| Title | : | Close to the Cradle |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 268 |
| Publication | : | First published November 12, 2019 |
Deeply vulnerable after a traumatic birth, new mother Didi Vos is depending on her maternity nurse to help her heal. But despite her uniform, Hennequin Smith is no nurse, and healing couldn't be further from her mind.
Though beautiful on the outside, Hennequin harbors ugly motives; slowly and subtly, she sets about her plan to gain Didi's trust and then ruin her life. And when Miriam de Moor - a police investigator who suspects Hennequin played a role in her brother's sudden death six months earlier - unearths horrifying secrets about Hennequin's past, the destinies of the three women become chillingly linked and will come to a head in a thrilling, unforgettable climax.
©2014 Esther Verhoef (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2019 by Alexander Smith
Close to the Cradle Reviews
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Thank you @Netgalley and @Amazoncrossing for the ARC of close to the cradle. This book was so creepy. I cant think of anything more scary then being a brand new mom and hiring a nurse to help and she has creepy and scary motives. This book had me biting my nails. Really good with the suspense. Definitely recommend for all you thriller lovers.
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Wow, so i dont often read books that are actually scary but parts of this book are just so easily real its terrifying!!! 😳 Im from the US so like, we dont have medical help like that from the government but still! Fing frightening!
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Creepy, thrilling and full of moments that shocked me, Close to the Cradle was quite a suspenseful quick read. While it might make some uncomfortable at certain points, I thought the villain was incredibly well crafted and just the right amount of crazy. Overall, a thrilling fast-paced read.
4 stars! -
Close to the cradle is a Dutch book translated to English. I’d describe it as a psychological thriller.
We meet three different women from different backgrounds that are all tied together:
Hennequin- a derranged midwife
Didi Vos - new mother
Miriam - police officer
POV changes quickly wasn’t with a character for long enough to get a feel for their personality at the start of the book. I can appreciate this added to the sense of danger during the book but would have liked longer to get to know each personality to begin with.
A very tense read, I was on the edge of my seat desperate to know if Didi and her baby were going to be okay. I don’t normally like thrillers, this was a good read apart from my issues mentioned. I read it very quickly.
3.5 out of 5 stars. -
I finished this early this morning and must say I was confused as to why what was going on was going on .... The story just kinda starts randomly when a young couple have just brought their newborn home and the maternity nurse is creepy and your left clueless as to WTF is actually going on. It does get better but still confusing ... Kind of a creepy story
-I wanna know why the US doesnt have this kind of after home care for new mothers??? -
You will like this book if: you like creepy suspense and a classic thriller ending.
Plot: Hennequin Smith is posing as a maternity nurse for the Vos family after Didi Vos has a complicated pregnancy and birth. Hannequin is beautiful and resides in a gorgeous penthouse, likely from the money she received after her husband’s, aka police detective’s Miriam de Moor’s brother’s, death. Miriam de Moor doesn’t trust that her brother died by falling down a flight of stairs and risks her career and safety to get to the bottom of who Hennequin Smith truly is. All storylines come to a head in a truly exhilarating ending that unearths all of Hennequin’s secrets.
Characters: Didi Vos is married to an awful husband, and their marriage is only made worse by Didi’s pelvic fragility and inability to reach into her newborn’s crib for feedings. For reasons unknown until the end, Hennequin seems to prey on the Vos family’s vulnerability, committing truly awful acts while posing as a maternity nurse. Miriam de Moor is climbing the professional ladder as a police detective, but can’t shake the gut feeling that something is off about Hannequin. She is drawn to solve this mystery like a moth is drawn to a flame. Such dynamic characters!
Setting: Whether each scene was set in the Vos home, on Miriam’s patrol, or in the wilderness, this book is fairly descriptive. Despite the fact that I have no clue about the actual cities or region it is set in, I could mostly understand where things were in relation to each other.
Conflict/Resolution: The suspense build-up from creepy to horrifying is beautifully executed. The pacing of this novel is incredible and all of the loose threads are tied into a nice little bow, which I always love.
