Book Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers (12 Jun 2012)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0385742010
• ISBN-13: 978-0385742016

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.

Every spring, Calder White feels the call – the urge to return to Lake Superior and his sisters. Calder is the only boy in a family of murderous merfolk. They prey on unsuspecting humans, dragging them to the lake’s bed and drowning them to absorb their energy. Calder’s sisters don’t understand him – don’t understand why he waits as long as he does before feeding. Where they live for the cold and murky depths of the lake, Calder has fantasised about warmer waters…and his freedom. At last, his sisters have promised him his freedom. All he has to do is help them exact revenge on the man they blame for their mother’s death.

Calder’s job is to seduce Lily, daughter of the man in their sights. But when Calder starts to fall for Lily, and Lily knows there is more to Calder than meets the eye, the pair attract the attention of his sisters.

Lies Beneath was as eerie and ominous as Lake Superior itself, with Calder, the unlikely hero at its centre.

Calder was a complex and entertaining character. He longs to be something better, something other than the merman he is. In Lily he finds peace and serenity and above all, acceptance. In the middle of his tumultuous world is a place filled with poetry and soft caresses.

Lies Beneath is as much a horror story to be read with the lights on as it is a bittersweet romance with doomed characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the review copy.