Beneath the Surface

By: Heidi Perks

Narrated by: Emma Fenney

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

I don't know where you are...I don't know what I've done....

Teenager Abigail Ryder is devastated when she gets home from school to find her family gone. Nothing makes sense. Things are missing from the house and her stepsisters' room is completely empty. But the police think she's trouble, and when grandmother Eleanor tells her to forget them all and move on, there's no choice other than face the future - alone.

Fourteen years on, Abi and Adam are a happy couple on the verge of parenthood. But when the past comes back to haunt Abi, the only way forward is to go back and uncover the truth - and reveal the dreadful secrets a mother has been hiding all these years.

©2016 Heidi Perks (P)2017 Audible, Ltd

Wow!

This is an emotional roller-coaster. Trigger warning for anyone plagued with a tumultuous mother - daughter relationship, but excellent none the less.

Tremendous storyline!

Emma fenney Was superb in her narration. It’s the best book I have listen to the Sphar out of my 30 book library. I must read! 🌴🌞🌈 THOMAS, in Sarasota Florida

Predictable and boring

I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers, but this one, please save ur money. There's maybe one or 2 unexpectedthings, the rest were predictable, the narrarator wasn't great, and it didn't hold my attention. I even fast forwarded where there was too much background given, or conversations that went on forever. Save ur money and get "The wife between us" That's a great book!!!!

I just wanted it to end

I liked the performance but this story was a bit boring with zero payoff. It's as if the author had this idea for a premise but then forgot to develop it. Elena was the only interesting character yet she didn't feel real at all. Katherine was ridiculous and I'm a little annoyed that her condition wasn't researched further so that it could feel like it actually belonged in the story and wasn't just thrown in there for added spice. So annoying when authors just touch on important issues like that without really doing the work. The whole thing was seriously not good or satisfying in any way. So glad I got the audiobook. The performance was the only good thing about it.

So glad I stayed with it !

Not a good beginning, and characters I could not relate to at all. Even the narration made me wonder at times if the reader was that bad or if the character was just that annoying . But I'm so glad I stayed with it! The story and the characters developed into a very interesting, original, and well read book

it was interesting.

the narrator struggled with the male voices, and the book was a little convoluted at times. But it was well worth the read, I enjoyed it. I hope you will too!

Good psychological suspense

I initially had trouble keeping the characters and their relationships straight--this might not have been a problem if I had been reading rather than listening to it. The book was a fast-paced, highly original story with nuanced characters. Once i was engaged, it held my interest till the end. Recommended to anyone interested in psychology. Overall rating: 4.5 stars rounded up

Good

It was quite slow…about half way before things begin to pick up…the story kind of peaked and fizzled all in two pages of one chapter

Emma Feeney MADE this story!!

Beneath the Surface is not a thriller but it’s definitely an intriguing mystery. I was quite surprised with how much I enjoyed this audiobook. I generally don’t enjoy strait mysteries, I like some suspense or a thrillish feel to the story. I enjoy the feeling of impending doom! This did not have those additional feelings but what it had in the mystery category... it had in spades!! Once I dived into the complexity of this family it was unable to escape the secrets and the lies. It was so deep you’d need mucking boots! Now while it does not have a devilish thrill, it leave the reader/listener with devilish thoughts.

Heidi Perks is a fantastic writer. She develops the storylines in Beneath the Surface so thoroughly. While there was curves and spins about... she led you to a clear path. The characters were so easy to care for or so easy to dislike. Either way, Miss Perks pulled emotions from me. I think what I liked the most was how she developed the mother and daughter relationships and how they all varied. She really showcased the mother’s fears, the daughter’s attitude. It was definitely alive in this family. There was a mental illness added in... somewhere to someone... that felt slightly odd. I get the reasoning behind it... to show the great lengths one would go to hide secrets but it just didn’t feel like enough was added for that to see plausible.

The narrator, Emma Fenney, was an absolute delight to listen too. I know I’ve mentioned this before but I really have a thing for accents and the British accent might be a top favorite. Miss Fenney’s performance was stellar! It did not feel as if she was reading a book, it was as if she was living the book! She really leveled this story up in my opinion! I’m going to be adding her on a list of narrators to watch and seek out! It’s a gift when it feels like the narrator is living the storyline!! Bravo, Emma Fenney, Bravo!!

What a fantastic read!

This was a very different book from my usual mystery’s and thrillers but so very capturing and entertaining from the very beginning. A definite must read.

I loved it. Apart from the Scottish accent 😂

Great book but the narrator is really bad at Scottish accents. It distracted me from the story at times.

Great story, awful accents.

I loved this book, but the narrator's attempts at regional accents was toe curlingly bad!

Loved it...!!

Loved it.. Took a while to get into the accents, but was read amazingly well

Not as good as the other books

After reading other books by this author and really enjoying them - this one was a real struggle; in fact I couldn't finish it. Got to chapter 20 and gave up (as nothing much seems to happen); so my 2 star is for the story up to chapter 20.
Rather chose Three Perfect Liars / Now You See Her.

Not bad but not great

In a nutshell, started off interesting, but weakened as the story evolved.
Also the narrators dodgy accents were somewhat off-putting!
Not a gripping read.

Could this be any more boring??

What would have made Beneath the Surface better?

Better story. Better narration.

What could Heidi Perks have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Given it a story?

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Emma Fenney?

Anyone else.

Any additional comments?

I really struggled with this. I was hoping it would get better but it really, really didn't. I found myself drifting off and thinking of something else, only to realize that I hadn't missed any of the story. I seriously think it was the most boring book I've ever purchased. I should have sent it back. Narration was TERRIBLE too.

Great read

Really enjoyed this one... I was surprised how much my opinions of the main characters and what had actually happened to them had changed from the start to end of the book. At first I thought it was a story of a split relationship but by the end I was really hoping for a happy ending for Abigail. The book revealed all of the twists at a nice pace and kept me interested right the way through. Enjoyed the narration too.

What a great story!!

Wow, this one was a bit of a rollercoaster & probably one I would read again! I’ve never cried at the end of a book before, but had a lump in my throat with this one

A good read

I loved this book, I didn’t want to stop reading .
I read it in a day 😁

Excellent gripping couldn’t put it down

Loved this lots of strands of intrigue. Shall read more of perks writings and highly recommend