New York Times bestselling author Mira Grant, author of the renowned Newsflesh series, returns with a novel that takes us to a new world of ancient mysteries and mythological dangers come to life. The ocean is home to many myths, But some are deadly… 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 … 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 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.
More from Mira Grant
Newsflesh
Feed
Deadline
Blackout
Feedback
Rise: A Newsflesh Collection
Parasitology
Parasite
Symbiont
Chimera
more
I’ve been Tweeting my love of this book recently, and a reader chimed in to say “I love it, too! It’s like Jurassic Park, but with mermaids!” Yes! This book pits all the hubris of science combined with the desperation of a struggling tv network against creatures that shouldn’t exist, but do. Be warned: these are NOT Disney’s versions of mermaids. These mermaids are like velociraptors with fins. Here’s one of the many lines that made me smile with (admittedly twisted) delight, delivered by the character of a scientist who’d been repeatedly warning people that mermaids were real, and dangerous: “The Atargatis had found the mermaids because the people on the ship were made of meat, and the mermaids had empty stomachs that they wanted to fill. That was how you found things, in the sea. Be delicious.”
And here’s me, giving my husband an update on INTO THE DROWNING DEEP as I read it: “One of the mermaids just ate someone’s face off. The others are about to attack the boat. I love this book!”
And I do :).
“Creatures, animals, monsters – it’s all degrees, isn’t it?”
***
“Nature is bigger and weirder than anyone ever wants to think it is.”
——————————-
I LOVE Mira Grant (and her other writings as Seanan McGuire). She has a totally immersive storytelling style that I nearly always lose myself in (the lone exception: Swallow Road)… This latest is no exception – this time, she’s tackling mermaids. Yes, you heard me – mermaids. But don’t picture Disney – these are mermaids red in tooth and claw, and they’re fantastic!!
The story is a quest to discover what happened to the Atargatis – a ship sent on expedition by a “mockumentary” entertainment company into the deeps of the Marianas Trench. The ship is lost at sea (well, technically its crew is – the ship is eventually found) but some mysterious leaked video footage has raised more questions than answers – and those questions are decidedly weird. Tory lost her sister on the Atargatis, and she’s not at all put off by the weird – so when an opportunity arises to join the follow-up expedition in search of “the Truth”, she’s in.
The resulting story is full of mystery, secrets, weird science, even weirder flora and fauna, and an incredible cast of main and supporting characters that are sneaky and glorious and strong and weak and thoroughly marvelous. In her inimitable style, Grant not only creates an entire world, she populates it in an entirely original fashion – and throws in a twist at the end (literally the end – like 3% of the book left, the end) that ties it all together but not entirely and leaves just enough room for more books… That’s one of the things I love about her, incidentally – most of her books can be read as one-offs because the stories do have resolution of their major arcs, but there’s nearly always a “but what about…” moment (or two or three) that lure you back in.
The other thing I love is her writing style and way with words. Simply told, she’s a great lyrical writer who manages to keep the pace steady and the tension constantly building and ebbing, in a tidal sway of teasing excitement and creepy suspense. She always has at least one super-snarky female lead character (here it is without a doubt Dr. Toth) with biting insights into the human condition (even when the condition at issue isn’t human). She writes great characters and gives them great lines – and those are peppered throughout great stories. You can’t ask for much more in a horror story/thriller…
You won’t look at the ocean in exactly the same way again – this is Jaws for the 2010s. It’s brilliant and a head rush of a read and I couldn’t put it down – except at night, because I’m a little wimpy…
My review copy was provided by NetGalley.
First: Anything written by ‘MIRA GRANT’ is golden, creative, and beautifully written. She is one ‘SMART LADY’ ( A.K.A. Seanan McGuire) excuse me Mira for spelling errors-I love you-I love “NEWSFLESH.” Second: Read “FEED.” ‘Cannot Forget Our ZOMBIE FRIEND’S.’ MIRA GRANT’S OPUS………..THANK YOU,
TOM
Solid near-future sci-fi fantasy horror
You had me at killer mermaids.
