My Five Word TL:DR Review: I mean, what just happened?

Well, The Caretaker was perhaps one of my most anticipated reads for 2026 and I will say upfront that although this didn’t horrify me in quite the same way that We Used to Live Here did (because that book gave me the heebies) it still held me captivated and turning the pages at an almost indecent pace. It’s an insidious read. It creeps up on you and then jumps out from behind a darkened doorway when you least expect and the ending – well, I feel like I need to read it again because I didn’t expect or want that. That is all.

Macy Mullins is in a pretty desperate way. She’s looking after her sister after the death of their father. She’s seen some pretty low times but being on the cusp of losing the (frankly disgusting and barely passing as fit for human habitation) apartment that they live in really serves to highlight the all time low that these two sisters have now reached. In absolute dire straits Macy takes a job interview for a caretaker role. After a long trek out she finds herself in a fairly prestigious neighbourhood where she is supposedly going to be interviewed for the job of looking after an elderly man whilst his wife is away for a couple of nights. Well, it turns out this is a little bit of a con, the elderly man in question has passed away and his wife wants somebody to continue to keep up his strange series of ‘rites’ that she promised would be maintained in the event he should die. It seems that this ladies husband believed he was saving the world every night by completing a strange series of routine tasks and, trust me, by the end of the book you’ll be wishing that Macy had been a little bit more efficient at following the rules. Macy is offered a very reasonable amount of money for what seems to be a two day role. Of course, she accepts. I mean, the whole thing seems like a bunch of craziness but really how difficult can it be. As it turns out, this is a whole new level of batshit crazy that quickly spirals into mayhem.

Seriously, this book will draw you in. At first you’ll find yourself mildly disbelieving. You’ll read on because you’re oddly compelled, because what the heck is really going on. Then you’ll become gripped. Because, realy, what the heck is going on. Then you’ll be mildly horrified before you descend into shouting at Macy for being so god damned stupid. JUST FOLLOW THE RITES. It’s not rocket science is is? Why with the rabbits though? Kliewer, just why?

Anyway, I’m very hard pressed to really tell you too much about this book without giving away I don’t know how many or what kind of spoilers.

What did I love then?

The slowly mounting tension. The sense that something is ‘off’. What are these ‘rites’ all about after all? Surely this is just some sort of out of the ordinary compulsive disorder? And yet, you find you want Macy to just get on with it. Follow the rules, okay. Don’t mess up. Of course, and I don’t really think this is a spoiler because it would be a very short story otherwise, Macy does mess up. Who wouldn’t. She doesn’t really understand what’s going on, who does? Some of these rules are just crazy and no, she isn’t going to do some of the hideous things suggested in order to rectify her mistake. What could possibly go wrong. Apart from everything.

Secondly, well, it’s the curiosity isn’t it. You’re compelled to read on. Small wonder that ‘curiosity killed the cat’, it nearly gave me a conniption and I had to know. I’m not sure that my curiosity is completely satisfied, but yet, at the same time, everything here is so strange that it also is satisfied. Because of course events unfolded in this way.

Macy. Sometimes she seemed like she really had a grip. Right up until the point that she didn’t. I kind of wanted to shake her. She has an internal monologue running that can definitely be frustrating, not to mention a little bit repetitive and really, although, she liked to think of herself as hardened she really isn’t as tough as she likes to think. But, come on woman, think this thing through! But, of course she didn’t think everything through, why would you, it was all so unbelievable after all and she did make an attempt to stick to the rules. Macy has been through a lot and to say she has suffered with mental health problems would be slightly understating the issue. Definitely this book could be triggering for some readers with it’s unsettling themes so that’s definitely something to bear in mind.

I also really liked the way that everything seemed so simple. Just keep the lights switched off. It doesn’t feel like it’s going to be a problem and yet once you’re thrown into the thick of things you start to feel like you’re mildly panicking yourself.

To be honest. I don’t think I can, or actually want to, say too much more about The Caretaker. I feel like I’m verging on the land of spoilers and I don’t want to be that person.

This is unsettling. It’s actually really very creepy in parts. It hooked me a lot more than I expected and a lot quicker than I anticipated and then it left me reeling. Given the author’s previous book I should have realised that he would shock and horrify me all over again. Maybe not quite as goosebumpy as the first but still a very good read.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4.5 of 5 stars.