Review: Deep Betrayal by Anne Greenwood Brown

May Contain Spoilers

Review:

I had to wait a long time for the library to get a copy of Deep Betrayal, so there has been a huge time gap since I read Lies Beneath. When I first started reading this, the plot details were a little fuzzy, but things cleared up relatively quickly. I really enjoy this series, and I was delighted when Deep Betrayal did NOT end on a cliffhanger! Win for the reader! I hate cliffhangers, with only love triangles scoring higher on my list of pet peeves. There’s no hint of that here, either, with Lily and Calder deeply involved with each other for the entire book. That’s not to say they didn’t have their disagreements, but another guy was never dangled into the reader’s face in an effort to force some tension into the plot. Double yay!

Deep Betrayal picks up thirty days after the events in Lies Beneath. Lily has been exiled to live with Jules’ family, and she’s seething because she hasn’t heard from Calder. She alternately worries about him, then rages about him. When he finally turns up, he’s vague about where he’d been, but Lily forgives him. I wouldn’t have let him off so easily, but since Lily forces him to go back to the lake house, I guess he got what he deserved. He’s worried that Maris and Pavati will flip out if they discover that she’s still alive. He also objects when Lily insists that they tell her father the truth about his heritage. That probably wasn’t the smartest decision, but I think that even Lily could not have expected the revelation to cost her family so much grief.

In addition to her family crumbling in on itself, someone, or something, is attacking people on the water. When bodies start turning up, Lily is convinced it’s Calder’s sisters feeding. Calder protests; he knows they would never be so careless with their prey. Then Lily has the horrible suspicion that her father is causing all of mayhem in the lake, and she’s determined to put a stop to it.

Lily and Calder follow many false leads before unmasking the killer, and even though the mystery isn’t all that difficult to figure out, I loved this book. I enjoyed Lily’s narrative, and her courage. She’s not the kind of girl to stand back and let her man take all the risks – oh no! Lily wanted to save her family and friends, so she was willing to put herself at risk to stop the killer. In the process, she discovers more about who she is, and what she is. She even forges an uneasy alliance with Calder’s sisters. I really like them; they are treacherous and can’t be trusted. They are also incredibly dangerous, so Lily has to stay on her toes to avoid their wrath.

When I stop and think about Lily’s relationship with Calder, I cringe. He’s, what, 40? She’s 17? That’s creepy. I kept telling myself, “He’s not human. He’s not human. He’s not human,” but it’s still kind of creepy. Stop thinking about it!

Overall, this is an exciting book, with plenty of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages. Great characters, great ending – I can’t wait to read the final book in the series. Hope the library has it!

Grade: B

Review copy provided by publisher

From Amazon:

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!

It’s been thirty days, two hours, and seventeen minutes since Calder left Lily standing on the shores of Lake Superior. Not that she’s counting. And when Calder does return, it’s not quite the reunion Lily hoped for. Especially after she lets her father in on a huge secret: he, like Calder, is a merman. Obsessed with his new identity, Lily’s dad monopolizes Calder’s time as the two of them spend every day in the water, leaving Lily behind.

Then dead bodies start washing ashore. Calder blames his mermaid sisters, but Lily fears her father has embraced the merman’s natural need to kill. As the body count grows, everyone is pointing fingers. Lily doesn’t know what to believe—only that whoever’s responsible is sure to strike again. . . .

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