Beneath the Lotus: A Revenge Thriller

by Dacota Rogers

Jimmy always believed he could stay good—no matter how bad his world became.

In a home rotting with addiction, violence, and secrets, Jimmy has survived by following one
Hold on to your humanity, even when everyone around you has lost theirs.

But the older he gets, the harder that becomes. His mother is unpredictable. His father is monstrous. His uncle is something far worse. And Jimmy—quiet, smart, and aching for a normal life—is slowly realizing the

You cannot grow up in a house of monsters without becoming one.

When the darkness in his family finally crosses a line Jimmy can’t ignore, he is forced into a choice that will shatter the last pieces of the boy he used to be. Every step he takes pulls him deeper into a world of violence, loyalty, and blood—yet it’s the only path left that might save the one innocent thing he has ever loved.

To protect his little brother, Jimmy must become the very thing he fears.
And once the descent begins, there is no climbing back.

Raw, visceral, and emotionally devastating, Beneath the Lotus is a psychological thriller that follows one boy’s struggle to hold onto his soul while navigating the wreckage of a family built on cruelty. A gripping portrait of morality under fire—and the terrible price of choosing to fight back.

“Twisted, action-packed, and full of heartbreak.” – Readers’ Favorite

“Dark, gritty, shocking… I had to put it down just to breathe.” – Verified Purchase

“A psychological thriller that lingers long after the last page.” – Readers’ Favorite

Genres: Thriller

316 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2025

Reviews

[Steven Chatman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I found this to be a very tough book tk get started it really picked it about a third through and never backed down. The book was gritty, dark and violent and was definitely a revenge fueled book.

I found myself rooting for the main character and was on the edge of my seat as you went down the rabbit hole of the story to see whether Jimmy would succeed and save his brother Pecu from the family. This can definitely be a tough read for some due to the violent nature of the story so be warned that the content is not for the faint of heart.

I enjoyed the book and would definitely check out other works from the author

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Ashley Jae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! A traumatized young man shows what it's like to grow up in a broken, violent home. Go on a journey with Jimmy, and feel what it's like to be truly broken, but still want to give love and protection to the ones most important to you. Jimmy realized what's right and made a plan, and although breaking many laws, he was able to give his Baby Brother the best life, it only cost Jimmy the lethal injection.

[Lara Dickens · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got 35% in it was awful gruesome for the sake of it. No likeable characters a poorly constructed, implausible plot line. My skin started to squirm after the first chapter and we’d lost characters through unnecessary murder. Our lead character goes against who he says, he is, over and over again and the toddler he’s trying to save is a psychopath. I wanted to persevere but it’s shit. Only rating it 1 ⭐️ star because no star makes it look like I didn’t rate it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first impression of this book was not good. I had a tough time following the story at first because there is very little character development. The story launches immediately into violence with characters shoved in our faces and it never stops.
It hits like a chaotic dream that you recall bits of upon waking but it was so confusing (even if enjoyable) that there is no way to explain it. I honestly kept reading because it’s difficult to turn away from a train wreck. I needed to know more.
I decided I absolutely loved this book once I got into it. It needs to be a movie, an offbeat crazy movie. All I could see was Daniel Radcliffe in Guns Akimbo playing Jimmy and Howie was now Cooper Andrews from Walking Dead. This book was wild!
I highly recommend this book if you enjoy bizarre, irrational, violent stories. I would love to read more from this author.
Thank you Dacota Rogers and VRO for the free copy for which I am happy to review!

[Mc Chanster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy crap, this book was intense.

Dark and disturbing, I could hardly put this book down once I started (and only because sleep is somewhat of a necessity). At the same time, I have to admit there were parts that were hard to read. For me, it wasn’t the gore and violence, it was the overwhelming feeling of helplessness for Jim’s entire situation.

At heart, the main character is a good person, but a tragic series of circumstances led to an even longer series of tragic choices. Jim’s story is heart wrenching, and the novel demands the reader to question what the definition of loyalty really means. How far will one go to protect family? What constitutes a family? Love? A powerful an emotional book, Beneath the Lotus is definitely worth reading.

Thank you Voracious Readers and Dacota Rogers for my copy! I received an ARC of this novel and am voluntarily leaving a review. All above thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was very original, gritty, violent but intense and interesting throughout. Our main character, Jimmy is young man who grows up in horrendously violent home and flees to try and protect his little brother who is seemingly becoming evil from the environment. The book focuses on how Jimmy has to decide whether to become violent/evil to protect his brother from becoming violent/evil. There is a lot going on in this one from addiction to mental illness, Chinese mafia, human trafficking, incest and on and on. All in all - I found myself rooting for Jimmy and his little brother fighting through it all. This is first I've read by Dacota Rogers - will definitely look for more by him.

[Kelsey Tomlinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok I finished this one.
kindle unlimited tricked me they made the book sounds great.
It’s wasnt a bad read it was just to much going on. It was like every bad tragic thing they could throw in a book they did. All the ideas they had to keep the reader interested and they couldn’t decide which one to go with so they went with all of them instead. Wouldn’t read again. Was ok they could have picked a few of the ideas to go with and went more into detail for those and it would have been a lot better. I think it was just to all over the place.
Child abuse, rape, murder, unalived unborn children, mafia family ties, cartel ties, drug abuse, it was just to much to get a good story it was just to rushed and lacked depth.

