The Keeper by Rebecca Neely

Libby Klink is a mess. She suffers from severe anxiety, takes too much crap from her boss, doesn’t have a relationship and appears to be losing her mind. Then along comes Nick, a stranger who hops in her car while she’s stuck in a traffic jam and boom(!) her life changes in an instant.

I liked this story. But, I didn’t love it. There were so many unanswered questions and I finished the book feeling…unsatisfied. For example:

Nick Geary is a Keeper—not quite human but… what? What is he? That is never really explained. Is he an alien? A mutant? A superhero who can leap tall buildings in a single bound? I don’t know. The only information I gleaned about the subject was that “keepers” help humans. Help them do (or don’t do) what? I don’t know.

Keepers are employed by WATCHERS… who are they? I don’t know. Again, I’m left with questions. They live in an alternate reality. Does that make them phantoms? Martians? Twilight Zone regulars? I don’t know. They, too, are “helpers” to humans, sending the keepers whenever help is needed.

(I have a sink full of dirty dishes. I need help. Dear watchers, please send keeper.)

The Nemeses of the Watchers and Keepers are Betrayers. These guys are former Keepers who went bad. Kind of like fallen angels. I think. There was a little more information about them…however, because I don’t truly understand their origins (as Keepers) even that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

The whole thing left me confused and a little frustrated. Honestly.

NOW…even as I say all that…I also must say that I liked the story.

My son—an avid video game player, sci-fi fan, cosplay enthusiast and all around proud geek—often says to me: “Mother, you have to suspend disbelief to enjoy all this…”. I really have no idea what that means. But, to enjoy this book, I took his advice (as well as I could) and suspended my confusion. I just “went with it”.  And so, suspending my need to be informed about the players helped. I just read the story as straight-forwardly as I could and it was good. Good versus evil. Love triumphs over hate. The story has got very good bones.

I would recommend it to those who don’t care an awful lot about foundational information.