I have a confession to make. I have never read any of the books this author has written as Seanan McGuire, but I have everything she's written under her pen name, Mira Grant. I loved her Newsflesh series so when I got a chance to read this book I picked it up immediately!

Into the Drowning Deep was an interesting read and reminded me very much of Michael Crichton's work with some Lovecraft and Jaws thrown in for some spice. I enjoyed it! This book is Grant's take on a creature feature.

The plot concerns a mockumentary film crew that disappears along the Mariana Trench after footage of a deep sea monster attack surfaces from the abandoned wreckage. Several years later, marine biologist Tori Stewart has joined a new crew heading to the Trench and she hopes to investigate the case that ties in with the disappearance of her older sister who was part of the original film crew. She soon uncovers cryptozoological creatures who are nothing like the beautiful, mythical creatures in the stories we grew up with. I never expected to be frightened by mermaids but here we are. Bravo, Mira Grant! Bravo!

Like a most horror and disaster movies, this book has a large cast of characters, some of who are stereotypes, but Grant manages to make you care in some way about most of them. And of course in true Mira Grant fashion some of the ones I liked suddenly were murdered in a gory, chompy fashion. I really enjoyed the horror aspects of this book but what I really loved about them was that there was quite a bit of science integrated into the fantasy. Even though I loved all of the scientific explanations, I can see a lot of people not enjoying them. I just really liked what it added to the story.

Into the Drowning Deep was a fun read that really fit into the Halloween season even though the release date is set for November. It certainly has a great atmospheric build-up to a good horror novel that horror enthusiasts and those who like things horror-lite will enjoy. I didn't realize it was the first book in a series and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one!

Note: There is a novella, Rolling in the Deep, which ties into this book. I have not read it yet, but I will be soon. Apparently, it's the prequel to this but it's not required in order to read this book.