Author:
Anne Greenwood Brown
Publication Date:
June 12, 2012
Publisher:
RandomHouse Canada
Format:
Hardcover, 320 pages
Price:
CAD $19.99
Source:
A copy was provided by RandomHouse Canada for review! Thanks!
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Description
The lore of mermaids and mermen is real! As Gretchen McNeil, author of Possess, says, “Riveting! A cold-blooded tale of secrets, revenge, and forbidden love that will leave you terrified to go in the water.”
Calder White lives in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior, the only brother in a family of murderous mermaids. To survive, Calder and his sisters prey on humans and absorb their positive energy. Usually, they select their victims at random, but this time around, the underwater clan chooses its target for a reason: revenge. They want to kill Jason Hancock, the man they blame for their mother’s death.
It’s going to take a concerted effort to lure the aquaphobic Hancock onto the water. Calder’s job is to gain Hancock’s trust by getting close to his family. Relying on his irresistible good looks and charm, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock’s daughter Lily. Easy enough, but Calder screws everything up by falling in love–just as Lily starts to suspect there’s more to the monster-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined, and just as the mermaids threaten to take matters into their own hands, forcing Calder to choose between them and the girl he loves.
One thing’s for sure: whatever Calder decides, the outcome won’t be pretty.
Review
I’ve seen this book before it hit shelves and I have to say it caught my eye. Mermaids are this hot new trend now. No more vampires, but mermaids. Killer mermaids to be exact. And no better mermaid who wants to avenge his father’s death than Calder. Yup, it’s a merman to be exact. In this novel, his sisters are the evil conniving ones bringing men into the water and drowning them taking away all their emotions so they can feed themselves. In a way, humans are like food. The plan is to lure their father’s killer’s son into the water and murder him. Only Calder realizes he’s falling in love with his daughter, Lily.
Lily on the other hand, is your average teenage girl. Through Calder’s eyes, you can figure out the moment he falls in love with her. Although in my own opinion, she had no personality, except for her love of Victorian written poems. Anne Greenwood Brown is a master at character development, but with plot she lacked the pacing and tone that kept me wanting to keep reading the book! I had to put it down just so I can read another book because I was so very bored. I don’t think I could have managed to keep reading about how Lily was wonderful and beautiful and all things angelic anymore. I do liked Calder. He seems honorable and straddling the line of good vs evil, he always picked the good side. In the end, I was completely rooting for him and I’m glad I kept reading because the ending made me want to pick up the next book. Maybe this time there will be some action?
Overall Lies Beneath is not your average mermaid story. It’s about revenge, mystery and of course romance. I can’t help but wonder if the next book is in the viewpoint of one of the sisters. They were so much more interesting considering their evil plans. Muahahah!
Your first paragraph led me to believe that the romance was going to be between Calder and John Hancock. *sigh* I guess a girl can dream, right? Nice review
Yay I got this book from the library!!! I liked it for the most part. Most people liked it. And Anne is super nice. I’m not a huge fan of mermaid storyies (The Little Mermaid, ew), but killer mermaids – that’s fine with me. Thanks for the review!!!! Can’t wait for Deep Betrayal
Alyssa Susanna <3
I love darker stories, and I figured that Lies Beneath would be no exception. I was actually quite excited by it (duh, killer mermaids?), but I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the book as much as I thought one would . . .
I’ve always been interested in mermaids, but killer mermaids? I’m not sure I’d go for that! But this book sounds interesting, anyway.
I like your reviews a lot – not too long, very honest, and right to the point.
I thought Lily was a lovely girl
I only wished I got to know her more: she felt so distant. The same with Calder. I always felt like he was holding his thoughts back from me. But overal, I liked the whole killer mermaids.
Thanks for the honest review.
I liked this book. It was the first mermaid book I’ve read and I think it was an ok intro to that genre. I have to agree with you that mermaids seem to be the next big thing! lol Glad you liked it a bit, the ending did make up for the semi boring parts!
I liked this, I didn’t love it. I think I gave it three stars too. I liked Lily though, and I didn’t like the sisters lol. I think the next book is written in Lily’s POV. Great review