OMG,you always know when you start reading a book written by Richard Parker that you are in for one hell of a roller coaster ride from beginning to end.Keep Her Safe is a action packed,gripping thriller that holds the reader in a vice like grip that's so tight you sometimes find yourself struggling to breath.That's when you actually get an opportunity to remember to breath which is not very often due to the short,snappy chapters and non stop action.

Most mothers would do everything in their power to protect their children and keep them safe.Maggie and Holly find themselves having to go to hell and back when they find themselves caught up in the twisted games of a unknown stranger known as the babysitter.This cruel individual has been targeting mothers and offering them a choice : do as he says or their child disappears forever.Holly has until dawn to follow his orders....but Maggie also has a choice to make.Can she turn the tables on the babysitter,put the pieces together and stop the cycle before her time is up?

The story is told from the joint pov of Maggie and Holly,two feisty,intelligent,strong willed but also at times vulnerable women.Both women have secrets and although they eventually end up working together to out smart their tormentor there is always a prevailing air of mistrust between them.Throughout the book I found myself routing for them as they found themselves caught up in one dangerous scenario after another.The story is packed full of tension and danger culminating in a final gory confrontation where the truth about the babysitter is finally revealed.This gripping thriller is set over a short time period which helps adds to the readers heightening feelings of tension and anxiety.Included in the small number of characters that Maggie and Holly encounter during their adventure is a number of really twisted,very very unlikable individuals.

I love Richard Parker`s books and really can't understand why they haven't been picked up and adapted into films.I'm so disappointed that I have finished Keep Her Safe because now I have the long wait for whatever he comes up with next.Keep Her Safe is absolutely brilliant and highly recommend to anyone who loves reading a gripping,action packed thriller.

I LOVE this author's writing - he always consistently delivers a resounding, brilliant thriller and this was no different. Fast paced and tense, this amazing story made my heart race from the first page, making it impossible to put the book down until the absolutely mind blowing end. I experienced so many emotions and lived this incredible, stunning, flawlessly plotted story. Highly recommend it to everyone and absolutely cannot wait for more from this fabulous author.

KEEP HER SAFE by Richard Parker is a standalone psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the last page. Single women each with a child are at the hands and mercy of a psychopath! He kidnaps the child and tells the mother what she needs to do if she wants her child back.

How far would you go to protect your child?

“The murders of the East County Slayer are orchestrated by a man who calls himself “Babysitter.” He kidnaps children and demands their mothers commit murder to get them back. He then abducts another and forces their mother to kill the last woman he targeted, silencing one killer and creating another who stays silent for the sake of their child.”

Holly had been instructed by Babysitter to kill Maggie in order for Holly to get her 21-month old baby, Abigail back. Four days ago, Maggie, mother of 18-month old baby Penny had been told to do the same.

Maggie’s daughter Penny is her whole world… and she’d do anything to protect her. So when Maggie wakes one night to find a strange woman in her home, she runs to lock herself in her bedroom with her child. But Maggie knows why she’s come…

Targeted mothers were offered a choice: do as he says or their child disappears. This stranger in her home has until dawn to follow his orders… but Maggie too has the ‘choice’ to make. Maggie must stop this vicious cycle before her time is up?

This fast-paced novel is told in 3rd person POV, that will keep you guessing the whole way through, following this thrilling ride to the shocking ending. I highly recommend reading it.

Many thanks to my favorite publisher, Bookouture via Netgalley for my copy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Two single mothers, Maggie to Penny and Holly to Abigail are suffering every parents worst nightmare. Both have had their daughters snatched by the protagonist who goes by the name of 'The Babysitter'. However The Babysitter is willing to return the girls after Maggie and Holly have passed their task proving how much they love their children. Maggie managed to get Penny back but now its Hollys turn to prove herself. But is it all too much and how far are the women really able to go?

Keep Her safe is the first thriller I have read by Author Richard Jay Parker and I know it certainly wont be the last. As a mother myself I was gripped by the characters plight in this book and I loved how it was told in real time making it easy to feel the suspense throughout. Only having a few characters made it easy to follow which helped build the tension as you wasnt getting side tracked by new people.

A thoroughly satisfying read which I absolutely raced through and would highly recommend!

Very very unusual read. Read over one day, you want to find out what this is about, who did what to whom and the big question why? Slightly unbelievable plot in regard to an injury received by one of the characters which in my mind would have been much more debilitating (hence the four and not five stars) but that aside a good read.
# KeepHerSafe #NetGalley

I enjoyed reading this albeit a bit far fetched at times. What we would do to protect our children can show no bounds at times .would certainly recommend it

Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy of of this book. I haven’t ever read anything from this author and if I’m being honest I tend to go for female writers for some reason, but the description of this book stood out to me. Basically there is someone called the Babysitter abducts mother’s children and makes them do as he says. This follows two mothers as they try and outwit him and get their children to safety. I really enjoyed it, in fact I read within a few hours as I couldn’t put it down! It’s well written and the characters are great too. Highly recommend!

This was quite fast-paced and definitely kept you gripped. It didn't quite go how I thought it would.

This book had me gripped and didn't let go until the end, I was totally captivated. It was dark and dangerous and the type of story that you just can't put down. I really enjoyed this book, what a cracking start to 2018!

2.5 stars out of 5 (rounded up on scale to 3)

“The figure froze, and Maggie saw blue surgical gloves clutching a carving knife. Her shoulder butted hard into the door frame as she reversed from the nursery.”

Maggie is a single mother who has endured unspeakable things in order to protect her daughter, Penny, but she is not out of the woods yet. She can hear someone in her home--someone she knows is there to kill her. She knows this because she has been in their same position only days prior.

Holly is also a single mother who is trying to protect her daughter. But her daughter, Abigail, is currently in the arms of a mysterious man who calls himself the Babysitter. The Babysitter has instructed Holly to break into Maggie's home and drive a knife into her chest in order to save her own daughter from harm.

How far will these women go to protect their children? Is the maternal instinct stronger than our morals and rationalizations? Will they continue to play the Babysitters game, or can they find a way to work together to exploit him, while also saving their daughters?

My take:
Wow. The synopsis of this novel is fantastic. A very unique concept for a thriller and the beginning of the book sucked me right in. Unfortunately, it fell short to my expectations.

The initial premise of the novel was great. The whole concept of a serial killer using others to do the killing, all driven by their choices . It's a maternal version of Jigsaw, the Saw 'mastermind'. I really wish that the author would have honed in on this concept more and made that the main focus and mystery of the novel. Or even broken this entire book down into a series. It was honestly so action packed that a series would have been doable--break it apart into three sections, add in more "down time", backstory, character building, etc.

With traditional novels, you see the rising action, the building of the story line where readers are learning about the characters and anticipating something exciting to happen or trying to piece together the puzzle pieces of mystery that are being scattered along for them. Then you enter the climax of the novel, action-packed and eventful, before a resolution. Sometimes you even have multiple climaxes thrown into a novel so that just when you think your MC is in the clear, another turn of events comes your way.

This novel does not follow that expected pattern. Keep Her Safe drops you right into the climatic action from the very first sentence and does not slow down until the end of the novel. It almost got the point of being unrealistic for me---how many crazy events could two people endure in one 12-hour period of time?! Some people may see the abundance of action as a positive aspect and absolutely love this title. It's different and doesn't stick to the 'status quo' of plot layouts. However, it just wasn't for my liking. It was just too much plot, all taking place over the course of one night, stuffed into one novel for my brain to process and enjoy in the way the author intended.



**Thank you to Bookouture, the author, and NetGalley, for a digital advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

**Blog review link will become active on 01/01/18.

Oh lordy. This book. This writer. What I love most is that I know by opening up my kindle and tapping the screen to open up a new Richard Parker novel, I am committing myself to a few hours of complete and utter immersion in a story which is going to shock and thrill me and keep me on the edge of my seat. Keep Her Safe did all of the above and so much more.

