Customer Reviews

The Guest List

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is a story about Abby. Abby was born with a horrible birthmark on the side of her face. Her dead mother couldn't stand the sight of her and turned her only sister against her. As Abby grows up she is able to overcome her deformity and begins a wonderful career as a writer. Reunited with her sister after many years and developing a romantic relationship after her previous finance dies her life is looking good. But....there's someone out there that doesn't want Abby to be happy.. That person will stop at nothing to get their way. This story has the right amount of suspense to keep you reading. Even though it becomes plainly obvious who the bad person is you want to read how the person is put down...

When Abby Evans Mitchell and Mallory Evans were little children, her father informed their mother that he was leaving her. Before he could leave, his wife apparently died from a heart attack. Feeling distraught, he killed himself from the guilt of "killing" his wife. His best friend "Uncle" Donovan marries his girl friend Carol and they adopt the two-orphaned stepsisters. They move from New Jersey to Charleston. However, Mallory fails to adapt, behaving very poorly. Based on Carol's insistence, Donovan exiles Mallory to a cold institution.

Years later Abby falls in love in college to a young man who ignores the port wine colored facial birthmark that mars her visage and returns her feelings. Carol rejects Abby's boy friend, who suddenly dies from a heart attack. Abby graduates and begins a career as a mystery writer. She and Mallory reconcile and share her home. However, other people die and Mallory tells Abby that she thinks Donovan killed their parents. As they work together on Abby's new book based on their parents' deaths, someone tries to kill both of them.

THE GUEST LIST is an exciting relationship drama with a deadly mystery at its core. The story line is fast-paced and the characters are fully developed so that the identity of the killer remains in plain sight yet difficult to see past the mask that hides the psychopathic behavior. Fern Michaels, author of bestsellers such as FINDERS KEEPERS and YESTERDAY, has written another triumphant tale that will exhilarate fans of romantic suspense.

Harriet Klausner

I can only think that this was a book that Fern Michaels wrote but couldn't get published and now that she's successful they decided to release it in paperback. The story on the book jacket sounds better than the actual story. In fact, the book jacket description isn't even accurate. The main character is appealing and sympathetic which kept me reading. It was a nice easy read, something of a page turner--great for waiting in line or for soccer practice to be over.

However, if you are looking for a mystery that is going to keep you in suspense--forget about it!! I had the ending pegged a third of the way through. You're only reading to confirm what you already know. Fern Michaels can do much better.

I was extremely pleased to learn that Fern Michaels' latest novel, Guest List, appeared on the New York Times best seller list. Congratuations to Ms. Michaels. Guest list is a great story about two sisters separated as youngsters and reunited as adults, along with some mystery and intrigue. It's guaranteed to hold your interest and keep you guessing.

I guess to each his (or her) own, but I can't understand how anyone could think this is a well-written or entertaining novel. I would have given it 0 stars if that was an option. I am shocked that this book was even published. The characters were almost caricatures, the dialogue was pathetic, and the plot was predictable and filled with implausible events. I mean, if I had that many people I know drop dead of heart attacks, I would think the coincidence would have struck me as near impossible. The only reason I continued to read this drivel is to learn from it - as in, how to not write a book. I dabble with writing as a hobby and this was interesting to me purely from a technique standpoint.

At lot of romance writers have tried their hand in the suspense/mystery genre. Some have done it very well and others have failed miserably. Put this book squarely in the miserable failure category as there was no suspense, no mystery and not even any real romance to bail it out.

I liked the element of suspense which is something new for Fern Michaels books. The characters were real, the situation realistic and the animals wonderful. I know this is going to be a best seller. All my friends are reading it and like it as much as I did. Thanks for a great summer time read.

Very good book by Fern Michaels. The story of two sisters - one of which has a port wine-stain birthmark (Abby). The other sister Mallory has been taught to be nasty and hurtful. The parents die (mysteriously) and the sisters are adopted by their father's best friend (Donovan). This has a lot of mystery running through it and alot of character studies. Very enjoyable.

Fern Michaels is an excellent writer, reading her books, brings you right into the book.

If you are looking for a good book to read at the beach, this is it.

I would have loved this book if not for one problem. It doesnt ring true that it takes so long for the characters to figure this mystery out, unless they're idiots. Other than that I really enjoyed the book.

Her book titles have nothing to do with what the book is about. There was no jury in "The Jury" and the guest list was such a minimal thing in "The Guest List." I am listening to "About Face" now, and that would have made way more sense as a title for The Guest List. I suspect that Michaels, in her flurry of cranking out novel after novel after novel got some titles and books mixed up. LOL.

At any rate, Guest List, despite absence of any guest lists, was fun. It's no literary masterpiece. It's fluff. It's predictable, but it still draws you in.