Nanny dearest

At the start of Collins's well-crafted debut, 25-year-old Sue Keller, who's been struggling with depression since her father's death in a car accident the year before, doesn't recognize Anneliese Whittaker, her childhood nanny, when the two bump into each other on Manhattan's Lower East Side. At parting, Anneliese says she'd love to see more of Sue. Sue takes comfort in reconnecting with Anneliese, with whom she bonded after her mother died of cancer when she was three. However, as Sue comes to rely on Anneliese, who has two current charges, to pull her out of her depression, she can't ignore her increasing suspicion about how Anneliese is treating the two children. When Sue at last uncovers genuinely criminal behavior, she returns to her childhood home to discover the truth about Anneliese's relationship with the Keller family and the circumstances of Anneliese's abrupt termination. Anneliese follows, and a horrifying confrontation predictably ensues. Much of this is familiar, but Collins does a good job building suspense by shifting between Sue's present-day narration and Anneliese's experiences back in 1996. Psychological thrillers fans won't be disappointed. Agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (Nov.)

DEBUT Sue Keller is a twentysomething New Yorker, adrift and increasingly asocial after the recent death of her widower father. Sue lost her mother to cancer as a toddler, and now her fragile sense of safety is shaken by this final blow, which draws her into a semi-agoraphobic state of anxiety. Then a person from Sue's barely recalled past calls out her name on the street one day and asks, "You don't remember me, do you?" Enter Annie, Sue's childhood nanny, who has never forgotten "her favorite" charge and seeks to befriend her again. So begins an intense year of friendship, memory, and obsession between the two women, eventually leading to shocking revelations that threaten to dismantle Sue's carefully constructed world. Collins skillfully pivots between two timelines and perspectives (Annie in the 1990s and Sue in the present). It's a seesaw of rising tension that ultimately delivers a raw, crashing conclusion. VERDICT Mercifully avoiding the sexual clichés of many other domestic thrillers, Collins's debut illustrates the sometimes obsessive and terrifying nature of love and the shattering consequences of its betrayal. Nanny services across the country may see a dip in demand when this intensely emotional psychological roller coaster is released.--Peggy Kurkowski, Westminster, CO