Beneath the Surface

by Matt Shaw

When Tommy Edwards was a young boy, holidaying with his parents and brother, he witnessed an accident which would forever change both the course of his life and his personality. Now a young man, he marks the anniversary of his brother's passing by watching others suffer a similar fate but when truths come to the surface - once again his life is about to change course.

Beneath The Surface is a new psychological horror from author Matt Shaw (Sick B*stards, Porn and Rotting Dead F*cks)

Genres: Horror

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2017

About the author

Biography

MATT SHAW was born, quite by accident (his mother tripped, he shot out) September 30th 1980 in Winchester hospital where he was immediately placed on the baby ward and EBay. Some twelve years later (wandering the corridors of the hospital and playing with road kill when he was on day release), the listing closed and he remained unsold, he was booted out of the hospital to start his life as a writer and hobbit – beginning with writing screenplays and short stories for his own amusement before finally getting published when he was twenty-seven years and forty-five seconds old.


Once Published weekly in a lad's magazine with his photography work, Matt Shaw is also a published author and cartoonist. Has to be said, can be a bit of a flirt and definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, somewhat of a klutz.

Favourite books
"Roald Dahl's Collection of Short Stories"
Tim Burton's Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
Anything, really, written by himself. Because he is that good.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge Matt Shaw fan. In fact, I think his books are like 30% of my queued stories. This one sounded really interesting, but it fell flat for me. It is a short story, at only about 120 pages, and had a big finale, but getting there was a struggle. The characters were given some depth, but I couldn’t find a good reason to be invested in any of them, even the victims (Gosh, does that sound bad?)The entire story jumps around to different years, even doing almost a decade, in different mini-sections, in a single chapter. It wasn’t hard to follow, and I’m usually a fan of this style (See Preternatural for proof of that.), but it didn’t work here. It may have been better to follow Tommy’s journey in order, maybe doing the very beginning where he’s speaking with Briana while she’s imprisoned, then flashing back and following everything in chronological order to show his evolution as a serial killer, ending with the definitive conclusion. This strategy may have made the ending much more coherent and impactful. This book didn’t sour me on Shaw at all, but this was far from being one of his better works.

[sharon featherston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scary as helll

Another great read by Matt Shaw. A seemly average married man who as a child lost his big brother in accident. He has some very dark secrets and unusual after work hobbies. I found it really scary especially as l can't swim...

[Annabele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome With A Twist Of Lime...

I've been Matt Shaw fan ever since I first heard of him when Amazon's Kindle Store suggested "You may also like..." book recommendation after I finished reading an Iain Rob Wright book. I believe the first book of Matt's I read and like was his book "Rotten Dead F*cks." Before you ask, Yes that's the actual spelling and book title, asterisk and all, but I'm Bird walking, back to this book ..... With the typical Matt Shaw book (not that anything he writes can be called typical) there is a mix of "WTF?!" Sprinkled with a dash of Gore, a touch of a Laugh Out Loud, and topped with a twist of Lime. ;-)

Without the Gore of Matt's Black Cover extreme horrors, the characters are well developed, the storyline well thought out, and if there were any spelling or errors with sentence structure I never noticed, I was so caught up in the story. Beneath the Surface will definitely be added to my "Read Again" pile, I Love & Highly Recommend it.

[Kade Gulluscio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by saying that I adore Matt Shaw and his books. This just wasn't my favorite by him.
Beneath The Surface is a shorter novella length book coming in around 120-ish pages. His books are all on the extreme horror side, so be warned of that before picking any up.

The cons: it was a bit hard to follow at times due to how it jumps around to different time spans.
I also couldn't' really .... invest myself into any of the characters sadly. That may be due to the length of the book or just the... slight lack of character develpment this time around.

The Pros; per usual, matt's writing is top notch. His writing style is easy to read and stay engaged in.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another gem from the twisted mind of Matt Shaw. The torment that the victims are put through will make your skin crawl and what a awesome twist to the story. i highly recommend this book and many others by Matt Shaw if you love the graphic horror genre.

[Dionne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twist you don't see coming

Another great read from Matt Shaw. I couldn't put it down. Exciting right too the end. Highly recommended read for the holidays.

[Susan Hagy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great freak show !!

You won't be disappointed with this freaky show short!!
Another awesome read, thanks Matt!!
Great twist, certainly didn't see that coming :)

[Jess]

I don't think Matt Shaw could write a book a didn't like! Do I love some more than others? Of course. That can be said of even the most well known horror authors of our time. But I can't think of a single one of his that I thought was just complete rubbish (I have GOT to start reading some American authors again before I forget my native tongue, but boy can the Brits write some psychological thrillers!) This particular read I thought had a little more depth than some of his earlier works and that's nowhere near an insult, his writing ALWAYS entertains me. Maybe I had a clear picture of our main character for reasons I'll never know, but I connected with his pain, both endured and given. In short Mr. Shaw continues to write about people that both enthrall and terrify me. I've now gotten to a point that I don't bother reading the blurb, I just one click my way to a land I hope to never visit..