Beneath the Surface by Kaira Rouda #bookreview

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers Promotions, Thomas & Mercer, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of Beneath the Surface in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Published: September 5, 2023

 

Summary:

On a weekend voyage, the power-hungry children of an aging billionaire are unprepared for a storm of deceptions in a novel about ruthless family ambition by USA Today bestselling author Kaira Rouda.

You are cordially invited to an overnight voyage on the Splendid Seas.

An invitation to Catalina Island from billionaire CEO Richard Kingsley. For his sons, Ted and John, and their wives, it’s an opportunity to curry favor, gain control of a real estate empire, and secure their family’s futures. For the controlling patriarch, succession is a contest. He and his newest wife won’t make it an easy win.

Then Richard’s estranged live-wire daughter, Sibley, crashes the party. She’s the least of the night’s surprises. As the stakes for the inheritance of the Kingsley legacy are raised, the beautiful waters of the Pacific look more like a menacing illusion.

Let the games begin for a family who has everything money can buy, and has used lies, deception, and more to keep it. This weekend one of them will be crowned heir. One is in line to lose everything. That’s the plan. But in the coming storm, so much can go dangerously wrong.

 

My thoughts:

I have long been a fan of Kaira Rouda’s books. Not only does she do crazy well, but this is the first book in her new series and I for one am super excited about that! This is going to be one wild ride with the Kingsleys and I’ll gladly take a front row seat!

One thing I’ve come to love about Kaira’s books is that her books usually have one or two unlikeable characters. This time around, we have a whole slew of them and I’m not even sure which one I could pinpoint as the worst. I think maybe there was one who I liked, but even she had her quirks. The family dynamics here were so dysfunctional, it was bordering on ridiculous, but given the backstory we are given for each character, it all makes a weird kind of sense they act the way they do.

This book is full of secrets, lies, drama, manipulation, sibling rivalry, power struggles and so much more. I loved that it took some unexpected twists that I did not seeing coming and kept me guessing as to where the story was ultimately heading. It’s a clever play on the title, but you never know what really lies beneath the surface when it comes to anything and that is so true when it comes to all the characters we meet here. No one is above reproach and I loved how ever so slowly we see their true selves revealed.

I really enjoyed this book and am super curious to see where this series goes next.

 

Books in this series:

1. Beneath the Surface – due out September 5, 2023
2. Under the Palms – due out May 2024