Review of “What Lies Buried” by Leslie Kain

Score: 94/100 (9.4 out of 10)

What Lies Buried by Leslie Kain is the much-anticipated sequel to Secrets in the Mirror, one of the best and most mesmerizing books to ever come through our contest—the undisputed winner of our 2023 Winter Contest!

Secrets in the Mirror is a really tough act to follow. So, how does What Lies Buried stack up?
Pretty well, in fact!

Yes, there are a few rough and rocky spots here and there. Yes, there are some pacing issues. Yes, there's often too much going on, many of which seems superfluous at times. However, for all its faults, we have to give credit where credit is due and say that Kain successfully continued one of the most captivating stories we've ever read—a story we didn't think could be continued.

What Lies Buried rejoins Gavin, the main protagonist and good twin in the previous book, and his lovely wife, Katie. To bring you up to speed, Gavin is the responsible, hard-working, caring, nurturing, and stable twin brother of a firestorm of a character named Devon.

Devon absolutely captivated us in the last book, evoking harsh and powerful feelings and emotions in us that we rarely feel for a fictitious character: rage, frustration, hatred, anxiety, and anger. Devon suffered from narcissistic personality disorder and likely a range of other mental illnesses and disorders brought about (in part) by his relationships with his self-sacrificing twin brother (whom he called “Twinkie”) and with their violent and abusive father, a man responsible for their mother's death. This resulted in Devon becoming an alcoholic and junkie, often using and abusing his twin brother while stalking him and his family like some obsessive creep.

Our sympathy for him gradually eroded until we felt we had none left. Devon became such a huge problem and threat that Gavin and his family fled all the way to the middle of the Pacific Ocean to get away from him and the range of problems that came with him (including organized crime). Devon was such an impactful, standout character that we named him “Best Villain” in our 2023 Winter Contest! That is a huge honor and a big nod to the impact of a single character in a work of fiction.

Unfortunately, Devon is not physically present for the grand majority of What Lies Beneath, which is more concerned with the aftermath of his actions and what impacts they had on Gavin and Katie. However, though Devon may not be physically present for much of the book, his influence is felt throughout.

What Lies Buried focuses on Gavin experiencing and suffering from a special kind of PTSD known as “complex PTSD” or C-PTSD caused by his haunting interactions and experiences with his twin. He must navigate this trauma or risk harming and possibly even losing his beautiful family. Speaking of his family, this book—more so than the last one—heavily focuses on Katie, his incredible wife who stuck it out with Gavin through thick and thin.

This book really made us appreciate Katie and her character more. First of all, she puts up with all of Gavin's crap including him being unreliable as a father and a husband when he is battling his demons. She battles her own demons in relative calm and silence while Gavin is far more animated and vocal about it. We didn't realize that Katie actually lived through quite a few traumas earlier in her life, experiences which may have strengthened her and given her more fortitude and patience. We also didn't realize how long Katie and Gavin have been lovers, including going to a school dance together in high school. So, not only are Katie and Gavin romantic partners, they're also best friends—practically lifelong friends.

We'd argue that Katie is really the MVP of this book and possibly of the whole series, not so much as a literary character but as a human being. Katie is an AMAZING human being. She is the wife that every husband would want. She is the mother that every child would want. She is the owner that every puppy would want. This book concerns Katie's trauma and PTSD alongside Gavin's. Katie is at constant risk of suffering from another unique form of PTSD know as “vicarious PTSD” in which a loved one can experience trauma and related symptoms originally and initially suffered by another. This hands like the sword of Damocles over the heads of both Gavin and Katie as they attempt to raise a child under constant risk of losing their sanity, themselves, and each other.

Gavin and Katie give the audience great case studies as far as psychology goes. Gavin, for example, is drawn to Dr. Jim Pedersen, his school therapist whom he knew since childhood. However, when Pedersen is unable to provide the healing and answers he desperately needs, he seeks out other sources like Dr. Skokau, who seems to want him to focus on avoiding his triggers (which is easier said than done). Around the same time, Katie seeks her own healing and answers from people like Dr. Ted. This book really gets into the weeds of the psychology. This is both a strength and a weakness of the book.

It is a weakness of the book in that it seems to slow and bog down the pacing. These characters talk A LOT. Simultaneously, it often seems like those parts sound like a Wikipedia article rather than the characters themselves speaking. For example, there are times when Katie starts talking like SHE's the doctor/therapist/psychiatrist, coming up with detailed diagnoses and conclusions of her own. Now, Katie is pretty smart (having gone to law school, apparently), but she isn't an encyclopedia. It's bizarre when she starts talking like one. But we digress...

Meanwhile, while being a psychological thriller/psychological fiction novel, this book also has some mystery and even crime-thriller elements, mostly involving Devon's (and their family's) dark and disturbing history with organized crime, a history that intersects with the murderous Italian mob and a ruthless criminal named Richard Salvatti.

And, by the way, what lies beneath the estate may haunt and shock you.

The threat of these criminals, along with their own mental struggles, constantly looms like an ubiquitous dark shadow over Gavin, Katie, and their daughter, Maggie. No one is safe. Even the family dog, Patches, finds himself in peril.

Playing alongside all of this is Gavin attempting to reconcile his memories of his relationship with his brother—a relationship which seems parasitic, one-sided, and toxic. However, we gradually learn that Devon loved Gavin, albeit in a way that seems more than a bit obsessive, creepy, and disturbing—even taking pictures of him and writing choppy diary entries about him. Uncovering the history of his family is likened by Gavin as being “archaeological.”

Besides the criminal stuff, Gavin is even able to discover things like the Harvard study that he and his brother were a part of as babies.

Now, we have to briefly mention that this book REALLY eroded our love and sympathy for Gavin as he becomes more and more like Devon, becoming rude, angry, inconsiderate, and short with Katie among other things. Like Devon, Gavin goes to the dark side, on the verge of becoming unforgivable. That's a scary thought considering how much we loved and adored him in the last book, but that's how powerful trauma can be.

Something we totally forgot about (because Devon overshadowed and dominated much of the last book) is how terrible a human being their father was. It could be argued that their father is largely responsible for the way that the twins became.

One last thing we want to mention about this book is that, while the writing isn't awe-inspiring like the previous one, there are some incredible passages. Here are some of our favorites:

“She feels like her life has become a mixed metaphor for madness.”

This is followed shortly by “Fluorescent pink-bottomed white clouds suspend languidly
against infinitely blue skies, as if angels had a pillow fight.”

These two passages express the bizarre dichotomy and juxtaposition of severity and calm that permeates the characters and their approach to conflict and trauma.

“But the story it tells could be either triumphant or tragic.”

Like with the “mixed metaphor for madness” passage, the above passage uses alliteration. It also summarizes the theme of the book.

One last passage we liked was “...some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end” (credited to Gilda Radner). The thing we love about this quote is that it really reflects the flow and feel of this whole book. This book is kinda a beautiful disaster, much like the lives of the characters. It doesn't always flow well. It's choppy, rocky, bumpy, and coarse. It changes direction often, sometimes abruptly and jarringly. However, that really reflects the chaos of the lives and minds of these characters.

Check it out on Amazon!