Watch Out for Her

A Novel

By: Samantha M. Bailey

Narrated by: Hillary Huber, Joy Osmanski

Shortlisted for CANADA READS · Instant #1 National Bestseller · A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year

A tense psychological thriller about a mother who must keep watch at all times if she wants to keep her family safe—from USA TODAY and #1 national bestselling author Samantha M. Bailey.

Wherever you go…
she’ll be watching.

Sarah Goldman, mother to six-year-old Jacob, is relieved to move across the country. She has a lot she wants to leave behind, especially Holly Monroe, the pretty twenty-two-year-old babysitter she and her husband, Daniel, hired to take care of their young son last summer. It started out as a perfect arrangement—Sarah had a childminder her son adored, and Holly found the mother figure she’d always wanted. But Sarah’s never been one to trust very easily, so she kept a close eye on Holly, maybe too close at times. What she saw raised some questions, not only about who Holly really was but what she was hiding. The more Sarah watched, the more she learned—until one day, she saw something she couldn’t unsee, something so shocking that all she could do was flee.

Sarah has put it all behind her and is starting over in a different city with her husband and son. They’ve settled into a friendly suburb where the neighbors, a tight clique of good citizens, are always on the lookout for danger. But when Sarah finds hidden cameras in her new home, she has to wonder: Has her past caught up to her, and worse yet, who’s watching her now?

A spine-tingling, page-turning novel from USA TODAY and #1 national bestselling author Samantha M. Bailey, Watch Out for Her is psychological suspense at its very best—a chilling look at trust, voyeurism, and obsession in the modern age, and how far we will go to watch out for those we love.

Critic reviews

“Yet again, one of our most beloved thriller writers brings us a story with the heart of a family drama and the pulse of an edge-of-your-seat spine-chiller. Filled with foreboding from the very first page, this one will keep you up all night—and have you checking the locks!”
— MARISSA STAPLEY, New York Times bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club Pick Lucky

“Shows that Bailey is no one-book-wonder. It’s as tightly plotted and skillfully written as her first, with a great backstory to carry it off. . . . Bailey builds the suspense here with excellent pacing and clues that drop at exactly the right time. This is a great book to take on that summer holiday or the cottage weekend when all you have to do is chill, eat, and read.”
— The Globe and Mail

“Bailey is a strong writer who keeps the reader turning pages . . . A cautionary tale about the fine line between diligence and obsession and the dangers of doing the wrong things for what we believe are the right reasons.”
— Toronto Star

“A cleverly written, twisty, and brilliantly creepy thriller. With compelling characters intertwined with obsession, lies, simmering menace, and secrets at its heart, this is a page-turner which drew me in and kept me hooked. A real must-read!”
— KAREN HAMILTON, internationally bestselling author of The Perfect Girlfriend

“A tense and claustrophobic thriller in which Bailey makes you question whether the heart of a family is a place of safety or danger. Paranoia, obsession, and secrets ensure a twisty read.”
— GILLY MACMILLAN, New York Times bestselling author of What She Knew

“Creepy, surprising, and relentlessly tense, Watch Out for Her is so much more than a thriller; it’s an unflinching exploration of the roles we allow women to fill. With dark secrets and cliffhangers galore, this thrill ride will keep you up long past your bedtime. I couldn’t put it down.”
— ANDREA BARTZ, New York Times bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club Pick We Were Never Here

“The ragged psychological tension in Watch Out for Her echoes the tone of Bailey’s earlier bestselling novel, Woman on the Edge. . . . Despite touching on heavy, complex problems such as maternal anxiety, marital secrets, addiction, and searing family rifts, Bailey weaves her story smoothly between Sarah’s past in Vancouver and her new life in the suburbs of Toronto, where she and her family have moved for a new start. . . . Bailey writes with a light touch of Alfred Hitchcock.”
— Winnipeg Free Press

Intriguing

Sarah, her husband and son now live across the country, away from their bad memories of what happened with their former nanny Holly. Soon Sarah finds hidden cameras. Is the past catching up with her?

Told from Sarah’s first person Now and Holly’s third person Then points of view WATCH OUT FOR HER is a twisty tale with surprises I didn’t see coming. I liked Samantha M Bailey’s compulsively readable style of writing. The multidimensional characters she created weren’t too perfect or too flawed to be irritating or unsympathetic.

I liked that I could figure out some things and not others, and that the resolution made sense. WATCH OUT FOR HER is a very good book, however I’m not sure it’s a story I’d want to revisit or listen to on Audible, the sign of a story I NEED to devour again so for that reason I rated four stars.

Engaging from the very first sentence

I absolutely devoured this book after seeing it recommended by a literary agent. Great use of structure also.

Suspenseful

Great read very suspenseful with twists and turns around each corner - left me wanting more -

Solid suspense

Kept my attention the entire time. Very suspenseful. Although, my guess was correct. I still enjoyed the story and the afterward.

Right Amount of Wrong

**SPOILERS** First, it held my attention, which is tough... especially with something I can't see. The construct was great which were the 2 things that made me give 3 stars; however, it was almost demeaning to women to listen to how stupid one of the lead characters was. She constantly second guessed herself, let her husband get away with HORRIBLE things and gaslight her including condemning her for acts he was was so beyond surpassing his wife in. It just made me sad to go through a book where the woman NEVER stood up for herself in any significant way really and even in the end gave the villain the benefit of the doubt because she made a few HUMAN mistakes, none of which were murder. Also, I hated the little boy, Jacob's voice. It was trying too hard, hence the 2 stars. I did genuinely enjoy the suspense though. Sorry was well constructed in general.