Review: Beneath the Lake

Review at a Glance

• Title: Beneath the Lake
• My Rating: 4
• Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Historical Fiction
• Format: audiobook*
• Publication Date: August 9, 2017
• Author: Casi McLean

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Book Blurb

A ghost town submerged beneath Atlanta’s famous man-made Lake Lanier reportedly lures victims to a watery grave. But when Lacey Montgomery’s car spins out of control and hurtles into the depths of the icy, black lake, she awakens in the arms of a handsome stranger, in a place she’s never heard of—thirty-four years before she was born. When the 2012 lawyer tangles with the 1949 hunk, fire and ice swirl into a stream of sweltering desire.

Bobby Reynolds is smitten the moment the storm-ravaged woman opens her eyes. Learning the truth about her origins does nothing to stop the passion from taking root in his heart, and leaves him torn between finding a way to return Lacey to 2012 or convincing her stay with him.

The desperation to find her way home dissolves as Lacey falls in love with a town destined to be submerged, and the man who vows to protect it. Will the couple be able to discover the key to a mysterious portal before time rips them apart? Or will their star-crossed spirits wander forever through a ghost town buried beneath the lake?

My Thoughts

Time travel can be a very interesting genre, but also incredibly difficult to pull off. Keeping the different timelines cohesive and making sure the reader can follow the different parts of the story, makes time travel tricky to write, but when done well, lots of fun to read.

In this case, I want to be clear that I read the audiobook. As a self-admitting audiobook nerd, I can confess that I read dozens of audiobooks every year. In this case, the narration was good but I think the audio format made the story a little confusing. Because there weren’t any page breaks, it became difficult to tell when the author switched timelines.

Because the book is written from Maddie’s POV, there was no way to tell if scenes started with Maddie in 2012 or Maddie in 1949. It would take me a minute to figure out when we were and that would pull me out of the story. When I read, I love to get lost and completely immersed in the author’s world, but when the book switched timelines in the audio format, I would become discombobulated. Maybe putting in some dates before shifts would help?

You may be wondering why I gave this book 4 stars, meaning I loved it, if I had these issues? It’s really simple, the story was wonderful. In the beginning, I didn’t think I would love the book as much as I did, but when Maddie travelled to 1949, I felt just as at home as she did.

Maddie was an incredibly likable heroine, especially for me, a female attorney. She starts the book with a horrible breakup, so of course instant sympathy, but beyond that, she had some pretty great character traits.

I was not a huge fan of the misunderstanding that kept the main characters apart, but only because I felt like the time travel issue could have functioned as its own complication to overcome. However, because of her ex, I get that part of the story being included.

My favorite part of this book was the ending, which I will not give away, but let’s just say it’s good. All kinds of full circle happening here.

Beneath the Lake is part mystery, part science fiction, and a whole lot of entertainment. Definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys time travel or a good love story.

*Special thanks to Casi McLean, Jess the Audiobookworm, and Wild Rose Press or providing a copy of Beneath the Lake in exchange for an honest review.