DEEP BETRAYAL by Anne Greenwood Brown

Deep Betrayal
Anne Greenwood Brown

Rating: A
Release Date: 03/12/13
Synopsis:
Once you dive into Deep Betrayal, the sequel to Lies Beneath,you 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. . . 

My thoughts on the book:
I enjoyed Lies Beneath, but Deep Betrayal completely blew my mind! This book is a huge improvement over the first book in the series! The awkward dialogue is gone, and Lily makes a fantastic narrator. The plot flows more smoothly, and the character development is impressive. The pacing is also perfect. I'd definitely recommend this novel for anyone who enjoys a good mermaid tale! 

As those of you who read Lies Beneath know, it was told from Calder's perspective. The fact that I liked the book even though it was told from a male perspective is telling of how good a writer Brown is. At the risk of sounding sexist (though I don't mean it that way), I generally can't relate to male narrators. I'm not sure why, but it's just not a pleasing read most of the time. It's probably because they don't have a wide enough range of emotions in most cases... not human males, but male characters... ANYWAY, I digress. Deep Betrayal, is told from Lily's perspective, and in my opinion, she's an even better narrator than Calder. 

Lily has a full range of emotions, and while some of them are a bit immature and angsty, she's a 16 year old girl. Of course she's a little melodramatic from time to time. However, Lily is no Bella Swan. She can take care of herself, and I liked that about her. She's not as strong as some of the female leads, but she's also not as snarky. While I love a good, snarky, bad-ass female lead, sometimes it's refreshing to read from a genuinely nice girl's perspective. 

Never fear, Calder fans, Calder is present throughout 99% of the novel. I really love how he changed throughout the story, too. Lily's dad is also an interesting character. Though he wasn't present much, I still felt like I got to know him better. Also, we get to learn a lot more about Sophie. She's also a strong little girl. 

The plot is a bit intricate, but easy to follow. Brown has the pacing down perfectly, and I wasn't bored once. The mystery lasted until almost the very end for me. I had no idea who the killer really was. Looking back though, I could see it. However, it's rare that a mystery surprise me, so I enjoyed that. The very ending also surprised me, and I'm interested to see where the story goes from here. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book (and series) to anyone who is curious about mermaid books or who loves good mythology/mermaid books. You're sure to enjoy this series!

Pre-order Lies Beneath!