Writing: The writing flowed easily and I was able to read at a medium speed despite my notoriously slow reading speed. There was a balance of description, character emotion, and plot points.
Overall/Other notes: I received a copy through a Goodreads giveaway. -
This is one those frightening type reads. A nanny that has an evil side to her, wanting to cause harm to the mother and baby and anyone who gets in the way. All while looking like the dutiful caring nanny. That is what Hennequin Smith is. She asserts herself into Didi Vos’ life as the new baby nurse. It isn’t long before things start to become strange with the actions of Hennequin but in the state of mind that Didi is in after the awful pregnancy and birth, she just blew it off, till she could’t any longer. She find herself face to face with an evil woman and has to fight to save herself and her baby before it is too late. And that she did too.
The story is told from alternating POV’s, Didi the new mother, Hennequin, the new nanny and Miriam, the detective who has been investigating Hennequin. It was such a fantastic way to lay out the entire story from their points of view. Let me tell you, Henniquine is one evil B**ch and people seem to up and disappear when she is comes into their lives. Then there was Didi. I couldn’t imagine having a pregnancy like the one she went through. It was awful. But she find some impressive strength when she needed to, I got to give her that. You don’t mess with a Momma and her baby! Lastly, the detective Miriam and Hennequin are connected by Miriam’s brother who happened to meet an unlikely death while married to Hennequin. She is on a mission to find out what really happened to her brother and while she is investigating Hennequin she learns about her new job and knows that Didi and her baby are in danger. She was one strong and determined woman!
I won’t give to much more away but to say that it is one those reads that keep you on the edge of your seat with suspense with twists and turns that you don’t see coming. And the ending was fantastic! Definitely a good one for fans of domestic thrillers. -
Era da un po' che non leggevo un thriller di questa portata. Ci ho messo un po' a entrare nella storia, a comprendere bene i personaggi. Appena ho compiuto il passo è stato un susseguirsi di colpi di scena ed emozioni che non mi hanno fatto togliere gli occhi di dosso dal libro. Appoggiarlo era diventato davvero difficile.
Leggi la recensione completa -
So I normally have a hard time getting scared when I read book but with this one I was definitely scared. This book was so realistic you can't stop wondering what if this happened to me. I liked that the book was super realistic so it was easy to get into and you didn't have to waste time setting the scene since it could happen in real-life. I truly enjoyed this book and thank you to Nova Lee Maier for the few sleepless nights that I endured during and after reading this book.
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This was a first read for me by Nova Lee Maier and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at this book! I loved the suspense and the way that Nova Lee Maier set everything in place. Very well done and a suspense read for sure.
There are a few main characters that we follow along this read. Hennequin is the nurse maid that is taking care of Didi Vos after she delivered her sweet baby girl, Ivy. While Didi was pregnant she developed a condition to where she could hardly walk and ended up in a wheelchair toward the end of her pregnancy. Her body is supposed to go back to normal on it's own, but there is no certain timeline on that. Hennequin has been "assigned" to help with Ivy and to help Didi and Oscar when they need it. Oscar goes back to work after a week and Hennequin stays with Didi to help her out. When Didi's mother shows up, she tends to ruin all of Hennequin's plans that she has laid out. Oscar comes up "missing" and Didi worries herself sick over him.
Miriam is a police officer and is trying to figure out if Hennequin, her used to be sister in law, is as bad as she thinks she is. Miriam's brother came up dead after having a fall down the stairs and Miriam is highly suspicious of Hennequin. When Miriam suggests to her colleges that they really should investigate Hennequin, they blow her off and offer her some time off to deal with her brother's death. That is not what Miriam wants at all. Miriam decides to do a little investigating of her own if no one will listen to her.
This story sort of alternates between all these characters and gives you a good feel for what is going on and then throws you into the story line full force. With all the back and forth, I never got confused or felt lost, everything was very smooth and kept you wanting to know what was going to happen with all the characters.
I highly recommend this one if you like suspense and thrillers. Nova Lee Maier has done a great job with this one and I can't wait for more from her.
