Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant (thoughts)

Summary 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:

Yes!  This book was just as good as I had hoped that it would be - actually I would say it was even better.  I'm going to start off by stating for the record that I love, love, love Grant's Newsflesh trilogy (of which I've read each book multiple times minus Feedback which I haven't read yet).  Because I love those three books so much, I've been very hesitant to pick up anything else by her.  Not because I don't expect to love everything that she writes.  At this point I actually do expect to love all of her books.  But more because I remember clearly the first time that I read Feed and how it managed to rip my heart out after I had come to care about the characters so much.  That might sound slightly like a spoiler so I won't say more than that.  I just knew that there was a good chance that anything else I read by her would either not live up to my very high expectations or would also rip my heart out.  I told myself though that I wasn't waiting to read this one and I'm so glad that I didn't.  It was absolutely fantastic!  Yet again I found myself completely immersed in this world that Grant has created.  This time though there was a creepy horror movie vibe to the book that I just couldn't get enough of.  Killer mermaids folks.....that should tell you everything that you need to know.  

One of the things that I really loved about this book was the characters.  Grant has a knack for creating characters that I really come to care about.  These characters were no different and I grew to care for them at my own peril.  As soon as you start reading this book, you basically know that things may not turn out well for everyone.  In fact, just from reading the summary you can see that they are heading straight into the danger zone in the attempt to determine what actually happened to the Atargatis so long ago.  Cue the creepy horror music from here on out.  The author starts dropping hints from the very beginning that things may not go as planned.  It adds this layer of tension to the story that made for quite the reading experience.  I won't say too much more but the comparisons to horror movies should tell you all you need to know.  And yet again I say, killer mermaids folks.  This book was everything I wanted to read and didn't even know it!  I basically couldn't stop reading this book.  I ended up finishing it late in the night because I just needed to know how it was all going to end.  I was thrilled when after finishing I realized that it looked like this is going to be part of a series.  I can't wait to read more!  Also, there is a prequel that I need to check out as soon as possible because I just can't get enough of this world that Grant has created!

Overall, I can tell you that this book will easily be on my best reads of 2017 list!  It was such a great reading experience and just writing up my thoughts has me so excited to read everything else that Grant has written.  I've always wished that they would have made a movie (or movies) based off of the Newsflesh trilogy.  I have to say that this book would make an amazing horror movie as well!  I will always sing Grant's praises because her books are just that good!  The worlds that she creates are just so unique and complex - I just can't say enough good things about her or her books.  This book was dark, tense, and so flipping good that I can't even talk coherently about it.  I'm going to need a copy of this one for my own shelves for sure!  Highly, highly recommended!  Readers of horror, science fiction, everyone really....check this one out!

Bottom Line:  One of the best books that I have read in 2017!  I don't need to say more than that!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley.