The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer by Liza Rodman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer is part-Memoir, part-True Crime novel, told by Liza Rodman.
Alternating between Liza-chapters and Tony-chapters, this book tells of Liza’s early life and her interactions with the serial killer, Tony Costa.
It also delves into details of Tony’s life and crimes.
Liza was just a girl when her summers in Provincetown, Massachusetts, brought her into contact with Tony; a young man she greatly admired.
Liza’s mother frequently let her two daughters go off with Tony, a coworker of hers at a local motel, to run errands. He would often buy the girls popsicles and take them on rides in his truck to the Truro Woods.
The two portions of the book were quite distinct. Liza’s early life was troubled. She never felt wanted or loved and it felt like the sections detailing her life were somewhat of a therapeutic exercise for her.
Tony’s sections follow his life from a fairly early age, up through his imprisonment and death.
This is definitely an interesting book. I live on Nantucket, off the Cape, so am quite familiar with the areas detailed here. It sounds like the Cape of 1960s was a wild place to be.
It took me a while to get used to the alternating perspectives, the flow felt a little off, but overall, I am happy with it. I think if you like both Memoirs and True Crime, the melding of the two genres is actually quite pleasing.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I appreciate it very much!
