With My Little Eye

I do not have strong opinions about this one. Ehhhh...I was intrigued because she was an actress who moved from LA to Georgia. I don't love stalker storylines. They always seem like a one trick pony-nowhere new to go once you're on a stalker storyline. There was a subplot that was kind of interesting- not sure she fully pulled it off. Three stars, good, not great.

With My Little Eye starts out as a “woman in peril” thriller but strong characterization elevates the book above its genre. “I never thought I was famous enough to get murdered.” B-level actress Meribel Mills has a stalker whose letters have become violent, with depictions of dismembered body parts to demonstrate his intentions. When she has a chance to move from LA to her home town of Atlanta to film a new TV series, she hopes she has escaped “Marker Man.” Meribel has enough on her plate without that threat. Her daughter Honor requires special care to manage her autism, and Meribel is uncomfortably aware that she is living in the same city as her ex-husband, with whom she has a complicated history. She is also dealing with hostility from her neighbor who thinks Meribel has designs on her ex-boyfriend, and Meribel's own ex back in LA is urging her to give him another shot. But when she gets a letter from Marker Man at her new apartment, she realizes she is still very much in danger. I am not a fan of the “crazed lunatic stalker” plot, but Jackson keeps you guessing about the identity of the bad dude, serving up several red herrings. Meribel realizes the irony of working in a profession that requires her to use whatever means necessary to keep looking youthful, so she can play a woman who is “sex murdered,” even as she is doing everything she can to avoid that fate in real life. When she is finally face to face with Marker Man, she realizes that, although real life is not like television, she might have learned a few tips of the trade that could save her life. Meribel's 12 year old daughter Honor, who is on the Spectrum, has her own character arc. Her unlikely friendships with a homeless girl and a rebellious teen lead her on an unexpected journey that requires her to be as heroic as the paladins in her online Dungeons and Dragons games. My favorite chapters are the ones told from Honor's point of view. Her description of the way she perceives the world and how it feels physically to be overstimulated to the point of meltdown are very evocative. I don't know if Jackson knows people with autism or if she did a lot of research, but Honor feels very authentic even if she's not an “own voices” character. I've already devoted too much time in previous reviews to my disappointment about Joshilyn Jackson's transformation from southern women's fiction to suspense thrillers, so I'll shut up and accept what I cannot change. FWIW, I think this is stronger than the other two Jackson books I have read since she switched genres ([b:Never Have I Ever 36679186 Never Have I Ever Joshilyn Jackson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546016946l/36679186.SY75.jpg 58469223] and [b:Mother May I 55004063 Mother May I Joshilyn Jackson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610434653l/55004063.SY75.jpg 84787011]). ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.