Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: What Lies Beneath
SERIES: Lancaster Falls #1
AUTHOR: RJ Scott
NARRATOR: Sean Crisden
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2019
LENGTH: 5 hours, 44 minutes
BLURB:
In the hottest summer on record, Iron Lake reservoir is emptying, revealing secrets that were intended to stay hidden beneath the water.
Best-selling horror writer Chris Lassiter struggles for inspiration and he’s close to never writing again. His life has become an endless loop of nothing but empty pages, personal appearances, and a marketing machine that is systematically destroying his muse. In a desperate attempt to force Chris to complete unfinished manuscripts his agent buys a remote cabin. All Chris has to do is hide away and write, but he’s lost his muse, and not even he can make stories appear from thin air.
Sawyer Wiseman left town for Chicago, chasing the excitement and potential of being a big city cop, rising the ranks, and making his mark. A case gone horribly wrong draws him back to Lancaster Falls. Working for the tiny police department in the town he’d been running from, digging into cold cases and police corruption, he spends his day’s healing, and his nights hoping the nightmares of his last case leave him alone.
REVIEW:
What Lies Beneath is definitely my new favourite book and series by RJ Scott’s. The book, and Crisden hooked me from the first minute and I couldn’t stop listening until the book (unfortunately) ended. Now I’m left impatiently waiting for the next audiobook to be produced – and hope it will be released at the same time as the ebook version in February. Hope’s eternal, right?
In the small town of Lancaster Falls everyone knows everyone, there are no secrets and the past is never forgotten. And when rumours start up about the newcomer in town, Sawyer is tasked with checking him out to see if he’s on the up-and-up. He does not expect to find Chris attractive or to have that attraction returned. He does know that this writer spells out trouble with a capital T.
It’s not long until said horror writer stumbles across some old bones long buried. When the bones are uncovered so are the buried but not forgotten memories of the past. The childhood friend, that vanished years ago. The mystery is compelling and gripping and you just want answers to who does the bones belong to? What happened for them to end up there? And what happened to Drew all those years ago? I’m actually loving not having all of them answered immediately. That we, or rather the main characters, have to work for them. Not loving the wait though, but there’s nothing to be done about that.
Sawyer and Chris worked well together. In each other they both found what they needed to move forward from the stand still their lives were currently in. Considering the short timeframe of the book their romance could possibly be classified as an insta-love, but it never felt like one. It felt credible and right.
Sean Crisden really nailed this book. I loved how he added emotion to his narration, varied his tone and intensity to the plot and feel of the book. Some moments you could tell he was equally engrossed in the story as the listener was. Felt the suspense and intensity or even the surprise of the moment. It was always clear who was narrating or talking at any given time. His voices for the characters were clear and distinct, even the secondary ones. It was an easy and great listen beginning to end.
We don’t have all the answers at the end of the book. The overall mystery will (I’m guessing) continue in the next book. However, Sawyer and Chris did find each other in the end. It might not be a happily ever after, but it’s a solid start of a lasting relationship. And considering the short time frame of this book it fits well with the storyline, it’s believable and leaves the listener with hope for the future.
RATING: 
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