You know from the start, without reading the blurb, that something is slightly off kilter in Maggie's world. She is a very nervous mother. Very nervous. Her whole demeanour is of someone on the edge and it can't all be down to being the older mother in her parenting classes. Can it? It doesn't take long for the reader to find out and as the opening scenes play out, the magnitude of what Maggie is actually facing starts to become startlingly clear, as do the implications of what we are reading. Maggie's life, and that of her daughter, are in grave danger but as to why and who would want to hurt them ... well this is where the books takes its most interesting turn.

Faced with an impossible choice - your safety and freedom or that of your child - what would you do?

Well this is exactly the question which is addressed in this book, placing our protagonists, Maggie and her 'stalker', a woman called Holly, in a situation in which they feel they have only one choice. As it turns out, their choices are set to be expanded, placing them in far more danger than they could imagine as the person who is really pulling the strings sets them on a path with one dark and thoroughly depraved destination.

There are so many twists and turns in this book, enough to keep you as a reader well and truly on your toes. Pacing is so fast, the tension so high, that if you are anything like me then you will blast through half of the book before you even realise, by which point you will be hooked and desperate to know what is really going on. Parts of it made me grimace, parts left me reeling. All of it had my nerves a jangling from start to finish.

Maggie and Holly are two very interesting characters and I am never quite sure if I admire their strength or deplore their stupidity in not contacting the police. Ultimately I want them to succeed, I know that much, even if I struggled to know who to warm to in the beginning. the more time I spent with them though, the more I began to admire their tenacity and resolve and had to applaud Richard Parker on creating two characters who I may not have always liked, there were compelling reasons not to littered throughout, but I always wanted to follow.

And then there are the scenes towards the conclusion of the book, where the killer's 'end game' becomes clear. You have to hand it to Mr Parker. He's not afraid of touching on the darker side of crime fiction. Not that murder isn't dark enough, but there are hidden depths to this book and what we first see with Maggie and Holly is merely a game compared to the stark truth they are set to uncover. And all due to a killer who wishes to test the strength of a mother's love.

A tense, twisted read that hurtles along at break-neck speed to a very dark and deadly destination. Loved it.

Keep Her Safe by Richard Parker is not one of the best books i have read last year.I just couldn't get into the book at all,Maggie is a single parent at home with her daughter Penny when an intruder breaks in with instructions to kill Maggie in order to save her daughter who has been kidnapped by a stranger calling himself Babysitter.What transpires is that Maggie and Holly the intruder team up to try and track down Babysitter and save Hollys daughter.But i just found the whole book tedious and unbelievable in many parts with the two women being sent from one place to another to try and find the Babysitter and the answers to why he is doing this,the ending was a gruesome affair which to me didn't have much to do with the story..This book was just not for me and i'm afraid i wouldn't recommend it as a gripping suspense thriller as it says on the cover.

I loved the premise of this book, it questions how far you would go to protect your child. The first couple of chapters definitely gave me the fear, houses being broken into in the middle of the night by mysterious strangers, intent on murder! However, I felt the book lost its way slightly once the action moved out of the domestic setting and it turned into more of a horror scenario which I wasn't so keen on and also became a bit repetitive. Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this as an arc.

This book was such a page turner! Had me gripped from the first chapter.

