Nursery

by Deborah Shlian

Young investigative reporter Victor Larsen and a lovely nurse, Ann Midlands, set out to trap a baby-snatcher, who has been kidnapping infants and leaving behind cruel notes written in lipstick

Genres: Horror

240 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1984

About the author

Deborah Shlian a physician, medical consultant, and author of non-fiction and fiction (medical mystery/thrillers). She practices medicine and often co-writes with her husband Joel Shlian.

Reviews

[Lela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a good month for book endings. If In-laws and Outlaws had an awful ending, this one should be in the Twilight Zone. You know that feeling you get when you watch Burgess Meredith break his glasses when he finally had all the time in the world? That's the similar feeling you get after finishing Nursery.
I thought it was going to be some campy horror/mystery but the second page had me more uncomfortable than I can describe. Try to make a synopsis of page 2: pregnant woman in labor, tied to bed, no drugs, and a scalpel to open her up where no woman wants anything sharp and pointy by an amateur who's only watched how it's done to get the baby fully out. It's written a lot more graphically.
That tone of Ira Levin blended with David Lynch pretty much carries through the rest of the book.