I always enjoy Sibel Hodge novels and I enjoyed this one - a mash up of psychological and medical thriller which finds our main protagonist, Holly Gold, caught up in pharmaceutical cover ups.

Beneath the Surface is one of those page turners that you read fast - the characters were decently drawn, the author throws in some little twists, it shows the underbelly of the industry very clearly, some of the scientific aspects were both fascinating and horrifying.

Whilst it did lose cohesion midway and became a bit circular, the majority of Beneath the Surface was brilliantly imagined - with a beautifully placed emotive ending.

Recommended.

Beneath the Surface by Sibel Hodge.
Beneath the Surface is an excellent thriller about a reporter Holly Gold looking into the murder/suicide of a friends family that leads to an investigation of a pharmaceutical company. This thriller kept me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to reading more books from this author. I would like to thank NetGalley for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read up to the standard we have come to expect from sibel hodge. This is a book based on pharmaceutical companies, trials and research. It also leaves you wondering how much of this goes on in 'real life'...

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I really enjoyed reading this book initially. The unraveling of the story was written very well and the main character, although a hot mess, was likable. Holly Gold is a writer at a local newspaper who gets all of the unimportant stories that no one really cares about. Then when murder strikes in her town and she realizes one of the victims is her best friend growing up, she decides to take the investigation into her own hands. I really enjoyed and appreciated the plot of this book which was based around pharmaceuticals and how they are prescribed. What I found though, is that this book dragged on towards the end. Series of events occurred that had me saying “Can we just get on with it?”. I think the book could have been just as good if it was much shorter.

Thank you to Netgalley, Sibel Hodge, and Thomas & Mercer for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the fourth book by Sibel Hodge which I've read. They are all very competently written and on the whole I have enjoyed them very much. This one, however, didn't quite hit the spot.

My first issue is with the plot. The lone campaigner up against big business (especially pharmaceuticals) isn't exactly new. I have no doubt that drug companies are no saints but I found some of this a little hard to swallow. The narrative arc also seemed a little odd. At one point the novel appeared to have reached a natural end, only to revive itself and another storyline was added. I could have ignored all this however if I didn't have issues with the characters. The main character, Holly, suffers several losses in the course of the book. Yet, these don't really seem to touch her. Yes, she says she is grieving but we don't actually feel for her. Her actions in the aftermath of one of these losses (I won''t say which as I don't want to spoil anything) were strange to say the least and I didn't find them believable. Holly's siblings were a bit one dimensional, the lovely, caring sister vs the hard, arrogant brother. The cynical reporter too is a bit of a cliche. And at one point a character is introduced as a red herring and he remains just that. No resolution to someone who looked at one point as though they'd have a major role.

However in spite of all these caveats I did enjoy the book but definitely not as much as other novels written by the author. And it certainly isn't all negative. There is tension, plenty of it and some nice twists.

I was given this book in exchange for a review.

I don't think I've read any of Sibel Hodge's books previously, so when I was offered to read this, I jumped at the chance to see what all the fuss was about this author. I wasn't disappointed I can tell you.

This book made me think of what the pharmaceutical companies are really like (for what I've read in the news and seen on the news). I guessed a couple of bits from the story, but was surprised at some other bits. I found the main character very likeable in a weird sense due to the way she was chasing this story but not for the reasons you would of thought.

If you love intriguing books with a twist, then you have to read Beneath The Surface. It's so intriguing and has the facts as much as you can see, that it's unreal.

From the outset this book was no great mystery; as each character was introduced I found it obvious what their role in the storyline would be. However that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.
With a nursing background and having a chronic condition that relies on the very newly licensed wonder drugs at the centre of this book it was a fascinating and terrifying read.
Credible characters and a dramatic but believable storyline told with compassion and a fair amount of factually accurate detail.

Very good mystery with lots of action and twists but I think it is a bit unfair to the drug industry. In the US it takes almost 10 years for drug to get market approval and there are 3 phases of research that must be completed with FDA reviewing the raw data. They do site inspections!

Sibel Hodge is fast becoming one of my favorites. From her first book "Look Behind You" to "Untouchable and now "Beneath the Surface", I have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. 4.5 stars rounded up.

