, now with a teenage daughter of her own, fears the Babysitter Stalker is back, after another teenage babysitter is attacked.
Coincidence? Is this new nightmare connected with those long-ago crimes? What does Emily remember of the night she was attacked? With her sister back in town, is someone afraid that dark secrets will be revealed … and someone will kill to stop that from happening.
With a tightly woven plot and skillfully drawn characters, this is a real nail biter. Lots of suspects, both old and new, keep your eyes riveted to the action-backed pages.
Many thanks to the author / Kensington Books – Zebra / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Jamie Whelan is scheduled to babysit 7-year-old Serena and Teddy, the Ryerson twins. Her older sister, Emma, has agreed to come and relieve her so she can go to a party. Jamie had been invited by her heartthrob, Cooper Haynes. Finding the party a disappointment, she heads home. There, a phone call comes through that Emma had been attacked and is in the hospital. Someone had come in and stabbed her. She then fell and hit her head leaving her now with the mentality of a 12-year-old. This is the third attack on babysitters and no one has ever been caught. The girls’ father left them for another woman. Their mom works long nights which leaves Jamie to care for Emma.
When Jamie graduated high school she moved to Los Angeles. She married Paul and gave birth to Harley, named by Paul for his motorcycle. Then Paul died in a motorcycle accident. Now, Jamie gets a call that her mother has passed away and she needs to move back home and care for Emma.
Harley, now 15, is trying to fit into a new school and make friends. Jamie is seeing old friends and trying to find a teaching job. All that’s available is substitute teaching. Jamie finds that a lot of her school friends have stayed in the area. Cooper Haynes is now a police officer and divorced.
When Harley’s friend is nearly attacked while babysitting, Jamie is terrified and doesn’t want Harley babysitting. She and Cooper renew their friendship as they try to solve who the attacker might be. But when other people are murdered, they realize that there is a killer on the loose.
This was a good book that needed a whole lot of editing as it was way, way too long. Lots of names and what seemed like repetitive dialogue. But, Emma is an interesting soul and I liked her. Harley was a typical teenager that made me want to scream at times. I also liked Jamie and Cooper as they made a great couple. All in all a good read with a surprising ending.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.