Lies Beneath

Anne Greenwood Brown

Jun 2012 · Delacorte Press

About this ebook

Fans of Amanda Hocking's novel, Wake, will dive into this paranormal romance featuring mermaids--the killer kind--and won't come up for air!

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.

"Riveting! A cold-blooded tale of secrets, revenge, and forbidden love that will leave you terrified to go in the water."--Gretchen McNeil, author of Possess

"Scary and spooky . . . I really enjoyed reading this."--USA Today

“A haunting tale of revenge and romance.”--Justine Magazine

Ratings and reviews

Readers will be thrilled with this new YA because the experience they ‘think’ they’ll receive is completely wrong. Most people think of mermaids as Disney animated characters that became popular ‘under the sea.’ But from the opening quote of this very cool novel, readers will be hooked and creeped out all at the same time. This is the story of Calder White, a boy who can change into a merman when he enters the water. Calder didn’t start out life as a merman; he was changed when he was a baby and fell out of a boat on Lake Superior. Having three sisters who actually began their lives as mermaids is a little difficult for Calder who still has some of his morality intact, whereas his siblings are stone cold killers. Luring people to them with their looks and charm, they take their prey into the depths of the lake and ‘drain’ them of their emotions (i.e.: excitement, happiness, joy, etc.) Any positive emotion is absorbed into these creatures which gives them a brief moment of happiness that cancels out the painful emptiness in their minds. Calder, who is spending time in the Caribbean, is called back home by his sisters. They believe that they’ve found the son of Jason Hancock, a man who they think killed their mother. The sisters make a diabolical plan; they want Calder to lure Hancock’s daughter, Lily, into their clutches so they can get to her father and extract their revenge. Calder has never met a woman he couldn’t make fall in love with him at first sight, but he soon realizes that he’s met his match in Lily. She’s not a pushover and does not fall for his fatal charms, but she does notice that he and his family are more than a little strange. Lily begins to suspect that that there’s something dark going on in the neighborhood and begins an investigation that brings fear very, very close to home. So well-written, the characters are beyond surprising and the author has a true gift of being able to lure readers in with her haunting scenes. Quill Says: Chock full of subtle surprises, readers who live near large lakes may just move to the desert after they’ve devoured this one! (Reviewed by Amy Lignor for Feathered Quill Book Reviews)

Started reading and thought ugh a mermaid tale but as i got into the story i couldn't put it down after i finished it i found out there were two more books now i need more lol

Love the twists of this book n glad it's not those fairy tales book bout mermaid and also love how when u read u can really picture it like you was really there

About the author

ANNE GREENWOOD BROWN grew up sailing the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior, leaning over the rail and wondering, with a lake that big, that ancient, what amazing thing might flash by. Now she knows. Lies Beneath is her first novel.