Babysitter

by Andrew Coburn

A masterfully convoluted mystery that begins with the murder of a babysitter and the kidnapping of a young child.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Suspense

Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Terry Cornell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably picked this up several years ago, thinking it would be a cheesy horror novel based on the cover. Surprised to find a pretty decent crime novel with plenty of unpredictable twists and turns. Starts with parents coming home from a night out, to a murdered babysitter and missing baby. The FBI discovers the babysitter isn't who she claims to be, and they have no idea who she is. I would give this three and a half stars. Great plot, the writing itself is a little choppy at times. I looked up Andrew Coburn, who at 83 years young is still writing putting together a novella of short stories. He published his own newspapers for a time, and besides writing novels, is an essayist, journalist, and columnist. Sometimes the stories of the authors are as interesting as the books they've written!

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was staying at an old country farmhouse in Vermont recently and came across this book on one of the shelves. The title on the spine grabbed my attention and once I saw the cover I knew I had to read it! I'm a sucker for 70's and 80's horror!
It really wasn't one of the better books I've read but it was mildly entertaining. It ended up being a crime story and not a horror story. All of the different viewpoints were confusing. All in all, still a fun quick read for a weekend away.

[Alistair Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Babysitter, Andrew Coburn, 1979

My favorite quote: “What I’m saying, Mr. Wright, is we don’t know who the hell she was. We don’t even know for sure Paula Aherne was her name.”

Most interesting characters: Paula Aherne, the babysitter; John and Merle Wright, the parents of the missing child; agents Cooger and Spence, the investigators

Opening scene: John and Merle Wright return home from seeing a movie to find their babysitter slaughtered and their baby missing. Needless to say, I was 100% invested on page one. No easy feat, but Andrew Coburn makes it look easy. I would have liked to see a little more blood, and perhaps a severed head or at least a protruding butcher knife, but meh — I guess you can’t have it all

Greatest strengths: Andrew Coburn’s depiction of Boston’s North End sent me to a different time and place. His descriptions of the city’s seedy underbelly made me feel like I needed a bath. A long hot one with one of those scented bath-bomb thingies that makes the water all fizzy and tickly. But one that smells like pine or gunpowder or tobacco or steak or something so I feel can still feel all manly about it

Standout achievements: The Babysitter (and by that I mean the book and the babysitter herself) is full of surprises. As the story progresses, it’s revealed that the babysitter (the actual babysitter, not the book) has been living a secret life — in fact, Paula Aherne wasn’t even her real name. Well done, Andrew Coburn — I didn’t see that coming …

Fun Facts: Andrew Coburn was the author of 13 novels, three of which were adapted into films. The Babysitter isn’t one of them — which kinda pisses me off

Other media: None. Not so much as poorly-made Lifetime version — *shakes fist angrily at whatever Fates have allowed this injustice* There. I did what I could, Andrew Coburn …

What it taught me: In The Babysitter, Andrew Coburn taught me that extremely brave characters (even if they’re bordering on foolishly so) make for great storytelling. The Babysitter is brimming with such characters. Sometimes you want to shake them and scream, “NO!! I just can’t take it anymore!!” and then you realize they aren’t real and that everyone at your Aunt Florence’s funeral is staring at you and you have to throw yourself over the coffin, weeping hysterically, to keep up appearances

How it inspired me: While The Babysitter isn’t anything like my own books, it reminds me not to flinch away from letting my stories take unexpected turns. It seemed to work out for Andrew Coburn pretty well in this book. Not his characters, though. It didn’t work out well for them at all. They ended up with a dead babysitter in their living room which — let’s be honest — would pretty much suck

Additional thoughts: Despite the cover art, fans of 80s horror will be disappointed in The Babysitter. It’s a good book for what it actually is (more crime/noir than horror) but unfortunately, the packaging is pretty misleading which irritates a lot of people and makes them leave bad reviews. My guess is that horror was super hot at the time so the publisher coerced Andrew Coburn into approving this cheesy-vintage-horror cover, which probably gave them (the publisher) the idea that they could win all their little battles and letting them think they could wield their power willy-nilly, which likely left Andrew Coburn feeling downtrodden, disenchanted, and questioning his life choices. Just a guess, of course

Hit or miss: It’s a hit

Haunt me: alistaircross.com

Read The Babysitter: https://tinyurl.com/bdfpx292

[Stacey Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was entertaining in an ironic, detached sense akin to that of a Lifetime movie. It wasn’t actively awful, and I almost gave it 2 stars, but descriptions such as “he wasn’t young nor old [...] he had styled hair.” and phrases like “lips pursed like a glistening rose bud” demoted it to just the 1 star. Eek.

[Douglas Castagna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover misled me, at first glance it looks like a horror cover circa 1980's. It is not a horror novel but a dense and overly complicated crime novel, with some good suspense elements. That being said, it had some moments, and the writing is good, but the story is heavy and does not flow well.

[Erik B.K.K. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this thinking it was written by Stephen King just because it was on the Stephen King shelf. D'oh! Was expecting a King-y twist halfway through but Coburn ends up with a killer we've only just met in the last few pages. Boooring.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was much better than I expected. Well-written and keeps you wondering until the end.

[Luchito Luconi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*
Publicada en 1979 "The Babbysitter" o "Babysitter sin pasado" como fue su título traducido es una novela de misterio, policial, con varios tintes de drama. Un libro que se puede leer en español gracias a la editorial Editorial Crea S.A.
Donde nos presenta una trama bastante sencilla, con personajes un tanto cliché, en situaciones angustiantes y de límite. El argumento principal se nos introduce en los primeros cinco capítulos y ahí es cuando comienza a tejerse toda esta historia.
Me gusto, no voy a decir lo que contrario, hubiera dado otra calificación si el final no hubiese sido tan apresurado, esto generó que quedarán en mi opinión varios cabos sueltos.
Pero como novela para leer en dos o tres días está bastante bien, entretenida y te genera esa duda de que está pasando. Vemos bastante reflejada la desesperación que puede genera la pérdida de una hija, creo que este es un concepto muy presente en toda la novela, no solamente para la trama principal.

[Barbara Huskey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to be interested in this book since it’s been sitting on my shelf for years, but it just did nothing for me at all and about halfway through I decided to stop because I just didn’t care and wasn’t enjoying it. With over 900 books on my to read list I am not wasting my time on ones I don’t enjoy. I’ll donate the book and maybe it will be more suited to someone else’s tastes.

[Girard Bowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished it, so that says something, but I should have brought a net for all the red herrings and scissors for all the hanging threads. Had to re-read a number of sentences because of poor construction. Not up to the usual Stark House standard.

[Jolene (jos.little.library6) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay - kept my interest but there could have been some more twists or a shocking ending. Maybe the writing was to be expected from a book from the late 70s lol

[Shea Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't understand why this book is classified as a horror novel. It's just a mediocre suspense book.
PS: The author seems to like squirrels very much...

[Kellyanne Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of questions still loom, for better or worse. Definitely a worthwhile read.

[Stacy Simpson · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started out ok then went downhill really fast. The story kept flipping around to different scenarios and they were not well directed it turned out to be a big mess. I would pass it up.