Absolutely love sibel hodge she’s one of my favourite authors since I read look behind you. Always fast paced and thrilling. She always keeps me guessing. This one in particular I loved the characters. Sibel hodge has a talent for great characters and writing that leaves you guessing until the end and this one didn’t disappoint.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Beneath the surface by Sibel Hodge.
When the teenage son of Holly Gold’s school friend brutally murders his parents before killing himself, her sleepy home town is rocked by the sudden tragedy.
Appalled, Holly investigates. What could have caused the happy-go-lucky boy she remembers to commit such a heinous crime? When another teen commits suicide, she uncovers a horrifying link between the recent deaths and a dark conspiracy to hide the truth.But someone doesn’t want Holly asking questions and, as she hunts for evidence to prove her theory, she’s dragged into a nightmare that threatens her life and her sanity. Then tragedy strikes again—and this time it’s closer to home…
Brilliant read. I love this author. Can't get enough of her books. 5*.

Omg talk about a roller coaster read wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat threw out I just couldn't put it down this writer keeps you hooked and once your hooked your not letting go I found this book thrilling the characters were fantastic and well thought out and the little clues all the way threw keep you guessing until the end this book stays with you long after you close the book this book is well worth the read I promise you wont be disappointed

Goodreads Description

When the teenage son of Holly Gold’s school friend brutally murders his parents before killing himself, her sleepy home town is rocked by the sudden tragedy. Appalled, Holly investigates. What could have caused the happy-go-lucky boy she remembers to commit such a heinous crime? When another teen commits suicide, she uncovers a horrifying link between the recent deaths and a dark conspiracy to hide the truth. But someone doesn’t want Holly asking questions and, as she hunts for evidence to prove her theory, she’s dragged into a nightmare that threatens her life and her sanity. Then tragedy strikes again—and this time it’s closer to home…

What I liked:

• The first half of this novel was decidedly better than the second, and I was interested in the story at that stage.
• I'm not even going to beat around the bush here and try and find more things that I liked because in all honesty, there wasn't much. This one only just scrapes 2 stars from me.

What I wasn’t keen on:

• Let me start off by saying that my overall perception of this book is that the author used the book as a platform from which to preach her own beliefs and opinions about pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines and the whole prescription drug industry.
• When I first read the book description, I really thought that this story was going to be dark and edgy. I mean, the concept of a teenage boy murdering his parents and then committing suicide is probably as dark and twisted as you can get, but yet the story really wasn’t dark and twisted at all, and it lacked the gritty psychological nature that I tend to love in thrillers.
• The subject matter was fairly topical a few years back, but the story itself, one which is described by the publisher's as being a psychological thriller, just never worked for me.
• At times during my reading of this book, I felt as if I was sitting in a lecture theater being lectured to about the big, nasty, evil prescription drug companies, their disgusting policies, the horrible side-effects of certain prescription medicines, and the scary ways that prescription drugs come to market, including the testing protocols or lack thereof. Although this is probably interesting to some people, and might even have been to myself, it just felt a little bit out of place in a thriller novel. I don’t want to be lectured to. I’m not here so that you can push your opinions onto me. I’m here for entertainment. I’m here because I want you to entertain me with your creative mind and your clever use of the English language. Unfortunately, there were many times when I wasn’t being entertained, and instead I felt used and abused and irritated.
• Because of the point above, I felt that this novel was totally “flat”. It was as if the author fully intended to use her novel to teach us about the pitfalls of the prescription drug industry while trying to couch that lesson as a thriller novel. Nope, sorry, that didn't work. It made the book boring.
• The characters reactions to certain events that occurred as part of the story were totally unrealistic and they made me lose faith in the storytelling. As an example and without giving anything away, a death occurs in this story which should have absolutely devastated some of the characters, but yet they hardly blinked an eye, hardly shed a tear, and just moved on with their bickering with each other, and moved on with their careers. It was totally unbelievable.

To be totally honest, I don't understand the high ratings this book has received. I’m surprised that more people haven’t taken issue with the author using the novel to push her anti-pharmaceutical and anti-vax opinions onto the readers. And as for the ending, where the author claims that vaccines cause autism, well, let’s just say that that smacks of conspiracy theory thinking, and it has been proven to be totally untrue. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. This wasn’t much of a psychological thriller and I almost feel as if the author abused her status as an author to force feed us opinions that I wasn't here to read about. Sad but true. The only reason that this story doesn't get 1 star from me is because I did manage to finish it.

