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    Babysitter: A novel
    Babysitter: A novel
    Babysitter: A novel
    Audiobook17 hours

    Babysitter: A novel

    Written by Joyce Carol Oates

    Narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Kirby Heyborne and Max Meyers

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    From one of America’s most renowned storytellers—the bestselling 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.

    "Hannah’s unreliable, elliptical narrative is seductive and compelling, like following someone into a fever dream ... [Oates] is in no hurry to trigger the action, dropping tiny morsels of foreshadowing to keep us on our toes." —The New York Times Book Review

    “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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
    Release dateAug 23, 2022
    ISBN9780593627884
    Author

    Joyce Carol Oates

    Joyce Carol Oates is a novelist, critic, playwright, poet and author of short stories and one of America’s most respected literary figures. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University and a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction.

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    Reviews for Babysitter

    3.5/5

    47 ratings7 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Hannah Jarrett lives a privileged life in an upscale Detroit suburb with her husband, their two small children and a housekeeper. One evening at a charity event that she cochairs, she is touched by a man she hadn't previously known. This begins a bizarre obsession that coincides with a series of murders of children by someone dubbed The Babysitter. This story takes place in the turbulence of the 1970s when there is mistrust between races.

      This is a dual story line that eventually merges between the crimes and Hannah's interest in the man she only knows as J,K. There is sexual violence and grooming of Hannah by J.K. When she realizes that she may be endangering the lives of her children, it is too late.

      JCO has once again written a riveting story, this time with dire consequences. Hannah is not a likeable character. She is shallow and self-absorbed, but J.K. is purely evil. The plot advances in small indications of what is going to happen.
    • 5/5
      In the late 1960's/early 1970's, a bored housewife enters into an affair. It doesn't go well. Fabulous writing. My life is never going to be the same.
    • 4/5
      Disturbing. Engrossing. Thought-provoking. I’ve come to expect these elements when I read a book by Western New York native Joyce Carol Oates. “Babysitter” did not disappoint. I found Oates’ “Zombie” to be a bit more consistently engaging, but that’s likely due to my penchant for shorter, more tautly-written tomes. As numerous reviewers have mentioned, the final pages of “Babysitter” are a bit confusing – but in a thought-provoking way.
    • 4/5
      No one creates a sense of creepy dread like Joyce Carol Oates. In this latest novel, she leans on her strengths to tell the story of Hannah, the well-groomed wife of a wealthy businessman and mother of two small children in an upscale community north of Detroit during the 1980s. Hannah may be active in the kinds of volunteer opportunities available to well-off women and have a live-in nanny/housekeeper that allows ample free time and she may have a group of friends she meets for lunch, but she's still deeply insecure and lonely. Her marriage to a distracted and reactionary man who is likely sleeping with other women doesn't give her much in the way of support so when a powerful man indicates his interest in her, she finds herself trotting off to meet him in a Detroit hotel.

      Which is where this story starts and quickly becomes, well, creepy in the most JCO way. Hannah lacks agency and when she does try to stand up against the men who order her around, she is quickly overwhelmed. There's a serial killer operating in the area as well, one who preys on children; although Hannah would rather not spend time thinking about that, the people around her, especially her husband, are fascinated. Hannah's behavior is frustrating throughout, with her inability to withstand even the slightest pressure. This is a book in which bad things happen, and then continue to happen, where the weak suffer and the powerful prey on those around them.

      Joyce Carol Oates may not be breaking new ground with this novel published in her 84th year, but she's still writing novels that are worth reading and she's certainly playing to her strengths with this one.
    • 4/5
      A difficult book at times to read but it certainly stays with you long after the final words, not sure if this is good or bad! There are 3 main characters: Hannah, housewife, living in wealthy suburbia in Detroit. The babysitter, serial murderer so named because of the age of the victims and the way they are posed in death. Mikey a street wise kid, always high, carrying out the murderous work of his nameless employee. Their 3 lives will cross, and not in a very pleasant way. Hannah, the main focus of the story lives in a loveless marriage with Wes attending and organizing many charity functions, her life showing little direction, her only love being her 2 children; Katya and Conor. It is at one such charity function that she is drawn to the very mysterious, elegant stranger only ever referred to the reader by the initials YK. This relationship will lead Hanah in a very dark direction, she is hoping to find real love but what she discovers is a world of darkness and pain. Mikey had a very difficult and traumatic childhood under the guardianship of Father McKenzie. He carries out orders for his faceless employer and soon his path will cross with Hanah as a situation escalates out of control.
      Essentially The Babysitter is about secret lives and the consequences that can follow. Does Hannah deserve sympathy from the reader? I fear not, she opens herself to danger by her own actions, leaving a loveless relationship for one of violence under the mistaken assumption that this is love. What is heart wrenching in this book, is the amount of violence on show and by using initials rather than names an uneasy feeling accommodates the reader from start to finish. Read if you dare!
    • 5/5
      Have you ever been so engaged and absorbed in a book that you literally could not put it down and stayed up too late at night so you could finish it? This book was that for me. This is the best book I’ve read by Joyce Carol Oates and one of the best books I’ve ever read.

      However, a few caveats. The book is long, over 400 pages, and would have been better if it were a little shorter. There is a lot of unnecessary scenes in the book that should have been cut and would not have affected the plot at all. I was mildly disappointed in the ending, which was slightly unclear, leaving multiple unanswered questions, despite being foreshadowed in the first chapter. It was not a terrible ending, but could have been improved. Finally, this book is not for the faint of heart. It deals with many sensitive subjects, including, kidnapping and torture of children, extortion and blackmail, sexual assault, rape, murder (lots of murder), suicide, adultery, misogamy, racism, police brutality, and pedophilia. If you are sensitive to these things, this book might not be for you. However, I found the book engrossing.

      The story is narrated by Hannah, the protagonist, who is lured into an extramarital affair with a man she met at a party and only knows by the initials, Y.K. There are two plotlines in the story which slowly merge together at the end. The other plotline concerns a child abductor dubbed “The Babysitter.” As the plotlines merge, Hannah is affected by the Babysitter and the people who work for him. I won’t spoil the plot by revealing more, but it is an exciting story. Despite the few above mentioned issues, I give this a full 5-Star rating. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      If you can stand its suspense and building terror, this book will catch you from the start. With Detroit of the 70's as a backdrop, the city is collectively overwhelmed by the crimes of "The Babysitter," who kidnaps and murders children. Meanwhile we are introduced to a wealthy woman who is about to embark on a clandestine affair at a high end hotel, with an inscrutable and charismatic man, risking her comfortable upper class life as wife and mother. Part of the strength of this novel is the insight into the woman's introspection as she makes many choices against her better judgment.