On The Surface by Rachel McGuire is an absolute thrill ride! Set in the stunning Bahamas, this thriller pulls you into the glitzy yet tumultuous life of YouTube sailing stars Sawyer Stone and Dani Fox. When Dani mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind a trail of jaw-dropping video revelations, the tension skyrockets. With a colorful cast of characters, a plot full of unexpected twists, the perfect mix of suspense, and social media satire!

As much as I enjoyed the book I was a little disappointed in the abrupt ending… While it didn’t necessarily end in a cliffhanger, I wish it would have wrapped up more thoroughly! Otherwise it’s a perfect read for anyone who loves a good, twisty thriller!

**Does contain some MA content

Huge thank you to #netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced audiobook copy!

It’s pretty ballsy to write two asshole characters and expect me to care what happens to either one of them.

“This twisty, edge-of-your-seat thriller will keep readers gripped all the way through the final satisfying turn.”

I expected more thrills and a proper mystery but we get away from that pretty fast and it’s more just a study of horrible people and social media. Where were the turns and twist. I think if you have read more than one thrillers there’s not going to be many surprises in this one.

As a Swede, listening to X number of attempts at a Swedish accent was painful, what the heck was that? Also, think Sonja called someone she suspect, possibly of murder, a fån. It really bugged me.

SPOILER: Gone Girl on the ocean. How is this different? More focus on social media sure but, feels the same and it was easy to guess what would happen next.

Also… maybe I should start a YouTube channel.

2,5 rounding up.

The premise of the book, with the level of worth we place on social media influencers, and how much they in-turn place on their monetization was intriguing and drew me in. I enjoyed the characters the way I enjoy reality TV, trash TV that's hard to turn away from. Mix this into one of my favorite genres and I was eager to jump in.

On the surface (yes, pun intended) the plot has potential to be a gripping thriller with twists and turns that one doesn't see coming. In reality though, much as with surface beauty and your social media feed, it's all fake. None of the characters have much depth, even when details of their past are given it feels detached from the story. Not a single character made me like them - and the storyline from the prologue felt forced, almost like an afterthought that was added to fix some plot holes in the later stages of editing.

If I were reading a digital or physical copy of the book I would have struggled to finish, but my curiosity on how if there would be a surprise twist, plus the skill of the narrators in the audiobook, kept me going. I'd recommend this as a library read or Kindle Unlimited (if it's on there), but not one to buy yourself.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Dreamscape media for the gifted audio-book ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this if you like: Missing woman, vacation gone wrong, dual POV, slow burn

Whatttt. I did not know what to expect from this. It seems like it will be a regular missing while on vacation type thriller. This a debut of two authors under a pen name. I i really enjoyed it. I wanted a bit more for the end, but still I highly recommend this.

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Rachel McGuire, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley.

The narrators of this audiobook are Frankie Corzo, Evan Sibley, Chanté McCormick, Savy Des-Etages, and David Bendena. I love it when each POV character has their own narrator. It adds richness to the story. It also helps the reader to keep the characters separate, which can be a challenge in an audio narrative like this. In this case, while there are multiple POV characters, there's also posts on social media narrated in with what sounds like a unique narrator. Most likely, the social media posts are narrated by the POV narrators just using a different tone. It was very well done, and it really feels like the listener is experiencing these posts in real time. I can not stress enough how much I love the production value of this audiobook.

This is my favorite kind of domestic thriller. Unfortunately, I can't really compare this to any other comparable novel because that would give too much away. This is a story best enjoyed with as little revealed as possible.

This has unlikable POV characters, annoyingly idle trust fund brats, nosey neighbors, a somewhat tight-knit community, and the disappearance of a barely up and coming YouTuber, something for everyone. 

Dani & Sawyer belong to a set of global nomads who travel the world while living full time on their sailboat. This is a tight-knit community that looks out for each other. Like a small town, they gossip ruthlessly, butt into each others business, and have very open attitudes about sex. Ok, maybe the attitudes about sex don't fit the typical small town, but I think it does fit a global nomad lifestyle. 

