Into the Drowning Deep

[alaterdate]

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant is an exciting survival horror story.

I borrowed it from the library because I kept seeing it on various "read these books" lists even thought it's a few years old already, and I've wanted to read more horror books lately.
Yet, I recall looking at the cover in my Kindle library and thinking "ugh okay let's get this one over with" since I have NOT been on a roll with picking books to read this year. Well, was I an absolute fool to put this one off because this book kicks ass.

Into the Drowning Deep reminds me so much of Crichton's Timeline in structure. (I adore Timeline too 💛) Both novels start out with a slow build-up—about 100 pages worth—before getting in to scenes packed with enough action to be movie worthy (don't watch the Timeline movie though, it's so botched) and peppered with iffy science throughout.
I WISH this book was a movie because I liked it so much I want to talk about it, but none of my friends and family read enough lmao. Ah, it could be so good as a movie because part of the story involves a mockumentary, imagine the sweet gimmicks you could pull off with that in a film. Anyway,

The story is about losing things you love and finding things that want to kill you.

Imagine Entertainment built its fame from horror mockumentaries about cryptids. When they sent the Atargatis—a commissioned research vessel full of Imagine employees, real scientists, and fake mermaids—out to the Mariana Trench to film they never expected that the only thing to return from that trip would be real proof of the decidedly deadly creatures.
Imagine's reputation tanks as they lose control of the narrative when the footage leaks and they are accused of using the tragedy as promotion for their hoax videos. Of course there is one way for the company to repair its legacy: get indisputable proof that mermaids exist.

Victoria Stewart's sister was the Imagine host who went missing along with the rest of the passengers on that fateful trip. Unsatisfied with the tragedy being ruled a maritime accident in court, Victoria has never given up on finding her sister's true killer. Going so far as to dedicate her entire academic career to finding the truth. When Imagine asks her to set sail with their second research ship she is torn between her hate for the company and her desire for answers. Desire wins out despite believing in the very real chance she may share the same fate as her beloved sister.
This set-up about Victoria and other scientists securing their place on the boarding list takes up about 100 pages. Unlike Crichton's 100 pages of set-up in Timeline it's actually interesting lol.

By the time the boat sets off I didn't want to put the book down for even a second.

Grant writes a wide cast of characters with distinct goals, personalities, and interpersonal relationships/conflicts. The point of view shifts a lot, but its mostly seamless, always following the most interesting character of the moment. And in one instance moving away from the character I most wanted to know about which had me holding my breath. Great use of multiple POV, I usually dislike a large cast of characters to follow like this, but no one in this book was uninteresting.
There was a point too where I stopped reading long enough to say to myself, "my favorite characters are probably going to die," and make peace with that because no way ALL the characters I liked were going to survive lol. Each death was interesting in its own way even when I didn't particularly care for the character too.

I loved the descriptions of the horrors too. The mermaid biology was imaginative and based partly on one of my favorite creatures so that's a plus. The narrative also gives an attentive reader enough information to go "hmm.... OH NO" before the characters even know what they're in for, which is always fun.

My gripes are: the pacing increases exponentially, meaning the ending is kind of rushed and abrupt. But it was one hell of a journey to get there.
And that the set-up, while great, spent a lot of time focusing on Victoria losing her sister, but that plot point is not really explored much on the boat. I can think of something the author could have easily done to make a really impactful scene about it in the latter half, but instead it just kinda drops off in favor of Victoria's new relationships. I just don't think she should have been set up so much as the main character in the pre-boat part. I guess her sister is the main character in the short story prequel about the Atargatis titled Rolling in the Deep (I'm not too pressed to read that because I think it was sufficiently covered in this novel), but it didn't work for Victoria. Or at least the author didn't make it work because she really is punted in favor of exploring the other characters.

My pettiest gripes are: A bit heavy-handed on the "mother ocean" thread, we get it we came from the sea.
Some dialogue and inner thoughts from the characters could be a little over the top on the heroics or ideology there's also a lot of parenthetical... notes? Like (anthropomorphizing is bad), which wouldn't be as annoying if the same sentiments weren't repeated multiple times or every single time someone did it. It's like it's trying to be a PSA in the company of blatant fictional science. However, the social issues the book explores could be a plus to someone else, I was just not there for that, I was there for the beasties (and the beasties delivered).

The annoyances were a drop in the bucket though when I was speed reading this thing in the dark with dark mode on and occasionally reminding myself how far from the ocean my home is 😁.

This novel is a fun thriller and I would love a sequel because I'm dying for more!