Sorry for late review - just catching up after a busy 12 months. Loved this book a lot - the author never fails to deliver a great story with great characters and really well written. No wonder it's recommended so much by so many different people. Will definitely read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I thought it was a well written, nicely paced, suspenseful thriller that had me interested the whole time.
I would definitely read another book by this author.

Beneath the Surface is a medical thriller, that hits home to what is going on behind-the-scenes in today's world.

After a young boy kills his parents and then himself, Holly knows something is very wrong with the medication he's been taking and when more young teens are killing themselves, whilst also being prescribed the very same medication - Holly is determined to prove that this medication is behind all of the tragic deaths.

This book was so fast paced, with every possibly twist and turn going to keep you on your toes. With every chapter, there was something new to learn about Holly's theories and with everything theory she made, landed her and her family in more danger.

This mystery was really fun to get involved with, as I was figuring out plot twists myself and when you realise you had been right... It is the most satisfying thing ever!

The story was not engaging and the pacing was too slow for me. Also, there were no likable characters and that lack of connection made it difficult to keep reading. Eventually, I lost interest and no longer cared why Dean Hudson murdered his family and committed suicide. I guessed pretty early on that it probably had something to do with prescription medication and a cover up by Big Pharma and that was unappealing to me.

Beneath the Surface is a fast paced medical drama that is totally believable in today's world. What lies will big pharma tell to keep the money rolling in? How many people must die when a new antidepressant is touted as highly effective and safer than aspirin?

Holly cannot make sense of the horrifying news that her godson Dean could stab his parents to death and then hang himself. She knows there must be more to the story and she promises Dean's grandmother, Barbara, that she will find out why this happened. Holly had no idea that her promise will reveal an unspeakable conspiracy between drug manufacturers and doctors.

This book had me reading into the night far past my bedtime. The character development was excellent and the plot had me wondering what else Holly would have to overcome to discover the truth. I strongly recommend this book. Thank you #NetGalley for furnishing this free book. I am pleased to voluntarily review Beneath the Surface

These days its permanently in the news - teenagers going on a rampage and killing their fellow students at schools or unknown people in a mall. This book was set against the shocking crime of a teenage boy killing his family. Why did he do it.
Holly is a journalist that has some history with the family and decides to investigate the killing on her own.
The book was well written and I loved the unfolding of the reasons behind the killing.
Well done, and recommended.

I have read a couple of Sibel Hodge's books so I did not hesitate to read this one. It was an excellent psychological thriller and a real-page turner!

Another 5 star read from this author, I look forward to reading more!

Highly recommended.

I have read books by Sibel Hodge before and this falls short by far. Holly's best friend Jesse and her husband are apparently killed by their son, Dean before he kills himself. Holly is asked to investigate the truth by Jesse's mother. And she finds a deeper, darker conspiracy involving the pharmaceutical companies with their drug testing. A grim truth surfaces which is shocking...
The whole story sounds intriguing as a gist, but sometimes it goes into such details that the suspense derails.
On the whole, Sibel Hodge has done a good job to bring to light the unscrupulous ways of the pharmaceutical companies. The book does entertain and keeps the interest especially the last few chapters. A good read...

ummary from Goodreads:

"Dean Hudson didn’t look evil…so what could drive an ordinary boy to kill?

When the teenage son of Holly Gold’s school friend brutally murders his parents before killing himself, her sleepy home town is rocked by the sudden tragedy.

Appalled, Holly investigates. What could have caused the happy-go-lucky boy she remembers to commit such a heinous crime? When another teen commits suicide, she uncovers a horrifying link between the recent deaths and a dark conspiracy to hide the truth.

But someone doesn’t want Holly asking questions and, as she hunts for evidence to prove her theory, she’s dragged into a nightmare that threatens her life and her sanity. Then tragedy strikes again—and this time it’s closer to home…"

My Thoughts:

I requested this book from NetGalley because this author has been on my radar for some time now and I wanted to give her a try. I had high hopes for this book because that premise had me intrigued instantly. Ultimately though I was left with some mixed feelings on this book. I think that I would classify it as a good read but I had a few issues with it. I'm telling you this right off the bat so I don't spoil anything for anyone further on. I will try to not to go into specifics but you know how that all goes. This book is going to be hard to discuss without giving a few things away so reader be warned - don't read any further if you don't want to possibly read a spoiler.

