Into the Drowning Deep

By: Mira Grant

Narrated by: Christine Lakin

Length: 17 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best-selling 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 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 be found only 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

©2017 Mira Grant (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Another Excellent book by Mira Grant

Where does Into the Drowning Deep rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was by far one of the best audio books I have listened to this year. The story held my interest right until the end. It was very suspenseful and the outcome was totally not predicted.I loved the performance by Christine Lakin and although I had the book checked out from the library I found myself listening rather than reading the book!

A rare glimpse of non-human cognition.

It is rare to read a book with non-human languages, thought and societies which truly feel appropriately alien. Grant offers a thrilling fast read which turns classic fantasy into smart science fiction.

Just good enough for me to keep listening

I'm totally down the middle on how much I enjoyed this title. On one hand, the story was entertaining and told well. Though it did explore the horrors of the deepest parts of the ocean, and did so well, it also explored things from a very science-heavy angle that was unique and interesting. It was clear the author did her research on a variety of maritime subjects and I feel like I actually learned things reading this.

On the other hand, the pacing of the book was exceptionally slow. Grant spends an abundance of time explaining every little detail to excruciating degree - while interesting, I often found myself wanting her to get to the point. It takes a good half to two-thirds of the book for any real action to occur, and even then it is often interrupted with the mundane.

The characters are interesting and likable enough, but it did tend to feel like their backstories were over-explained while their actual actions were relatively few. This was exacerbated by the ending - with all that time devoted to backstories and buildup, things ended remarkably fast and with little conclusion.

Finally, the writing itself definitely could have been better. The word choice and descriptions used were fine, but they had a tendency to feel like "purple prose"...it's hard to describe, but there was just an arrogant feel to the way everything was described. An example would be a tendency to repeat phrases for emphasis - powerful in small doses, but annoying when over-used.

That's a lot of negatives, but as I said in the headline the book was still mostly enjoyable, enough that I wanted to see it through to its end. There is still an interesting plot about the hunt for mermaids in the Mariana Trench here, and as others have said it's appealing much in the same way as books like Jurassic Park. The narrator was also acceptable - I wasn't blown away by her accents or voices, but she was clear, identifiable, and unobtrusive

Smart, scary, and oh so smart

One of Mira Grant’s greatest strengths is her character development. The mix of people you root for and people you want to see eaten drive the plot forward like a dolphin cutting through the water. The world Grant builds is rife with opportunities for jump scares and drama. The story goes far beyond cheap thrills though. Grant out-sciences the best science writers with her world and her characters. And her villains are far too real to make a cruise seem like a good idea any time soon.

Great narrator, unique and engaging story

Into the Drowning Deep was my first Mira Grant title, and my first Christine Lakin listen -- I enjoyed both enough to make me want to check out their other works (maybe Parasite will be next). The story is engaging and interwoven with enough science to make it feel pretty plausible. The characters are solid and really well characterized by the narrator. The ending came all of a sudden, though, and it felt like a set-up for another book in the series - but I didn't feel like that detracted from the overall experience. It was a "page turner" for sure, and a quick 17 hours. Definitely worth a credit!

Good suspense/horror

Properly horrifying, but I found the ending a little lacking. I have to admit it is probably appropriate however. Great take on a more likely "reality" of mermaids/sirens. Also managed to make a lot of great points about what mankind has done and is doing to the world without being heavy handed.

Narrator: I don't love the narrator, but she does a decent job with most of the accents. I found the men, unless they spoke with accents, pretty one note, and some of the women a little high pitched for comfort. But overall, it is a good listen.

Great read!

Very enjoyable story from start to finish. The characters were dynamic and very well written.

So Much Potential!!

This book was GREAT at first...then it seemed to try to meld some romance and not so subtly bring environmental issues to the forefront when the book would’ve been so much better without either. The story was an awesome premise and it was one of the ONLY books to actually give me a little bit of a chill down my spine (I love horror and books don’t usually scare or creep me out) but this one sparkled in some spots and fell flat in others.

Disclaimer: I’m not a fan of romance and I usually try to avoid the genre. The romance in the story was more of a side story but I feel like it detracted from the plot and created diversions when more attention to the mysterious thriller portion would’ve brought this over the top.

I did like this book but felt with a few changes, I could’ve absolutely loved it. To me, it is clear the writer is talented and I’ll look for more books in the future from her.

Great story. A little preachy

This book had me hooked quickly. The author did an excellent job introducing the characters. Scary plot. I wish there was a little less preaching on environmental stuff. The repetitive conversations about it made me hit the skip button a few times. I'm fine with learning about the horrible stuff mankind does to the earth but when the main character has the exact same conversation about saving whales with 4 different people (when it isn't necessary to the plot)...about an hour of this could have been reduced.

Best!

I don’t normally review books, this one deserves it though! Was awesome. Would make a great movie!

Too long

Narrator was good apart from the horrible Australian accent.
The story was too long for what it was and not bloody enough. More named characters should have gotten eaten.

Into the boring deep

This book tries to be scary sci fi but fails on both counts and ends up being boring and quite silly.

Amazing Aquatic Horror

This book is full with interesting characters, detailed science, suspense and terrifying moments. It was an absolute treat and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Definitely worth listening to

The level of scientific details and the focus of the emotional state and inner thinking of the characters certainly made this book a thrilling experience.

Pretty easy entertainment

Loved the story though I I have to say sometimes it went a little bit too far in explaining the science behind certain bits, making it drag a little.

The characters were a little melodramatic in some place but on the whole likeable.

The reader was fairly good, very consistent throughout even though their attempts at accents were a little out there

Brilliant narrator

Great story, really compelling.
Christine Lakin does an amazing job of keeping up with all the characters.. 2 accent are a little shaky but she’s fantastic.

A Splashing Time

This book has to be one of my new favs! An awesome story of the sea and all in it! Please say you have more coming Mira! Fingers crossed haha so good

Bit of a let down.

Thought the idea was great but the main characters were not likeable and the narration and accents were very poor . It also ended very abruptly so all in all was dissapointed

Not bad, an interesting take.

The premise and story itself are very good, even if Ms Grant/McGuire does tend to fall down a hole of over description occasionally. It was an interesting take on the myth of the mermaid and not dissimilar to what I have imagined. It was very nice to have some casual and natural representation of different groups in the story. I do wonder, however, if she utilised any Deaf sensitivity readers (there were parts of the story that really rubbed me the wrong way in relation to how the deaf characters were described) .
Overall, a good story.

Thrilling, fun and gory

I had to stop this every so often to take a break, the closed off spaces with a monster at your heels is one of the things I love/hate to read! This is 100% worth your time!