On the Surface, a review by Sherry

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On the Surface
Rachel McGuire

304 pages
Crooked Lane Books
published July 9, 2024

Amazon | Goodreads

This one gave me strong vibes of a long ago popular thriller.  I won’t mention any names because I don’t want to influence anyone else, but it never left my mind. 

Now that we are almost officially in summer in the Northern hemisphere, this is definitely a summer read.  A thriller in the water with an unreliable narrator.  No spoilers here since one of our narrators was blackout drunk or high at the time of the incident. 

Honestly it was the cover of this one that grabbed me.  Look at it.  But if you are a fan of influencing or boating, then this one will grab you for the story.  There is a lot of intrigue with the main characters.  One is missing.  The other one can’t remember what happened and has the death of his first wife still looming over him. 

I had never heard of cruisers so it was enlightening to read about this boating community.  I didn’t really like anyone but that is sometimes a plus for me in a thriller.  It gives me extra reason to not trust them.

This is a slow burn, almost a drama at times, with a little police procedural thrown in.  It’s highly entertaining and I flew through it.  Can’t wait to see what these authors come up with next.

About the book

A YouTubing cruiser couple sails the world living their best life—until one of them goes missing and their whole world capsizes, in this captivating psychological thriller perfect for fans of Something in the Water and Saint X.

Sawyer Stone III and Dani Fox, a young couple who spends their time circumnavigating the globe aboard their 42′ sailboat and documenting it for their fledgling YouTube channel Sailing with the Foxes, have anchored in Exuma, in the Bahamas.

As they wait for the price of crypto to rebound so they can provision and continue their journey, they’re partying and exploring with their fellow cruisers off shore. On the surface, everything looks perfect. But one night, Dani vanishes after a boat party, and Sawyer has no memory of her disappearance.

The search for Dani is initially fueled by concerns that she drowned during one of her daily ocean swims, but Dani’s pre-scheduled video posts, recorded before she went missing, soon reveal a darker side to her relationship with Sawyer.

Meanwhile, Royal Bahamas Police Force Inspector Veronique Knowles has her hands full trying to keep the investigation on course as the story of the American woman missing in the Bahamas goes viral and the internet sleuths unearth secrets from Sawyer’s past. Sawyer Stone is far from perfect, but is he a murderer?

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

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