How far would you go to protect your child? 2 single mothers spend a evening together and learn just what they will do for their children.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book to read and review in return for an honest review

This book was everything it promised me and something more, which it never warned me about. The book said it would be a fast-paced, gripping, roller coaster ride and I agree. It took me on a bumpy ride which I am still recovering from. And it promised me a psychological thriller, but gave me a psychopathic killer.
The book had so many twists and turns that I couldn't help but read wide-eyed. I never saw them coming because the book did not go where I thought it would go. It took me on a long, dark, winded journey with two women, Maggie and Holly fighting for their lives and the lives of their children. A hooded man, the Babysitter, kidnaps a child and forces the mother to kill another mother to get back her child, and he could keep this cycle of vicious murders going on for a long time till he met mothers like Maggie and Holly.
Starting from the first chapter itself, the book clocks a rapid thrilling, heart bursting pace when Holly is sent to kill Maggie to get back her child, Abigail. From here on, the entire book is a fight for survival. Initial the ladies are fighting each other for their children and then they team up, and the Babysitter takes them on a merry trail along the dark roads in heavy snow.
I liked how the author, Richard Parker, could keep me engrossed into the story, the characters were so different from the usual ones that I couldn't stop looking at them. There are a few characters which these ladies come across on their journey, but each one is grosser than the next. I could barely deal with the idea of such a human being when the story moved on to the next.
It is a wonder what mothers do to protect their kids and Richard has written this fact in a brutal, bloody way. The mothers survive bullet wounds, knife wounds, vicious dog bites, and psychopathic killers and their games. Each moment is ramped up in the story.
At the end of this book journey, I am battered and bruised, I am bewildered and doggone tired at the games the Babysitter played on the two women. Some of them were long drawn out, and I never understood his reasons fully.
But then who can understand the mind of a psychopathic killer, except maybe Richard Parker....
This was my first book by him, and if he writes books like this, I would be reading the book during day light hours and sleeping with lights on through the night.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher Bookouture, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the Publisher, Bookouture for this review copy, given in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Noelle from Bookouture for organising the Blog Tour.

The Babysitter kidnaps single mothers’ children. He will only return the children if the mothers follow his instructions. Maggie lives alone with her baby daughter, Penny. One night she awakes to find a strange woman in her house. This woman, Holly, has to follow orders to protect her daughter Abigail from being harmed. Maggie knows exactly what Holly has come to do and she needs to stop Holly from doing it. Can Maggie do this or will Holly do anything to get her daughter back?

My second Richard Parker book. I really enjoyed the first book I read, Hide and Seek, so was excited to start this one. It was a great read, a real ‘edge of your seat’ thriller. Being a parent, you can put yourself in the position of these women, knowing full well that you would do absolutely anything to keep your child safe. The one thing that struck me with this book was how few characters there were. Initially, I wasn’t sure how this would work – would there be enough to keep me interested if there are only two or three main characters? Strangely enough, it worked! It was refreshing not to have to try and remember who everyone was, and where they came into the storyline!

It was a tense read, and made me feel uneasy at times at the thought of someone watching you and someone wanting to kill you. It was also quite gruesome by the end, so if blood and gore isn’t your thing you may want to close your eyes!! There wasn’t any major plot twist at the end, but the story keep my gripped all the way through with all the ends being wrapped up just right by the end.

A very creepy and unsettling thriller but one that once I started, I just couldn’t put it down!

I received an ARC from NetGalley. The below is my honest, unbiased opinion. Thank you, Richard Parker, the publisher, and NetGalley, for allowing me to read an early copy.

How far would you go to protect your child?

Maggie’s daughter Penny is her whole world… and she’d do anything to protect her. So when Maggie wakes one night to find a strange woman in her home, she runs to lock herself in her bedroom with her child. But Maggie knows why she’s come…

Someone has been targeting mothers and offering them a choice: do as he says or their child disappears. This stranger in her home has until dawn to follow his orders… but Maggie too has the ‘choice’ to make. Can she put the pieces together to stop the cycle before her time is up?

An edge-of-your-seat thriller that will keep you guessing until the last page. Perfect for fans of Adam Croft and Tess Gerritsen.

KEEP HER SAFE is a standalone mystery thriller that's told in dual, 3rd person POV. I found this to be an action-packed, fast-paced, thrilling read. In the opening pages, the stakes are already high, and you're left clinging onto the book, through every twist and turn, until the very final pages. I read it in one sitting, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys child abduction/missing child thrillers.

