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namitakhanna's review against another edition
4.0
Beneath the Surface by Sibel Hodge is an interesting edge of seat medical thriller.
Holly is a struggling reporter who returns to her hometown after having a disastrous relationship that almost destroyed her career. Back at home she has a tenuous relationship with her mom and brother Miles but her sister offers her love and support. Working at her local office she hears about her best friend Jess and her husband’s murder by their son Dean who later commits suicide. Ridden with guilt about not keeping touch with Jess , Holly promises Jess’s mom Barbara to get to the bottom of why Dean decided to commit murder-suicide. As she investigates she comes across more suspicious teenage suicides but someone is watching her every move and will do anything to stop Holly from investigating.
The book touches some strong topics and is well researched by the author. It makes you wonder how corrupt the corporate world is. The characters in this book are well developed with the protagonist flawed but strong. Sibel Hodge makes you think and I will definitely be looking more by this author.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer & NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
Holly is a struggling reporter who returns to her hometown after having a disastrous relationship that almost destroyed her career. Back at home she has a tenuous relationship with her mom and brother Miles but her sister offers her love and support. Working at her local office she hears about her best friend Jess and her husband’s murder by their son Dean who later commits suicide. Ridden with guilt about not keeping touch with Jess , Holly promises Jess’s mom Barbara to get to the bottom of why Dean decided to commit murder-suicide. As she investigates she comes across more suspicious teenage suicides but someone is watching her every move and will do anything to stop Holly from investigating.
The book touches some strong topics and is well researched by the author. It makes you wonder how corrupt the corporate world is. The characters in this book are well developed with the protagonist flawed but strong. Sibel Hodge makes you think and I will definitely be looking more by this author.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer & NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.
This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/
calturner's review against another edition
4.0
Gripping thriller with twists and turns that keep you guessing throughout. Brilliantly written by the fabulous Sibel Hodge, it had me on the edge of my seat with some genuinely shocking gasp out loud moments that I did not see coming. A thrilling 4 star read. Recommended.
Thank you to NetGalley and TBC for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and TBC for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.
joo13's review
4.0
Another good thriller from Sibel Hodge.
This was a good story, but not as tense as some of her previous works.
This was a good story, but not as tense as some of her previous works.
noveldeelights's review
4.0
Golly, this is quite the disturbing storyline and sometimes made for some incredibly uncomfortable reading.
When the son of Holly’s childhood friend kills his parents and then himself, Holly can’t quite wrap her head around these events. Dean wasn’t an evil child so what would make him do something so ghastly? When Holly realises another young person has taken their own life, she sets out to investigate but she quickly puts herself and her family in danger as someone is desperate to hide the truth and nobody can be trusted.
Sibel Hodge effortlessly guides us through the murky world of the pharmaceutical industry and the lengths they will go to to cover things up. It’s a story of greed and corruption with devastating consequences and I may never take any medication again.
This is the third book I’ve read by this author and while I don’t feel it is her best, she sure knows how to spin a tale and keep a reader hooked. The plot is brilliantly executed, as you would expect from this author. The storyline is incredibly gripping and even though I felt some parts were rather predictable and maybe even if a tad far-fetched, it kept my attention from start to finish. If you like Sibel Hodge’s other books, I have no doubt you will enjoy this one too and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
When the son of Holly’s childhood friend kills his parents and then himself, Holly can’t quite wrap her head around these events. Dean wasn’t an evil child so what would make him do something so ghastly? When Holly realises another young person has taken their own life, she sets out to investigate but she quickly puts herself and her family in danger as someone is desperate to hide the truth and nobody can be trusted.
Sibel Hodge effortlessly guides us through the murky world of the pharmaceutical industry and the lengths they will go to to cover things up. It’s a story of greed and corruption with devastating consequences and I may never take any medication again.
This is the third book I’ve read by this author and while I don’t feel it is her best, she sure knows how to spin a tale and keep a reader hooked. The plot is brilliantly executed, as you would expect from this author. The storyline is incredibly gripping and even though I felt some parts were rather predictable and maybe even if a tad far-fetched, it kept my attention from start to finish. If you like Sibel Hodge’s other books, I have no doubt you will enjoy this one too and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
mandylovestoread's review against another edition
5.0
i have recently discovered the books of Sibel Hodge and I am a big fan. this book was fantastic! thanks to netgalley, the publisher and Sibel for an advance copy of this book. the book deals with mental health and the drugs used to help people..and how the drug companies get rich. so many twists and omg moments. do yourself a favour and read this book!!
hainyh's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately I was left quite disappointed by Sibel Hodge's Beneath The Surface. Excited by the synopsis of a teenager killing his parents and himself, and main character's Holly's insistence that she needs to get to the bottom of exactly what happened to lead Dean the teenager to commit this most heinous of crimes, I started reading this book with fervour. What I was left with however, was a plot line focusing mostly on the scandals of pharmaceutical companies and the cover-ups they use to continue to churn out their multi-million dollar campaigns.
