The Caretaker by Gabriel Bergmoser

Publisher's Synopsis

An isolated, empty ski resort in the off-season. A woman who doesn't want to be found. A man who may not be who he appears to be. A game of cat and mouse - with deadly consequences.

On the run from a controlling husband and his underworld associates in Melbourne, Charlotte has adopted a new identity and found a job as an off-season caretaker in a tiny, deserted alpine resort. Some dangerous people are looking for Charlotte and so she's lying low, tending to the lodges, happy to be alone, but jumping every time a floor creaks or the wind whistles through the empty buildings. She's trying to convince herself she's okay, that she got away. But then strange things start happening around the resort. And Charlotte starts to realise that every escape route is being sealed off, one by one.

My Review of The Caretaker by Gabriel Bergmoser

Gabriel Bergmoser is adept at placing his lead characters into seemingly hopeless situations, stacks the odds against them in further and then allows us to watch them attempt to get out of it. He does it again in no less dramatic fashion in The Caretaker and it had me hooked in deep fascination.

The Caretaker is a psychological thriller that slowly and carefully builds up the tension with a growing great weight of expectation and dread pervading every page. The lead character is Charlotte Laurent and from the moment we meet her we get the sense that she’s on the run, in fear for her life.

“Charlotte Laurent stepped out of the car, quickly and carefully scanning her surrounds. She didn’t expect to see anything out of place. But then, expectations and reality did not always align…This was the second supply run she’d made since taking on the job. On the first she clearly hadn’t bought enough; that had only been three weeks ago. She could allow herself one mistake. She couldn’t afford a second.”

Charlotte has gone into hiding. She has taken on the job as the off-season caretaker of a tiny ski resort in Australia’s alps. She’s hoping to go unnoticed while she lies low. But even before she reaches the safety of her ski lodge residence she’s spooked by a stranger in the general goods store as she stocks up on provisions.

Right from the very first page the tension begins to build. Charlotte is skittish, she’s created traps and pitfalls around her hideaway, she has her getaway plans in place. There is no doubt, she believes someone’s coming to kill her. And then John, a pleasant, good-natured man with a love of the Bee Gees shows up and moves into one of the resort’s lodges.

We’re filled in on the backstory by switching between two time periods in alternating chapters: the frantic present day that simply oozes fear and a sense of impending doom and the past where she first meets her future husband, Dominic. We simultaneously grow to understand the type of man he was as we witness the extreme measures she’s now taking to protect herself from the attackers she’s sure are coming for her.

Gabriel Bergmoser has created a compelling story of suspense and intrigue. From a careful beginning we slowly get a picture of the situation Charlotte finds herself in. The location plays a key role in the mood of the story, too. It’s remoteness, the desolate nature of the landscape and the danger that may be hidden in the thick surrounding bushland. It all adds up to a heightened feeling of danger at every turn.

I found this to be an extremely intriguing thriller that offers up some added rewards by revealing a few deeper, unexpected secrets. Call them twists if you like, but there are times when the entire narrative tends to completely change course. It was simply up to me to try to put the pieces together. 

Anyone who enjoys the anticipation of a plot that provides a slow, steady build up of tension before exploding into a fierce flurry of scarcely believable activity is going to really enjoy The Caretaker.