Reviewed by Kristin
How far would you go to escape a threat to your family? If a
nefarious someone knew where you lived, where you went to the gym, even what
you wore to a casual lunch with friends? If that same person—who might be called
a stalker at this point—began sending you letters drawn with sickly sweet fruit
scented markers? If things were oh-so-slightly rearranged in your house and
your sheets suddenly smelled like unfamiliar cologne?
Actor Meribel Mills uprooted herself and her twelve-year-old
daughter Honor from Los Angeles to move to Atlanta. She accepted a role filming
in Georgia and left a budding romance and all her friends behind. Long gone are
her younger years when she convincingly played 16-year-old Didi, a smaller
breakout role on one of those iconic teenage shows. Now Meribel is pushing
forty, or at least that is what IMDB and her fans believe.
Honor does not do well with surprises or change, but she is
adapting to Atlanta. She might even be making a friend or two in their Midtown
condo building. Honor is autistic, but usually well enough regulated due to
Meribel’s strict enforcement of diet, exercise, and routines. Making new
friends in a new place is hard enough for anyone on the cusp of adolescence,
and sometimes harder for someone on the spectrum.
Even though Meribel and Honor have moved across the country to
escape the stalker they call Marker Man, the letters and packages keep coming.
Most significantly, not all of them are postmarked L.A. anymore. Marker Man is
traveling eastward. Closer and closer to Atlanta and their newfound pocket of
safety.
The story is told from several points of view—Meribel’s is
primary, but other characters also have voices which reveal facts still unknown
to Meribel. Honor’s voice is very important, so earnest and truthful, even as
she conceals things from her mother since she is almost a teenager. New
neighbor Cooper plays a part, as does Cam, Meribel’s recent romantic interest
who she left behind in L.A. Even Marker Man tells the story from his point of
view, and you can imagine how warped and obsessed it is.
As with every Joshilyn Jackson novel, not everything is as it
first appears, and she does a lovely job of peeling back layers and revealing
things in a way that builds tension as danger ensues. Jackson’s characters are
well developed and usually give me strong feelings, whether that makes me
identify with them or makes me want to shout “Bad person alert!” and protect
the good people in the story.
Jackson has written several other books and I have loved (and
probably reviewed) them all. Can I wait another year for her next one? I
recommend books all day. Who else do you think I should be reading?
