I enjoyed The Babysitter’s Secret, the latest psych thriller from Casey Kelleher. It contains enough action to keep it interesting – and to keep me guessing.
Part of that is the way it’s written. The story unfolds from different points of view. A majority of the book goes back and forth between Emily and Sasha. Cecelia does have a perspective in later chapters.
It all works well for a holistic view of events. Especially as it is unclear exactly how Emily and Sasha’s stories relate to each other.
When that connection starts to become apparent, the plot really thickens (as they say).
The author leaves tantalizing clues along the way. Some are fairly obvious. Some are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it (only to be clear later).
I will say that I didn’t guess most of the secrets. One big one I figured out fairly early on. However, I wasn’t sure how the author would use it in the plot.
And let’s talk about that twisty, turny plot. The author definitely keeps the reader guessing. There are enough parallels between past and present stories to keep the reader off-balance. I was never quite sure what is reality and what is imagined.
Because there is an element of trauma in the characters’ actions. Yes, that’s plural. How each one handles it is more alike than you will initially believe.
And just when you think that you understand everyone’s motivations, the author still saves a couple of big twists right for the very end. As I’ve mentioned before, I like to try to “outguess” the author.
In this case, I have notes that range from “Called it!” to “Maybe not…” to “Oh, whoa!” to “Nope, wrong.” I do love an author who can take me through that range.
The Babysitter’s Secret does take a bit of time to really get going, but the early chapters are vital to what comes later. So, stick with it, and you’ll find that Casey Kelleher has written one heckuva psych thriller!
