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THE NESTING by C.J. Cooke

THE NESTING

by C.J. Cooke

Pub Date: Sept. 29th, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-19766-0
Publisher: Berkley

A British woman in crisis borrows the identity of a stranger to get a job as a nanny, but she and the children she cares for could be in danger.

After Lexi Ellis' failed suicide attempt, her boyfriend breaks up with her and she finds herself without a home or a plan. But after hearing a woman on a train discussing a job working as a nanny in Norway, Lexi hatches a plan to hijack her job application and credentials to land the position for herself. Posing as Sophie, Lexi is offered the job of watching over two girls, Gaia and Coco, while their father finishes building a high-concept home, a project he began prior to the sudden death of his wife. Lexi loves the job and the girls—but soon the kids start talking about a Sad Lady they see around the house. As strange happenings pile up, Lexi suspects their mother was murdered, and she becomes concerned for all of their safety. Very little about this book rings true. The plotting is rushed and relies on unexplained, sudden twists, such as Lexi’s staying at a women's shelter for a week or being able to bluff her way through an interview without having read the job description. Entire months are omitted from the story, including Lexi's first as a nanny, which she describes only as "pretty hazy." These issues, along with wooden dialogue and a first-person narration that reads more like a diary than a thriller, obscure any sense of mystery that could engage the reader.

This gothic thriller doesn't offer enough intrigue to overcome its weaknesses.