I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all the opinions are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book. I enjoyed it very much! -
I have to say, I really liked it. It was super fast paced and a real page turner. The author did not waste much time describing the unnecessary elements and got right to it.
It was definitely creepy and a refreshing change from all the romanticised views that people portray of new motherhood. It sucks that you wont be able to know how someone REALLY feels about childbirth since they would feel too guilty to admit it to another person (even their partner!). The story showed how messed up these people are and how creepy this lady is very well, great writing all in all.
I didn't mind the long chapters which spanned a whole day of their lives because there were several POVs in one chapter and they had their own riveting cliffhangers before switching to another POV.
I did wish there was more depth to the character of Hennequin, there wasn't much explained about her behaviour except that "she was always different" or "she has always been a weird child". And why she was after Didi Vos. We never really got a full fledged explanation for why she acted the way she did and SPOILER
The ending delivered 70% and 30% fell a bit flat to me because I didn't have the answers to why Hennequin behaved the way that she did.
Also, fun game idea - take a shot every time Hennequin says "I'll make you a cup of tea"; you will be hungover by the time this book ends.
I also found it hilarious how Hennequin had these stupid names for the people like "shrimp" and "ginger troll". -
L'ARLECCHINO
Ammetto che la mia prima impressione non è stata esattamente positiva, mi turbava il fatto che la "cattiva" di questo romanzo avesse già un'identità ben definita. Nonostante ciò, "La balia" riserva ugualmente innumerevoli sorprese, specialmente nel finale: è stata la parte che ho preferito, in quanto non solo mi ha tenuta col fiato sospeso, ma è stata persino capace di smuovermi qualcosa dentro.
Avevo già capito, comunque, l'alto valore di questo thriller grazie al ritmo serrato che caratterizza l'indagine, la quale assume i contorni di una vera e propria caccia. Ed è in tal modo che determina un coinvolgimento fuori dal comune, quello che rende impossibile andare a letto prima di aver voltato l'ultima pagina. -
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Perskaičiau per 2 dienas. Įtraukė nuo pat pirmųjų puslapių ir skaitėsi tikrai greitai. Pati istorija nebuvo ištempta, įvykiai klostėsi pakankamai greitai ir viskas buvo atskleidžiama detalė po detalės. Kol galiausiai viskas susidėlioti į vietas ir tapo aišku kaip gimdyvės padėjėja iš tikro yra susijusi su šeima kurioje ji dirba. Ir pati istorijos kulminacija buvo gana netikėta. Mačiau keletą atsiliepimų kad šita istorija sukėlė skaitytojams pyktį. Ypač tos vietos kur padėjėja kenkia vaikeliui. Man asmeniškai tokių itin stiprių emocijų nesukėlė, nors ir esu mama. Knygą tikrai rekomenduoju trilerių mėgėjams.
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Finished the book in 2 days. It sucked me in from the first few pages and was a really quick read. The actual story wasn't dragged out, everything was happening pretty quickly and everything was revealed piece by piece. Until finally everything fell into places and it was clear how the maternity nurse are actually related with the family that she works for. And the culmination of the story was unexpected. I've seen few reviews were saying that this story made readers angry. Especially the parts where the maternity nurse is trying to hurt the baby. For me personally it didn't bring any such strong emotions, even though I'm a mum myself. I definitely recommend the book for the thriller lovers. -
Thank you NetGalley and AmazonCrossing for the eARC.
Being from Holland originally, I was excited to find a book translated from the Dutch. It was a good read.
However, it made me deeply uncomfortable at times because the story involves a psychopathic woman posing as home help for families with newborns. Didi, the young mother, and her newborn, Indy, have just come home from the hospital and Hennequin is the home help, ready to assist Didi, who is incapacitated with severe pain, barely able to move. Oscar, her husband, is staying home from work for a week to help out as well.
We also meet Miriam, a policewoman who is hunting Hennequin as she believes Hennequin killed her brother, inheriting most of his fortune.