Keep Her Safe. Richard Parker

Never have I read such a complex, and compelling, story based on so few characters.

This book has two protagonists, Maggie and Holly. The fate of both of these women is controlled by the mysterious Babysitter.

The Babysitter kidnaps women’s young children, and will only return them when they have completed his tasks.

So, when Holly is sent to kill Maggie, it is to save the life of her young daughter Abigale.

The story is that of these two women as they fight for their own survival, and takes place over an 8-hour time frame, Maggie must be dead before sunrise

Maggie is not the innocent woman that Holly though she was, and it soon becomes apparent that she has more in common with Holly than you would expect.

Holly is dead set on killing Maggie; and the struggle between the two women, in Maggie’s house, is one of the most engrossing bits of writing I’ve ever read.

The story sways to and fro, one chapter narrated from Maggie’s point of view the next Holly’s. It’s a struggle between right and wrong, good and bad, but it’s perspective is never black and white.

All the while the struggle is taking place texts messages from the Babysitter make it obvious he can see what is happening, so there is no escaping the fact Holly needs to kill Maggie or die trying.

At first different readers will want Holly to succeed, others Maggie; but I can guarantee whichever one you start with you will change your mind more than once.

After all what would you do to save your child, alternatively how far would you go to save your life if somebody broke into your house and tried to kill you.

More compelling than most books which have many more characters, and take place over days, weeks, or months, this book had me turning each page with as much nervous trepidation as anticipation. I had not got a clue how the story was going to end, and I was fully engaged with both Maggie and Holly.

I may have made this tale sound simplistic. Two main characters and a short time period, but if you love psychological thrillers you will go an awful long way to find a better book.

Pages: 329
Publishing date UK: 11th January 2018.
Publishers: Bookouture

3 Stars - Maggie is a single mom to her eighteen-month-old baby girl. When Holly breaks in, Maggie was asleep but as soon as she saw Holly’s blue surgical gloves she knew who is the intruder and what she wants, she wants Maggie dead so she can save her own baby and they only have time till sunrise. Maggie knows this cycle because she was in Holly’s shoes that week.

Do Holly and Maggie have any choice? Who would win this sick game? But more importantly, who does want these mothers dead and why?

Well, this story got me bored even though it was a thriller. The action scenes were too much for my taste and it was poor on mystery side. After reading 67% I started skipping and skimming, at some point the end wasn’t important to me anymore but I succeeded to finish it. Its idea was good but the story, itself, didn’t really do it for me! Told in dual POV, 3rd person. It’s a standalone novel. Overall, I think it was just me and I hope you enjoy it more than me!

Thanks to Richard Jay Parker, Netgalley and Bookouture for the advanced digital copy in exchange an honest review.

There’s nothing really more compelling than a child in danger and from the opening pages Keep Her Safe by Richard Parker set that stage and really piled on the intensity of the situation. Maggie and Holly are meeting in the middle of the night with both ladies being mothers and both would go to the ends of the Earth to protect their child.

Maggie is alone in her home when Holly breaks in but Maggie just can’t call the police because she herself knows why Holly is there. Holly has come to kill Maggie because her daughter is being held by a mystery man that is giving the orders. How does Maggie know this? Because Maggie was his victim too and had her own orders that she had to carry out to get her baby back and isn’t about to let her go now.

The stand off between these two ladies had me on the edge of my seat wondering just how this could all work out in the end. A mother’s love and protectiveness is definitely not something you would want to test so I had no idea just how far the story would go.

However, after the first half of this book the action starts taking the reader on a different journey as the story moves forward and I’m not quite sure I was a fan from that point. The beginning definitely had me from the get go but the second half became where I get to that point I’m thinking to myself just what are you doing?? So I struggled with how to rate this one as it was a bit up and down to me as far as level of enjoyment. I got to the end and questioned some things here and there too so overall I’m going to give this one 3.5 stars. I would definitely read more from this author though as a lot of this was a nail biter for sure.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.