Review: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown

  Title: Lies Beneath
  Author: Anne Greenwood Brown
  Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
  Publication Date: June 12th 2012
  Source: NetGalley
  My rating: 3.5 stars
  
  Reviewed by: Rachel

I was pleasantly surprised by this story because I'm not usually attracted to tales involving mermaids. Yet, I was drawn in and mesmerized by this dark and sinister world.  

Calder White and his sisters are merpeople, creatures of the sea. These are not the harmless fantastical creatures we see in a Disney cartoon, and they are far from reproach.  You begin this story knowing that they are all killers. They pull unsuspecting humans down to the bottom of the ocean while they feed off their emotions. Calder has been trying to practice self-control by staying away from his sisters and not taking any lives.  He's been told that eventually he'll go crazy being starved emotionally. Yet, Calder still refrains.  However, the winter has ended and the call to return is not something he can resist. He must migrate back to his sisters. There is a new reason to return though, revenge for his mother's death. They've found Jason Hancock, the man who needs to pay for their mother's death. 

Little do the Hancock's know, by moving back to the old family home they've put themselves in great danger. Long ago, Calder's mother spared the life of Tom Hancock because he promised to give her his infant son's life instead. Instead of fulfilling that promise, he packed his family up and left the area. Now that Jason, Tom's son, has returned, the Whites are fully prepared to collect the debt and have no qualms using his family to get to him.  This is where Tom's daughters, Lily and Sophie come in. They plan on using them to lure Jason so they can kill him. They want to take their time and make him suffer, just as they've had to suffer from their mother's absence all these years. Just one problem though, Calder ends up growing a conscience and developing feelings for Lily. When he can't immediately win Lily over with his supernatural charms, he's forced to get to know her, and then can't help his growing attraction. In addition, seeing the Hancock family happy and very dependent on each other, makes Calder re-think their plans.

Like I said in the outset, we are told straight from the beginning that Calder and his sisters are murderers. I was, to say the least, a little apprehensive about this story knowing that the main character was a murderer. I didn't know how I would end up liking him, much less rooting for him. I was very surprised that I did, even though I fought it all the way. I think this is because Calder tries to fight his cravings, even though he was raised thinking this was just how it had to be. He never thought it was possible to survive without killing. This story was told from Calder's POV which was a treat because I love it when we get a male POV. However, I felt a little distant from Lily because we don't know what's going on in her head. Her character did grow on me though. I liked that she didn't immediately fall at Calder's feet. You can tell something makes Lily very cautious of Calder but he starts to wear her down.  It's a slow and believable build in attraction. I can't talk about this story without mentioning how creepy the sisters were, although Maris was by far the worst. They have no conscience and are as evil as they come. Their relationship with Calder is disturbing but I won't elaborate on that. 

This story wraps up nicely but leaves room for the sequel coming next year. I definitely will be picking it up. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read this.