[Wendy Franz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follow the story of Jimmy as we learn about his trauma filled upbringing, his deranged family and how he tries to get away from it all.

This book is gritty and raw with violence, abuse and a sense of hopelessness throughout, yet there is also love and friendship that develop as Jimmy escapes his family and tries to leave his past behind him. I found myself rooting for Jimmy wanting him to succeed and make a better life for himself and his brother.

I loved Howie and the relationship he develops with Jimmy. I wish there was a little more character development, yet I did enjoy the book and found it to be a quick read.

[Kammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What defines a family.

This book will keep you questioning every thing from what is a family regardless we go to great lengths to protect them and love them, and have our guidance in a world that plays not the same way. I love how the author makes you feel compassion to everyone including the bad characters and understand the choice they made was appearing selfish but it was out of their definition of "love".

[Erica smith]

I put this down as a DNF because from the begininng I was super interested in the characters and how the book started, then it took a turn in a totally different direction. I got to the middle or so of the book and it really had nothing to do with most of the characters at the beggining, but more of the main character which got very boring and a slow burn. I dont know if it started getting into the other characters toward the end? I just couldnt read anymore due to the slow burn.

[Valerie DeLong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very intense book and may be a bit extreme but it certainly shows the nature versus nurture for children living in a traumatized family. I was hopeful that Jimmy would turn his life around and be with Jesse and become a truly family man with his own child and Pecu aka Paul. However, I could see how he would want revenge against his uncle. This was a very fast read in my midst of caring for grandchildren!! I wanted to see a happy ending for Jimmy though…

[Nikki Houghton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a difficult thing to admit considering the subject matter but I thought this book was wonderful. (And reading the acknowledgements I actually cried)
.
There’s gore a plenty, themes of insanity, incest, murder, maimings and mayhem and buckets of blood but I’m (assuming) this was in someways cathartic to Mr Rogers given his situation at the time, and certainly works as a novel, albeit one on the outer edges of hell.

Can’t wait for more from this author.

[Yomi Akinode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nature/Nurture Challenge
A messed-up, dysfunctional family blew up a boy’s young life when he needed the most nurturing. Luckily, perhaps, his brother dedicated his life to protecting the boy from the deeply toxic environment. The gripping story remains relentless without sparring the brutality of a bloody life where moral compasses decayed subtly. It is a great effort worth reading.

[Tee Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goid read

This was not what wanted I wanted a horror book. This is about drugs kidnapping murder and the mafia. Its is a dark read just not horror. Jimmy is a great character who wants to safe his brother from his drug abusive mother. He goes into hiding and finds love etc ..he will loose it all to save his baby brother. I d didn't like the ending ...sad ..its worth a read

[wendi c duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cut flower never lives

Let me start off by saying i expected this book to be crap. I usually dont read these bc they always seem to far fetched or theres hardly a plot. However i was pleasantly surprised and this book really hit home for me. Kudos to the author. Hope theres more to come

[Billie Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG OMG OMG

It took me awhile to read this not because it was slow but because I have 6 yr old twins, 13 yr old, and breastfed 10 month old. I read this while she ate. I stayed up to read this. I loved it. The twists and turns. I would recommend this and im going to let my son read it!

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me because I like reading thriller books.
I really struggled from the start of the book but the more I read the easier it was for me to settle in and keep turning pages.

Just to let my reader friends know that some scenes are difficult to read because of the gruesome descriptions of the assaults.

[Teresa Tavener · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent read. The feels were real. And the knowledge of where this author was and how he overcame his surroundings by reading. What a great story. Well written. Characters were well developed.

[Myra McCulloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A free book from Voracious Readers thank you

A story of family, cruelty, betrayal, revenge, retribution and love.

A well written thriller that follows Jimmy's struggles in life and the challenges it brings

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much gratuitous gore, many continuity errors and grammatical mistakes, eg. ‘drug’ should have been ‘dragged’ more than once. Not to mention one of the supporting characters’ name is the Italian for ‘rape’…

[Lyndsay Fiorentino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mafia/mobster style suspense/thriller. I'm a bit of a wimp and found it a bit graphic for my tastes but the author had me turning pages!
I was given a complimentary copy of the book from the author via voracious readers only.

[Sara]

The story was great, but the writing was … not. And the editing/proofing was terrible. The typos and grammatical errors were enough to make me abandon the book, but the story itself hooked me enough that I still wanted to know how it turned out.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad read just not what I expected

The book was OK and i did force myself to finish . The whole book was just different. Im glad it was a stand alone read an was not drawn out ..

[Dianne Brussow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read with lots of twists and turns

Once you start reading this book it’s hard to put down. I gave it four stars because some of the graphic violence/murder is not my cup of tea. At times I kept thinking what the heck did I just read?

[Lisa Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the most gruesome books I have read. Although it was hard to stomach, the loyalty to family was evident. Perhaps a little less graphic would have been better.

[Chere Sarver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great crime family read !!!

This book I truly loved... Especially how the author developed his characters. I finished it in less than two days. Thanks for the read.

[tonya foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read!!

I enjoyed reading this book, lots of unexpected twists. Good read !! You won’t regret this one. Loved this one

[Beth Shoemaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

The first book I've read in one setting. I couldn't stop. Looking forward to reading more from Dakota Rogers!!! Great book

[Julie]

Just started reading and am finding it very disturbing!

[Gina Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

riveting

Kept me wanting more! Suspense was in every chapter. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I’m not a suspense reader often.