OH. MY. WORD!! Ms. Michaels has done it again, and I rapidly read this book as I held my breath! I felt sorry for Alison who had no family left and she drifted from one small town in Florida after next until she finally settled on a small island and saw a cozy cottage that was for sale and the price was right. She took that as a good sign to settle down, but she didn't know about the dark past...... ( )

Fear Thy Neighbor by Fern Michaels sure was a riveting novel of suspense from the first page to the very last! What a young girl had to endure all her life kept me engrossed throughout the book. How she overcame all the pitfalls of her life and the friends who helped her along the way sure kept me entertained to the last page! Fern Michaels is an amazing, suspenseful author, well worth reading! ( )

While I liked some parts of this book - it just didn’t do it for me. I skimmed a lot but didn’t miss anything. ( )

Review of Fear thy Neighbor by Fern Michaels. This story holds your attention from beginning to end. Allison is raised in one Foster Care home after another. Those caring for her only care about the money. At the last one the sin attempts to rape her so she flees. She thought she killed the son but he shows up searching bus she is leaving on. A lady watches out for her. At one stop the lady gets her to hospital to get her broken arm fixed. The son shows up and attempts again. He didn't die. Allison could not believe there were kind people in the world. She keeps moving until she finds a nice quiet place on beach. She stays in a hotel and becomes very sick. Strange things happen. She makes friends. She buys a yellow cottage on beach. When she starts to clean yard strange event happens. Fish guts found put in her refrigerator when she is gone. An investigative reporter shows up. She begins to trust him. A cult, FBI, reporter, daughter of friend goes missing, danger, romance, secrets come out and more. Highly recommend. ( )

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. ( )