Without giving away more of the story, I can say this is a very tense read, hard to put down. Constantly worrying about the tiny baby and her helpless mother made me tear through the book really fast, but as I said, it was not a comfortable read! -
Io amo i thriller, ne leggo tanti, mi piace giocare al detective, seguire le tracce, e spesso non riesco a riconoscere il killer se non quando è lo stesso romanzo a darmi la soluzione, ma questo insolito thriller tiene il lettore incollato alle pagine, chi legge è affamato di sapere cosa spinge una persona ad essere così distaccata, fredda, calcolatrice, così razionalmente cattiva ed inquietante, fin quando non si giunge al punto in cui tutto ebbe inizio, ed è lì che tutto prende forma e poi? beh, poi c'è solo un punto fermo che segna la fine della storia ma che lascia il lettore atterrito da quanto scoperto.
Recensione Completa --->
http://themydiarysecret.blogspot.com/... -
Miriam is a police officer. She has suspicions that her sister in law murdered her brother. They had only been married 18 months when he fell down the stairs and died.
When she looks into Hennequin's history, she finds that her suspicions are closer to truth than fiction.
Hennequin had pushed a girl over a stairwell when she was 16. She was in youth detention for a year.
Now people have a habit of disappearing anytime she's around.
The truth of the matter is things and people aren't always how they appear. But, sometimes they are.
Incredible story! An excellent ending! -
4.5 stars rounded up to 5 courtesy of the writing and the character development.
I went into this book with very few expectations other than that it had appealed to me enough to add it to my Kindle. What a creepy and suspenseful surprise. Thoroughly enjoyable. With the exception of Miriam, the motivations of the other principal characters remained a mystery right up to the final chapter. And Maier actually managed to deliver one final twist that I didn't see coming (well, to be fair, I did see something close to it coming, but she twisted the twist). -
Confined to bed after a difficult pregnancy, new mother Didi considers her visiting nurse a godsend. Meanwhile, police detective Miriam looks for answers in the wake of her brother’s sudden death. The connection between these two women turns deadly in Nova Lee Maier’s “Close to the Cradle,” a tightly written thriller by a master of Dutch psychological horror. “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” meets “The Bad Seed” in a fast paced tale full of high-stakes plot twists.
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Close to the Cradle was a fast-paced, tension-filled thriller that gripped me from the very beginning. We are following the story of three very different women: a new mother, a police officer with a hunch, and a mysterious woman with a secret. While I did enjoy this book, I felt that we did not stay with the characters long enough to get invested with their individual stories.
Book provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. -
Gave me a 'hand that rocks the cradle vibe' although for a rather short book it was a little sluggish and took a while to get things going, your thrown in to the story and constantly being passed through 3 different voices which could be a little confusing at times and because sometimes it was a quick change found it hard keep up or understand some of the voices in terms of their character and motives.
But it was a quick psychological thriller, decent enough read for what it was. -
Once again, Nova Lee has written a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. One can relate to all the characters from the police officer who has suffered the loss of her brother to the new mother who is dealing with physical traumas from her pregnancy along with a less than attentive husband. Twists and turns along the way make this a fun, edgy read. Hope she has more mysteries up her sleeve.
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Wow!! This book was freaking amazing. Talk about a thrill ride. I couldn't put this book down once I started. I enjoyed the characters and all the twists and turns in this story made it a really great book. I'll definitely be reading more from this author after this book.
Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. -
This was a thriller that was full of twists and turns. It features a new mom and a creepy nurse that is "helping" her. I kept telling myself "one more page" with this one and ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting because I just had to know how it ended. Definitely make sure you have enough time to read this in one sitting because it is impossible to put down!
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Didi has a difficult pregnancy and birth, leaving her temporarily disabled. Hennequin comes to work for the Vos family as a midwife, caring for Didi and her baby. However, her arrival is no coincidence. Hennequin and Didi have history; a deep, and dark history. Hennequin's arrival will even the score for previous events that have caused her life to unfold in a dramatic fashion.
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“Close to the Cradle” was a fast paced, intense, edge of your seat book. It was well written and had me sucked in from the start. I highly recommend this book and will be searching for other books to read by this author.