This book starts off with the main character Holly outside of her old friend's house where a brutal murder took place. Her friend Jess and her husband have been murdered and their own teenage son Dean is believed to be the one that killed them before killing himself. Knowing Dean when he was young, makes Holly start wondering what could have happened to him in his life to make him commit such an atrocious act. As a journalist, but really just for herself because Jess was her good friend many years before, Holly starts to dig for answers.

A great story with a an obvious amount of research by the author, this book makes you think of how dependent we have all become to anti-depressants and how the pharmaceutical companies take complete advantage of that dependency.

For me, this story did start to get bogged down with a little too much in depth detail about Caprixanine, the anti-depressant that Dean was prescribed shortly before the murders during her conversation with Daniel. Once you get past that however, the story really picks up and I was tearing through the pages. This was a great book, very well written and engaging! I can't wait for her next book! A huge thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity of reading an advanced copy of this book, always greatly appreciated.








Samejo

Jun 03, 2017 Samejo rated it really liked it

A gripping book from the start. The subject matter regarding big companies was very well researched and of great interest.

Holly Gold has returned to live in her hometown working on the local newspaper. Her friend Jess and husband Stephen have been murdered by their teenage son Dean, who has then committed suicide. Holly investigates on behalf of the family's remaining relative, Jess' mother Barbara.
Another fantastic book from Sibel Hodge. Writing that is fast paced and truly addictive. This is one rollercoaster of a ride and had me hooked from the beginning.
One to recommend. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. My thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for the advance reader copy.

Holly is a reporter for a paper but not a very good one. She cares to much about the people she is writing the stories about. She certainly isn't one of the pushy ones that we tend to expect in the television shows and crime novels. She is determined though to help Barbara the mum of her dead friend find out why a normal teenage boy would suddenly turn round and kill his own family.

This is one of those conspiracy type stories. It reminded me of a cross between Erin Brockovitch and Enemy Of The State as Holly discovers something that links a sudden speight of suicides in the area. Only problem is, is that Holly has been trying to cope with something that has happened and no one seems to be able to take her seriously. 

I have to say I really enjoyed reading this book. The build up of tension and suspense was just agonising. It was so hard to see Holly fighting for justice and struggling to get any further forward and for people to believe her. It is very much a David and Goliath story of one woman's fight against something way bigger than her. If you love a nail biting read that will have you on the edge of your seat then this is the book for you.

Another brilliant read from the author.

Not what I expected. While this book is well researched and well written, it was also predictable and the end dragged a bit.

An amazing story that takes you on a twisting rude that you won't want to end . A completely breathtaking book

Beneath the Surface is the epidomy of a suspenseful thriller. I love when a book has those jaw dropping moments, twists with characters you don't expect ,and a story line that has you on the edge of your seat .A teenager shoots and kills both his parents, then takes his own life. Everyone is shocked. Dean was a good student, had many friends, and was a good son. What would make him turn and commit such a terrible crime? Holly was Jess's best friend growing up and although they went their separate ways when Dean was 6, she cannot believe he would be capable of killing his parents. Holly is a reporter for Ashfield Post and goes to her boss to ask if she can write the story since she knows the family. Her boss is a guy's guy and tells her no, so she set's out to get the details on her own. When a second teenager commits suicide just day's later, Holly discovers the horrible truth that links these two together. As details of what really caused these teens to end their lives are revealed, Holly will stop nothing short then jeopardizing her own safety to clear Dean's name. Beneth the Surface hooked me to Sibel Hodge's writing style, and I will defintley be reading her other book, Look Behind You.

An interesting plot about drug companies and the drugs they promote whether they are approved/healthy or not. A young journalist tries to figure out why young people taking a certain anti-depressant are committing suicide.

Great book! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

This book was a easy page turner with a decent amount of suspense. What I thought started out as a thriller turned more into a medical thriller which I am not a fan of and don't read but I still enjoyed this book.

gripping read. Tension is present throughout and things are not as they may seem.

It's a scary thought that some of these things do happen.....