With My Little Eye

Meribel Mills, the winning narrator of this solid suspense novel from bestseller Jackson (Mother May I), says she’s 37 “according to IMDb,” but admits she’s 42 “if I went strictly by things like my birth certificate and facts.” Meribel’s major claim to fame is the sitcom Belinda’s World, in which she performed while in her 20s. Still active fan sites and message boards help get her job offers, but they have also attracted a deranged fan. When she realizes that someone has broken into the Los Angeles home she shares with her 12-year-old daughter, she accepts a role in a TV series to be filmed on location in her former hometown of Atlanta. As she says, “I... traded perfect year-round weather for the sticky-hot swamp air of a state I hated, all to make us safe.” But nowhere is safe in the age of the internet, and the stalker’s sinister messages start arriving at her new doorstep. Whom can she trust? Her ex-husband, her new boyfriend, the helpful new neighbor? Jackson, a former actor herself, wryly describes the actor’s life while providing just enough twists and an event-filled if somewhat hasty finale. Those looking for escapist fun will be rewarded. Agent: Caryn Karmatz Rudy, DeFiore & Co. (Apr.)