TITLE: Into the Drowning Deep
AUTHOR: Mira Grant
PUBLISHER: Orbit
PUBLISHING DATE: November 14, 2017
FROM GOODREADS: Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.
Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.
Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.
MY THOUGHTS: So in September I joined a new adult horror book club on a Facebook group called TBR and Beyond. It will focus on adult titles and is a pretty laid back process with a group chat all month and one focusing on the book and spoilers on the 25th of each month. It went pretty well and seems to be a great group of horror loving individuals and I can see myself participating each month if possible. Hey, what's one more book?
Anyway, the inaugural pick was Into the Drowning Deep and since I love Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) it seemed to be the perfect pick. Plus I had put off this book forever. Man, am I so glad I took the plunge (pardon the pun)! This novel picks up where the novella, Rolling in the Deep, left off except seven years later. Tory lost her sister to an unexplained occurrence in the Mariana Trench which happened during a production company's theatrical search for mermaids. No one ever knew what really happened but some found footage implied a major cover up. Tory is now a scientific grad student (I should be more specific but...words) and she and the rest of the chosen crew set off to the Mariana Trench in search of mermaids - a trip once again being funded by the production company.
This book was very science heavy and coming from an English nerd like me, I thought I would be lost and bored. But darn it if Grant didn't make it all easy enough to understand without "speaking" down to the reader and I really never felt the book dragged at all. There were a variety of characters each having their own reasons for wanting to prove mermaids exist and some were likable and some were downright awful. This was definitely one of those books where I was actively cheering on people's deaths - yep, I consider that a fun read any day of the week. Plus, the poor dolphins! If you've read it, you will fully understand why this statement is so disturbing.
Grant also does a great job giving the reader diverse characters without pushing them down your throat. This book had autism, deaf and lesbian representation and those just happened to be some of the characters I found myself cheering on the most. This books is intense, bloody and a wonderful ride - on a cruise ship nonetheless. I would highly recommend it to any horror lover. Was it perfect? Probably not, but man was it ever entertaining!
RATING: 5 paws