Anyway, in this somewhat niche community, everyone knows everyone environment, you add booze, nudity, monetized social media, and a worrisome disappearance, then stir and bake at 350!

I thoroughly bought into the story, and at the same time, the story felt familiar. I'm guessing if you like this genre, you've both read the book and seen the movie this book reminds me of. For me, that turned out to be a good thing, and I enjoyed the build-up as much as the reveals. 

Thank you to Rachel McGuire, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

Living on a boat with the love of her life, sailing to picturesque places, spending the days swimming, fishing, and enjoying company of other cruisers; what more could a girl want?

Dani Fox is an up and coming YouTuber, documenting her daily adventures with her boyfriend, Sawyer Stone- even though he loathes the idea. After a wild night with some other “cruisers” docked together, Sawyer becomes suspect number one when Dani goes missing.

Enter Courtney, internet sleuth and armchair detective with a special interest in finding Dani. She introduces more doubt on Sawyer, while trying to clear his name. The Internet sleuths are all over the case and fighting against the Royal Bahamas Police and FBI.

The story was well written but follows another popular storyline that is well known. It’s far from identical, the different POV, mixed media of Internet use, and of course the ending was different. I enjoyed it and listened to in within 24 hours. The ending left it open to a sequel, or end as is.

I want to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ALC. The narrators were enjoyable to listen to and the story flowed flawlessly.

A young couple circumnavigating the globe on their sailboat for their YouTube channel is enjoying life in the Bahamas until the woman suddenly disappears. As the search for her begins, dark secrets are revealed about their relationship and suspicions arise about the man's involvement in her disappearance.

What an exciting and captivating mystery! The intricate plot kept me on the edge of my seat as secrets were slowly revealed. I particularly enjoyed the use of multiple narrators in the audiobook, which added depth and kept me fully engaged. I was so engrossed in the story that I may have neglected some of my responsibilities just to keep listening. The unexpected twist at the end left me pleasantly surprised and wanting more. Overall, this audiobook is a perfect summer listen that will keep you entertained from start to finish!

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated expertly well by Narrated by Frankie Corzo; Evan Sibley; Chanté McCormick; Savy Des-Etages; David Bendena! Highly recommend the audiobook!

Sawyer Stone III and Dani Fox are a young couple who spend their time "cruising" in the Bahamas on their 42-foot sailboat and documenting their journeys for their fledgling YouTube channel, Sailing with the Foxes. While waiting for Sawyer's failed investment in cryptocurrency to rebound, the couple spend their days filming their sailing and their nights partying with their fellow cruisers. On the surface, the couple's life looks perfect. But after partying one night, Dani vanishes. Sawyer has no memory of her disappearance and becomes suspect #1.

This is a twisty, psychological thriller that hooked me from the start. I was expecting a shallow thriller about youtubers gone wrong. This is an expertly written, multi-layered thriller about where we are today with social media. I think I suspected several different outcomes and then the story would take a sharp left! Very well written, engaging and sharp story about the deceptions of social media. Loved it!

Sawyer and Dani are cruisers who spend their time on a boat, going from place to place. They’ve lost money in crypto and both have troubled pasts they are running away from. After one cruising party goes awry, Dani is missing and Sawyer seems responsible. Could he be to blame?

I have wanted to try to listen to more audiobooks and had a beach vacation, so this book seemed like the perfect travel choice. I really enjoyed it! The production was excellent, and it was different from other audiobooks I’ve listened to because there were multiple narrators. This really made me feel engaged in the story and made it easy to tell whether Dani or Sawyer was narrating. The book was thoroughly enjoyable as well. It definitely was reminiscent of one of my very favorite thrillers (but I don’t want to say which one because it would give away too much of the plot). However, it takes a different spin on it with the social media twist and I still enjoyed it despite the similarity with the big reveal. I really love unreliable and unlikable narrators and this definitely has both. This was a great read, I loved the audio, and I look forward to checking out the author’s future work!

Thank you to Rachel McGuire and Dreamscape for the ALC copy for early review.

