Bye, Baby, by Carola Lovering, begins in a frenzied, panicked burst. Billie West stands in a New York apartment that is not her own, hearing her best friend Cassie’s screams coming from the apartment above. Cassie’s baby daughter is missing and understandably, she’s freaking out. For a moment, however, Billie is gratified when Cassie insists on calling Billie. Because she needs her in a time of crisis, and Cassie hasn’t needed Billie in so long. The moment is short-lived, however, when Billie remembers the truth: she’s the one who just kidnapped Cassie’s daughter.
After that, the story flashes back to before the kidnapping and we learn how Cassie and Billie’s friendship began, spanning from their small hometown to present day. Billie is single and childless, but with a cool job in the travel industry, where she gets to work with her good friend Jane and visit exotic locations. Cassie is a new mom, married to a wealthy man, and has her own boutique plus a significant following as an influencer. They’re two very different women, but the reader learns about how at one time, they were inseparable, and how they grew apart.
In Lovering’s trademark suspenseful fashion, Bye Baby is told from alternating perspectives, delving into the complexities of shifting friendships and the lasting effects of childhood trauma. It also explores the powerful influence of women’s decisions on their lifelong relationships.
From the beginning, I was surprised by both characters. At first, I thought Billie would be drawn as unstable and an unwitting villain. In an early chapter, she’s on a date with Alex, an attractive policeman and super nice guy. But Billie sabotages it, because she believes she isn’t worthy of someone decent and stable. So, I figured she had all these dark secrets and messed-up tendencies. Turns out, other than a lot of childhood trauma and unimaginable loss, the only thing that’s messed up about Billie is her desperate desire to please Cassie.
On the other hand, Cassie presents herself to her friends and to her Instagram followers as having it all. But while she’s had her moments of being a good, supportive friend to Billie, it’s Cassie who’s hiding something. She pushes away her family and cuts ties to anyone who knew her before she was wealthy and refined, always choosing shine over substance. Billie is the last person in her life who she hasn’t abandoned for superficial reasons, but that soon changes. In fact, there’s a scene at Cassie’s birthday party, shortly before the kidnapping takes place, when she spreads her arms wide and shouts, “I don’t care!” when asked about what will happen when Billie finds out Cassie had a birthday party and didn’t invite her.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel where one protagonist is so clearly a bad person. And yet, she sees herself as good and justified in her actions. Billie and Cassie’s friendship is clearly one-sided, with Cassie manipulating and taking advantage of Cassie time and again. Thus, the true question of this story is, will Billie ever break free from her emotional ties to Cassie?
Some readers complain this novel isn’t a psychological thriller, and in the traditional sense, it isn’t. But I say that Lovering has created her own genre of the emotional thriller. Because Bye, Baby isn’t just a drama. It’s pure suspense, and the stakes are high. Can a woman who’s already had to endure way too much, survive her best friend?
Bye, Baby on Amazon
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