Halfway through the book it was evident that the blame of this incident lay at the foot of a new medication being publicised by one such pharmaceutical company, but I hadn't expected this to be the main focus of more than half of the book. My attention was held and gripped for the first half of the book as I was desperate to know why Dean had commit this murder-suicide, but once the focus of the plot changed to the medication I lost all interest. The book began to read like an attempt to tar all these industries rather than a fictional novel, and so this just did not to it for me. I must admit I had to skim-read the last few chapters as I had lost all interest by this point.
I feel that on the whole the synopsis of the book promises something which is not actually delivered, and this is why I am only scoring three stars. Had there been some mention of the pharmaceutical element of the plot, I would have know what to expect and perhaps wouldn't have chosen this one to read.
(Thanks to NetGalley for this copy).
Halfway through the book it was evident that the blame of this incident lay at the foot of a new medication being publicised by one such pharmaceutical company, but I hadn't expected this to be the main focus of more than half of the book. My attention was held and gripped for the first half of the book as I was desperate to know why Dean had commit this murder-suicide, but once the focus of the plot changed to the medication I lost all interest. The book began to read like an attempt to tar all these industries rather than a fictional novel, and so this just did not to it for me. I must admit I had to skim-read the last few chapters as I had lost all interest by this point.
I feel that on the whole the synopsis of the book promises something which is not actually delivered, and this is why I am only scoring three stars. Had there been some mention of the pharmaceutical element of the plot, I would have know what to expect and perhaps wouldn't have chosen this one to read.
(Thanks to NetGalley for this copy).
sarahs_bookish_life's review against another edition
5.0
Holly is a reporter for a paper but not a very good one. She cares to much about the people she is writing the stories about. She certainly isn’t one of the pushy ones that we tend to expect in the television shows and crime novels. She is determined though to help Barbara the mum of her dead friend find out why a normal teenage boy would suddenly turn round and kill his own family.
This is one of those conspiracy type stories. It reminded me of a cross between Erin Brockovitch and Enemy Of The State as Holly discovers something that links a sudden speight of suicides in the area. Only problem is, is that Holly has been trying to cope with something that has happened and no one seems to be able to take her seriously.
I have to say I really enjoyed reading this book. The build up of tension and suspense was just agonising. It was so hard to see Holly fighting for justice and struggling to get any further forward and for people to believe her. It is very much a David and Goliath story of one woman’s fight against something way bigger than her. If you love a nail biting read that will have you on the edge of your seat then this is the book for you.
Another brilliant read from the author.
My thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
This is one of those conspiracy type stories. It reminded me of a cross between Erin Brockovitch and Enemy Of The State as Holly discovers something that links a sudden speight of suicides in the area. Only problem is, is that Holly has been trying to cope with something that has happened and no one seems to be able to take her seriously.
I have to say I really enjoyed reading this book. The build up of tension and suspense was just agonising. It was so hard to see Holly fighting for justice and struggling to get any further forward and for people to believe her. It is very much a David and Goliath story of one woman’s fight against something way bigger than her. If you love a nail biting read that will have you on the edge of your seat then this is the book for you.
Another brilliant read from the author.
My thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
uggy90's review
I realised that the conspiracy theory leanings of the author in this book were not to my taste. I got about 40-50% of the way through before stopping. I was enjoying the ride, though it was somewhat predictable where it was going, and then I suddenly realised we seemed to be moving towards conspiracy theory "all drugs are bad" territory. I wasn't sure if this was the case, so glanced at some reviews, which confirmed this was the bent of the book, though I'm not sure how out there it really was. The final straw for me was a review saying that at the end it pushes the old and discredited link between vaccines and autism, which is a very dangerous assertion (I confirmed that this was mentioned in the book by doing a quick search on my Kindle), and between that and the naturopath boyfriend I decided it wasn't for me. A shame since I really enjoyed Sibel Hodge's Look Behind You.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Murder, and Eating disorder