Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown Review

Lies Beneath (Lies Beneath #1) by Anne Greenwood Brown
★★★★☆
Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Books
Age: YA
Genre: Supernatural, Romance, Thriller, Suspense, Monsters, Mermaid, Mythology
Format Available: ebook, hardback, audiobook
Format Reviewed: ebook
Source: Publisher via Netgalley
Buy it: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

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, killing them to absorb their energy. But this summer the underwater clan targets Jason Hancock out of pure revenge. They blame Hancock for their mother's death and have been waiting a long time for him to return to his family's homestead on the lake. Hancock has a fear of water, so to lure him in, Calder sets out to seduce Hancock's daughter, Lily. Easy enough—especially as Calder has lots of practice using his irresistable good looks and charm on ususpecting girls. Only this time Calder screws everything up: he falls for Lily—just as Lily starts to suspect that there's more to the monsters-in-the-lake legends than she ever imagined. And just as his sisters are losing patience with him.

When I think mermaids Daryl Hannah invades my mind screen with the image of her in the bathtub in Splash. Don't be fooled though, Lies Beneath is not that kind of mermaid tale. Vicious, dangerous, and murderous merfolk are more like it (and no Tom Hanks, although I could see Tom playing Jason Hancock). This book is a dark and compelling read, that kept me reading on way past my bed time.

The mermaids found in Brown's story are sirens, luring in prey with their beauty and power of persuasion, dragging them underwater and draining their happiness from their bodies. It's all very intense. This is my first mermaid novel, I think if it's not it's the best mermaid novel I've read (and I can't remember the others). Anne Greenwood Brown successfully turned the image I had of sweet redhead Ariel into a ferocious monster.

Calder is a merman, set on avenging his mother's death, and securing a kill that is owed to his family. He has a very negative perception of himself, for good reason as all that he's ever known to be is a ruthless predator. He's pessimistic and rarely smiles; brooding men, I like it. He's dark and secretive and HE'S GOT A TAIL, I mean how flippin awesome is that. Calder is a man after my own heart. He doesn't believe in himself to be a decent being, but he meets one girl who changes his mind.

Lily Hancock, is a truly one of a kind character. From her love of Victorian poetry to her odd sense of style and down to her tell-it-like-it-is spunky personality. She's dazzling and down to earth. I loved her character and her family.

The romance element of Lies Beneath is just enough, it doesn't control the whole story but it's a big part of it. There is so much going on in this book, so many demons to be faced and characters to get to know. Book 2, Deep Betrayal, is due out in March of 2013.

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