Seriously. That’s all it took. Someone posted somewhere on social media and my eyes found it and I just knew I had to read this book. I immediately downloaded it and I’ve stayed up until midnight for days on end to finish it. It’s too long to finish in one sitting but that’s the kind of bingeworthy treat this books truly is. Putting it down and going to bed was the hardest thing I’ve done in a long while.
Needless to say, that first line of my review will tell you this isn’t some Disney mermaid tale. And if that’s not enough just look at the cover. It’s dark and twisted and scary which is exactly what you get once you dive between the pages of this wonderful book.
I loved it. The characters. The science. The myths and legends and the diversions to reality. This book has so much going on but it never feels like too much. I spent most of my time on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what crazy, scary, wonderful thing would happen next.
My only problem with this book is the ending but not even that could take away the full 5 stars. It was just too good all the way through to dock it any points for the seemingly abrupt ending. I’d have liked more story about what came next, especially in the epilogue, but maybe that’s just me wanting more of these characters and story.
I can’t recommend this book enough in this review so I’m going to go shout it from the rooftops.
Definitely enjoyed this, but the horror/suspense element wasn’t as there for me towards the end. I felt like it could have been scarier. Liked the characters, plot, mermaids, looking forward to the next book.
Loved the concept. A different kind of monster. Could not put it down. Enjoy.
Killer mermaids. ‘Nuff said. Couldn’t put this one down!
this book blew my goddamn mind.
this was a great horror book and a great science fiction book, all around just amazing. it’s so rare to find horror where you actually care about a large cast of characters, especially when you know that some of them are going to die and not to get attached, but every single character in this book had a great arc and story, even the objectively terrible characters. when people started dying I cared about it, and that’s probably because all of them felt like real people. deaf people with care taken to describe deaf culture, queer people, autistic people, they were all so much realer than the stock characters horror seems to constantly employ.
and the science! I basically ran screaming to my best friend, a marine scientist, about this book and she was really excited about all the genuine research that went into the writing. while it’s still science fiction, everything seems plausible and passable as real, and mira grant does a great job of preying on the horror of the unknown oceanic depths.
easily 5/5 stars. Orbit, please purchase the sequel so I can have more of this universe.
This was a great book! Loved it! I recommend it for someone who doesn’t want to read about your fairytale mermaids. Someone who wants the scary gory ones.
Scary mer-creatures! Excellent writing! Great!
If you love your little mermaid and wish for her to remain untainted, turn back now….I repeat turn back now. I am a huge mermaid fan, a Disney mermaid fan.
This book had it’s high point when I was left speechless at what I read and kept reading until it hit a wall of the bottomless pit. You see while this book is fascinating, it revolves around a lot of scientific equipment and it seemed each piece was broken down into detail. While I appreciated it, it drugged the story out and I found myself skimming past a lot of it. I mean I can see why it would beneficial to the story, to know how the equipment worked but there was a lot of equipment and I’de say more than half the book is explanations on how this or that worked. It was just overkill. What made it worse was that you sometimes got repeat lessons. So for those that enjoy in-depth description, this would be the book for you.
After reading Into the Drowning Deep, I went on to Goodreads ( add me if you’d like) to put in my rating and I found out this is a spin-off novel of Rolling in the Deep also by Mira Grant. I wish I had known that prior, I would have loved to have the backstory. But since Into the Drowning Deep is being marketed Into the Drown Deep (Rolling in the Deep #1) I would have never thought to look for a prequel.
On a more positive note, This book does offer a lot, You’ll learn about a ton of scientific gear used to explore our oceans. It’s filled with action-packed scenes that will leave desperately wanting more of these killer mermaids. You’ll see romance being explored but none will outdo the Oliva and Tory, you’re with them every step of the way. The main topic other than the mermaids is how we, us humans don’t take care of what we have, the ocean being the big one.
So with that being said, I’ll warn you again you’ll never look at Ariel the same way after reading this. Happy Readings.