Lies Beneath

Brown debuts with a mermaid novel told from the perspective of Calder White, a gorgeous teenage merman, who is torn between his family's quest for vengeance and the girl he loves. Calder and his equally beautiful sisters have spent years seeking revenge for their mother's death; their intended victim is Jason Hancock, the adult son of the man responsible for killing their mother. When Jason and his family move to Bayfield, a Wisconsin town on Lake Superior, Calder is instructed to seduce one of Jason's daughters in order to lure him into the mermaids' trap. But as Calder gets closer to (and is attracted to) Lily, she begins to suspect his secret. The mermaids' plan is slow to unfold, and their de-termination to exact revenge for a death is somewhat puzzling, considering that they themselves kill humans regularly, feeding on human happiness to survive. Variations on questions common to paranormal romances%E2%80%94why is Calder (who is actually several decades old) so taken with 17-year-old Lily? why is Lily so calmly accepting of Calder's murderous habits?%E2%80%94remain baffling. Ages 12%E2%80%93up. Agent: Jacqueline Flynn, Jo%C3%ABlle Delbourgo Associates. (June)