Early Review – Into the Drowning Deep (Rolling in the Deep, Book 1) by Mira Grant (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Horror/Fantasy
Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: November 14, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-0316379403
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Rolling in the Deep series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“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 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.”

I got an eGalley of this book through NetGalley to review. This book was an interesting read that followed up the events that took place in the Rolling in the Deep novella. It got a bit long at times but overall I enjoyed it.

This is definitely one of those slow-boiling horror types of novels with a heavy paranormal bent to it. The whole time you know things are going to go very poorly for the characters on the next mission. I liked the suspense but was a bit disappointed that the story was so predictable.

I also felt like given the deliberate pace of the rest of the story the ending was very rushed. The pace of the story was a bit slower than I would have liked; too many of the same issues were addressed over and over again.

I did enjoy all the scientific research the characters were doing. I also enjoyed the characters in general; even the side characters have a lot of depth to them and are interesting. I also liked the near future setting of the book and how global issues of ocean temperature and global warming were discussed.

Overall this was a good book about horrific mermaids and the future of our world as a whole. I think it should have been shorter and that the ending was rushed. I will most likely read future books in this series because, in general, I like Grant’s writing style.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– Paranormal Reading Challenge