One of the things that I liked about this book was the look at prescription drugs. It isn't often that you read a thriller that is based on such a serious and real issue. I felt like I was learning while I was reading which doesn't usually happen unless I'm reading a nonfiction book. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that a lot of what was included in here is pretty accurate which makes it even worse to think about. Prescription drug use is a very hot topic and one that is just so scarily real. I also like how fast paced and intense this book was. It kept me reading even when I didn't necessarily want to. The thing was I really didn't care much for Holly. Holly made me crazy and reminded me slightly of Rachel from The Girl on the Train. She wasn't as bad thankfully - but she made me all of these stupid decisions and a lot of it was based off of her drinking. I just couldn't relate to her which always seems to hurt my reading experience. I just didn't ever warm up to her - even by the end of the book I was pretty meh in regards to her character. The other thing that really took away from my reading experience was the death of a certain character. I won't give away who or anything but I almost stopped reading this book because of it. I kind of felt betrayed as this was one of the few characters that I actually related to - it just really took me out of the book when that happened. I decided to keep reading though because by that point I was invested and needed to see how the story would end. I liked the way that everything was wrapped up and really this is why I found this book to be a good read overall. Not my favorite by any means but I found it to be good enough for at least three stars. And really, my feelings on this book were completely personal - I could see other readers enjoying this one much more than I did.

Even now after writing up my thoughts, this book managed to really stir up some strong feelings on it which is always a sign of a decent read. I would definitely be open to reading more by this author. I'm actually really curious now to go read other reader's thoughts on this book to see what they thought. I try not to read reviews until after I've written up my own thoughts but I will probably go check Goodread's soon. This book was definitely not what I was expecting and overall I think that it is a solid three star read. Recommended but with a few hesitations.

Bottom Line: A good read but one that I didn't love.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.

Beneath The Surface

I'm always excited when Sibel Hidge has a new book out so was really eager to read Beneath The Surface. I wasn't disappointed by it at all!

Dealing with moral and ethical issues, this thriller will have you gripped from start to finish. With characters that will stir up many different feelings and emotions in you, Beneath The Surface is an intriguing story that you won't want to miss! Nothing less that five big shiny stars from purplebookstand!

I was lucky to be provided with an advanced copy of this book and voluntarily reviewed it.

I am really sorry to say this and it is very rare this happens but i just could not finish this book :-(
It just wasn't for me but it will definitely be worth a read for anyone else that likes psychological thrillers as you might click with it where i didn't.
Sorry

I have recently lost my reading mojo and this book was highly recommended by members of THE Book Club as one to rekindle my kindle. I have mixed feelings about this book, initially I was intrigued by the story line, a failed and troubled journalist returns home with her tail between her legs to her small town and starts to investigate the murder/suicide of her childhood friend and son and a spate of teenage suicides.

It didn’t take me long to work out where this book was going and what was behind these tragic deaths and where and what the twists were. This is obviously a well researched book and whilst it is topical and thought provoking, it lacked the “psychological edge” that I have enjoyed in this author’s previous books. Having said that, I was reading it at 5am this morning and the author certainly has a talent for story telling.

I found the content interesting, but the info dump and the way it was presented in huge lumps of info was not engaging. The first part of the book was definitely better than the last 50%. Too much happened and too many assumptions made to connect the dots for my liking. However, the message of the book is important. We do take on faith that what the pharmaceutical companies tell us is truth. Their job is not to make us better, but to make a profit so we need to keep that in mind when looking at healthcare. And don't even get me started on the cost of prescriptions....

A topical read with many current issues being discussed such as teenage suicide, pressure, social media and greedy pharmaceutical companies. The story was well written and kept me wanting more, wanting to find out how things were to end and answer the questions and mystery of why a teenage boy would kill his family and then himself.

There is a great story line - unusual, interesting and it grabbed my attention and the second part of the book was excellent with a lot of suspense and events which kept coming and getting steadily worse and worse. There is murder, there's intrigue, there's plenty of danger and there's a conspiracy that journalist Holly is determined to get to the bottom of.

For me, there was a bit too much space given to the main character, Holly, rehashing her thoughts about why she feels a failure, what went wrong in her professional life, why her personal life is a train-wreck and why everyone around her seems to be happier/richer/more content that she is. I'd have preferred a bit less of this and more action up front (plenty of which comes later on).

That said, it was a smooth, excellently written story and Hodge has a style that makes it easy to read, with no blips or complications.