Fear Thy Neighbor

Fear Thy Neighbor is Fern Michaels' newest mystery and it is a fantastic read. It's hard to believe that she has written 150 novels to date. She is 89 years old and while I can't do the math, that's alot of books per year to write. She evidently has the it factor.

The story opens with a teenage Alison Marshall fighting off a man from her foster family. The scene quickly moves 11 years into the future with Alison visiting Palmetto Island for a few days while she travels south to Key West. After renting a room in a cheap hotel, the Courtesy Court, she runs across John Wilson, the owner of the local bait shop, who has been following her in her car. Later in the day, their paths cross again at Mel's Diner where John tries to sit at her table. Alison quickly eats and returns to her hotel. The owner, Betty, seems to he a nice but lonely old lady. Betty invites Alison into her unit for tea and Alison happily agrees, believing Betty to be a friendly person. When she wakes up the next day feeling groggy Alison wonders whether she was drugged. Her car keys are gone as is her gun and the kitties she rescued the day before. Planning to quickly leave the island,  Alison decides to have a fast breakfast before leaving. She can't stop thinking, though, about the island's charm and beautiful beach. Seeing an ad in the local paper for a realtor, Alison calls to see what properties are available on the island. She is shown a dilapidated beach house that she cannot resist buying. At 29, she is ready to put down roots.

Alison was a great character. Her paranoia about people, while understandable given her childhood, added to the suspense. She did not trust anyone and she overanalyzed every encounter with the human race. I would too if I came across the secondary characters in the novel. All the men were abusive and tried to get her into bed. Betty was not such a nice old lady as she presented herself to be but rather a wolf in sheep's clothing. Alison eventually met some decent new friends but she had trouble accepting them because her arrival on Palmetto Island was fraught with danger. I though it odd that she wanted to buy a house there given what happened to her when she initially arrived. Her decision to buy the house was overanalyzed as well but since Alison was cautious about everything in life it did not seem realistic. 

All in all, a fun read.  4 out of 5 stars.