Friday, July 26, 2019

What Lies Beneath by RJ Scott Blog Tour


In the hottest summer on record, Iron Lake reservoir is emptying, revealing secrets that were intended to stay hidden beneath the water. The tragic story of a missing man is a media sensation, and abruptly the writer and the cop falling in love is just a postscript to horrors neither could have imagined.

Best Selling Horror writer Chris Lassiter struggles for inspiration and he’s close to never writing again. His life has become an endless loop of nothing but empty pages, personal appearances, and a marketing machine that is systematically destroying his muse. In a desperate attempt to force Chris to complete unfinished manuscripts his agent buys a remote cabin. All Chris has to do is hide away and write, but he’s lost his muse, and not even he can make stories appear from thin air.

Sawyer Wiseman left town for Chicago, chasing the excitement and potential of being a big city cop, rising the ranks, and making his mark. A case gone horribly wrong draws him back to Lancaster Falls. Working for the tiny police department in the town he’d been running from, digging into cold cases and police corruption, he spends his day's healing, and his nights hoping the nightmares of his last case leave him alone.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47133616-what-lies-beneath


Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
~  Also Available with KindleUnlimited  ~



Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah☆☆☆☆☆
Oh wow! This is such a brilliant start to a new series! This atmospheric murder mystery is a huge departure from anything else I’ve read by RJ Scott and it’s a wonderfully eerie, slow burn suspense. It took me until the end of the story to realise that the murder mystery will play out across the whole series – this first book only really sets the scene – and I’m already desperate for book two.

The focus of this first book is the discovery of human remains by Sawyer, a small town cop, and the unlikely romance that develops between Sawyer and Chris, a horror writer new to Sawyer’s hometown. The mystery is more the focus of the book than the romance but with Sawyer born and raised in Lancaster Falls and Chris observing the town as an outsider, readers benefit from two very different perspectives on a town that feels a little bit creepier with each page.

I love the complicated relationships between the inhabitants of Lancaster Falls and I love the many secrets that start to unravel with the discovery of the bodies. Chris’ perspective is coloured both by his imagination and his work as a horror author while Sawyer’s observations are influenced by childhood experiences. Neither is a terribly reliable narrator and I love that readers have to fill in the gaps between the two perspectives for themselves.

Everything about this story feels entirely different from what I expect from RJ Scott. There is a definite Scandi noir feel to the book with the claustrophobic small town America setting reminding me of the TV show True Detective. The characters make repeated references to horror writers like Stephen King, which also fits. I really love this book and I can’t wait to get my hands on the whole series.


Veronica☆☆☆☆☆
What Lies Beneath is the first book in a new trilogy by RJ Scott. I’ve read RJ Scott’s work before but What Lies Beneath is far and away the best. This story perfectly combines mystery and romance in a small town, run by a corrupt mayor who is supported by an equally corrupt police chief.

Our heroes are local cop Sawyer, who has returned home to Lancaster Falls having worked as a cop in Chicago, and Chris, a horror novelist. When they meet the sparks fly, even though Sawyer tries to ignore it. The romance between these two is so simple and lovely. They need each other. Chris is suffering from writer’s block and is finding inspiration in Sawyer. Sawyer needs someone to lean on for emotional support while he deals with everything that is going on in town.

The discovery of bones in an exposed dry lake kicks off the mystery. Are they the bones of a missing friend from Sawyer’s childhood? Are the bones much older than that? There are plenty of questions that had me asking, “What is going on in this town?” As we learn more, that question had moved to more of a, “What on earth is going on in this town?” I have theories in my head, but I don’t want to examine them too closely because I’m excited for this story to unfold and I want to be surprised.

When What Lies Beneath came to a close, I was desperate for more. I woke up the next morning with Sawyer, Chris, and the town of Lancaster Falls still on my mind. Book two in this trilogy, Without a Trace, is due out later this year and I’ll be waiting with bated breath for the next instalment. I am desperate for more.


Ruthie☆☆☆☆☆
This is the first in a new series, and I really would like book two (and probably three) to be ready right now! There is a wonderfully mysterious plotline which definitely had me guessing and second guessing, with a strong flavour of both Scandi noir and small town America, questionable separation of law and business interests. I loved it! Add in a blooming, intense, and engaging romance, and this is a winner for me.

I loved how we started with the rumours surrounding a newly renovated remote cabin, with the expectations of it being the hide-out of a mafioso or drug baron, to the reality of there being a very dark secret previously hidden under the now receding lake shore. Author Chris finds that this may just end his writer's block, but how much of his new friend Sawyer can he get away with including in the pages?

I can't write more as I worry that I will spoil something, so trust me when I say that you will be swept along by the smooth writing, the unfolding mystery, and also the start of an engaging relationship. Enjoy!




USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott writes stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, a happily ever after.

RJ Scott is the author of over one hundred romance books, writing emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers.


Connect with RJ

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RJ Scott’s Facebook Group



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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of What Lies Beneath (Lancaster Falls Trilogy #1) by RJ Scott to read and review for this tour.

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