The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer

Can we talk for a minute about this book?! I need more true crime like this! I loved the way that this story was woven. The narrative approach to a nonfiction subject was so phenomenally executed. The chapters alternated between young Liza and Tony Costa's life (which involved lots of secrets and lots of murder). The book focused more on the life of Liza and her interactions with and perceptions of Tony rather than the investigations into Tony' crimes. I loved this perspective and approach.Tony was a "babysitter" of sorts to Liza...someone she looked up to and someone she looked forward to spending time with. Only Liza did not know that Tony was hiding a terrible secret. He was actually a serial killer!One thing I kept coming back to was how terrible Liza's mom was. I can totally understand why she latched on to Tony so strongly when her own parental figure was so cold and callous towards her and Tony offered her the attention she craved and a sense that someone actually cared for her. Ughhh- Liza's childhood was more than anyone should have to endure.Tony was such a "nice guy" in the eyes of Liza, and most everyone who came in contact with. His development and spiral into a cold hearted, maniacal killer was interesting, but also so very disturbing. The fact that someone can appear to be one thing but is actually secretly cloaked in evil is simply terrifying. It's like you never know if you could be living in the midst of the next serial killer. It sends shivers down my spine even thinking about that.Okay, so, long story short, without giving away too much.....if you like true crime, READ THIS BOOK, NOW. Like right now...go add to cart and thank me later.

🔫 JUNE REVIEW 🔫[The Babysitter: My Summers With A Serial Killer || Liza Rodman + Jennifer Jordan]••A chilling story - part memoir, part true crime - about a young girl longing for love who found friendship with her charismatic babysitter - who was also a vicious serial killer.•I am a sucker for anything true crime, however I felt that the first half of this book was a bit slow/dry. Think of a documentary, and how much information we receive in the beginning. This book did this well, but it made for a textbook-type feeling as you make your way through background & context in the first half.•Continuing through it does improve! I enjoyed the details and grit we see in the second half as it relates to the serial killer, his crime, and his personality leading up to him killing over and over again. And so e other surprise discoveries at the end.•Overall, a decent read, but it left me slightly disappointed with how long it took to get into faster-moving parts. It left me wanting more true crime!•⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5/5)

THE BABYSITTER is a well-crafted blend of memoir and non-fiction or true crime, about Liza’s loneliness and trying childhood and much later finding out one of her favorite, more understanding babysitters was a serial killer.I had just finished reading LAST CALL: A TRUE STORY OF LOVE, LUST, AND MURDER IN QUEER NEW YORK, when THE BABYSITTER: MY SUMMERS WITH A SERIAL KILLER popped up as a most anticipated Real Crime book. Though I have no problems reading real and true accounts of difficult circumstances and lives, whether in the news or through memoirs, I needed to time recover and remember that goodness still exists. I had a copy of this book in my grasp for a few months, before I started reading it.In THE BABYSITTER, Rodman bravely and brilliantly recounts and shares difficult parts of her lonely and confusing childhood and mixes that with details from copious, thorough research done regarding Tony Costa.Rodman and Jordan do an excellent job alternating between Tony and Rodman, moving from shortly before Liza and Tony became acquainted to some time after Tony had “disappeared” from her life for good.I give this book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟I recommend giving it a read.

Woah. Ok. First off, I want to stress that this book is heavy. I do not recommend everyone read it. There are a lot of triggers present as early as the first 10 pages.I love that the short chapters alternate between the author's story and a retelling of The Babysitter's life.I do feel like this novel was a bit longer than was needed, there seemed to be some repetitive information and even some that didn't really help build the story, just fillers.Overall, it wasn't a terrible book. I had never heard of this man before and it really blew my mind away with how terrible of a person he was - I mean, all serial killers are, but he was awful.There are some major triggers in this book. As I said, I do not recommend it to everyone.Triggers include: rape, sexual assault & rape of children, child abuse, grooming, drug & alcohol addiction, domestic violence, mental health illnesses, murder, death, and so much more.

This book was both alarming and heartbreakingly sad. Much more than just a true crime novel it felt like a glimpse into America at the time. (I really appreciated the bits of history the authors threw in.) As an 80's kid the fact that missing girls were treating so mundanely was hard to believe. The 1960's was a strange and volatile time and that was easily reflected in both Tony and Liza's life.The fact that I detested Liza's mother much more than Tony says a lot. Her neglect and abuse were hard to stomach. Seeing Provincetown through Liza's child eyes you could see why it would seem like a safe haven and while Tony and his mother would be beacons of light in her life.The depictions of violence were definitely gruesome without being gratuitous or over the top. The victims were real people and I appreciated the authors made that clear, that there were people who loved them and they had lives they would never live because of this sadistic killer. This book will stick with me for a long time to come.