Much like my love for airplane thrillers, I am now a yacht thriller girlie!
This was riveting, entertaining and actually fairly thrilling.
I enjoyed my time in this story!

DNFed this one, I could not get into the writing at all, the word choice was bizarre and felt like a thesaurus was used to help while writing . Anything involving crypto currency is a solid no from me.

Dani Fox and Sawyer Stone document their life sailing around the World and posting about it on their youtube channel. They are currently in Exuma, Bahamas and living their best life partying with their fellow cruisers when Dani disappears and Sawyer has no recollection of her disappearance. Everyone is frantic to find her when her prescheduled videos start to go live on the youtube channel, Sailing with the Foxes, that paint her boyfriend, Sawyer, in a bad light. We get an inside to the Royal Bahamas Police Force investigation through Inspector Knowles and there are a few different leads she has along with the internet sleuths looking into it as well.

This story did keep me on my toes for most of it. There is speculation thrown on quite a few people and the possibility that she just was attacked by a shark on her morning swim. Sawyer seemed like such a creep(which clearly he was from the relationship he had with his deceased wife's sister) but when I learned the overall plan, it made sense. The other cruisers were very eager to defend their own, even when it went against what they had originally said. There were also quite a few guys thrown in to have bad images and have potential to be the reason Dani went missing. Overall, it was a good story!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was different. The beginning kind of drug on. Then the disappearance was just thrown in there.
It was not a favorite listen. And the ending kind of left you hanging to see if there will be a sequel or if that’s just how the author decided to end it.
Narration was decent. But all around didn’t love this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ALC. I almost didn’t finish this one. I was bored the first 50 or so pages. It does pick up but then get predictable. Also, the ending is left wide open. Hoping a 2nd book is in the works or that’s the worst ending I’ve ever read!

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the advance reading copy. I enjoyed the storyline for this novel that depicted Sawyer and Dani in the Bahamas blogging their adventures until Dani goes missing. However, I was able to guess the ending fairly early into this novel so I wasn't very engaged the last 50% of the novel. It's an OK read

4.5/5

This was a fun entertaining read from start to finish. So many manipulations and characters that you’ll love to hate.

The book was so atmospheric and dropping us in the midst of cruisers. You’ll learn a lot about the lifestyle and laid-back, “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere” attitudes.

You’ll also get more insight into the influencer life and then narcissistic tendencies that come with it.

When writing a book about terrible people, I find that many authors have a hard time writing them in a way that the reader WANTS to read about them. This author captured the very essence of what it is to be an unlikable YET INTERESTING character. I really love that about this book.

I did the audiobook and that was very well done.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗿𝘀. 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱/𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮 "𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱" 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀....𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁?

I really enjoyed this one, the story held me captive and entertained throughout. The narration was amazing, this audio book was better than a movie!

I enjoyed this one. It was twisty and combined all the negative parts of social media to tell an enthralling story. I did not like Dani, but she was written for her role very well.

Fans of unreliable narrators will find themselves hanging on every word of this book. There is no shortage of characters whose stories simply don’t add up and readers will be guessing until the end not knowing who to trust.

ON THE SURFACE features Sawyer and Dani who are living the cruising lifestyle; sailing from port to port. Dani documents their travels as a social media influencer which brings extra scrutiny when she disappears in the Bahamas. The mystery deepens when we learn that Dani is not Sawyer’s first love interest to meet with disaster.

Rachel McGuire gives us plenty of characters to dislike. We question their veracity and motivation. The plot emphasizes the ugly side of social media and what people are willing to do to get their fifteen minutes of fame.

The audiobook is deftly narrated. The full cast truly brings the story to life and makes it easy to follow the many twists throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for access to an advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

This was just not good. It was derivative of so many books in the genre. I assumed what was going on from the get go, which I was willing to overlook if the story included some other more unique aspects but it just felt like so many other thrillers I’ve read. The characters were so unlikeable - which was clearly on purpose but they weren’t a fun type of unlikeable. The ending was quite abrupt and felt dissatisfying as well. I did enjoy the audiobook production however. The narrators were all fantastic.