When the Imagine Network commissioned a documentary on mermaids, to be filmed from the cruise ship Atargatis, they expected what they had always received before: an assortment of eyewitness reports that proved nothing, some footage that proved even less, and the kind of ratings that only came from peddling imaginary creatures to the masses.

They didn’t expect actual mermaids. They certainly didn’t expect those mermaids to have teeth.

This is the story of the Atargatis, lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy. Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the bathypelagic zone in the Mariana Trench…and the depths are very good at keeping secrets.

If this is how you like your mermaids:

or this:

… then Rolling in the Deep may not be the reading choice for you. No singing. No flowy red hair or adorable fishy friends. No teen angst or cute Australian accents.

Nope. The mermaids in Rolling in the Deep have claws and lots of sharp teeth, and they seem to especially enjoy biting off faces, then dragging their prey into the darkest ocean depths.

I adored Rolling in the Deep! It’s gross and scary, packing a lot into a little. In a very short time, we get to know the crew of the Atargatis, the film crew and on-screen personality from the TV station, the scientists on the expedition who are supposed to lend credibility to the otherwise potentially cheesy “documentary”, and a troupe of performing mermaids, to add a little sexy flavor in case the exploration comes up empty.

Each section of the story is preceded by an excerpt from a book written to explore the tragedy and mystery of the Atargatis — so we know from page 1 that everyone on board the ship is doomed. The story is pieced together from the footage found on board the ship, which is found drifting off course and completely empty of people — but with enough gore left behind to let the discoverers know that something awful happened. But was it all a hoax, as the Imagine network is often accused of? Or did something beyond human understanding attack the ship and brutally murder all hands?

This book is not for the faint of heart, obviously. It gets bloody pretty quickly. As for me, I thought it was terrific! Just enough gore to make the threat real, and a palpable sense of dread — we know from the start that everyone will die, but the question is how. It’s smart and fast and a terrific read.

And once I finished and went to check it off on Goodreads, I stumbled across the news that a full-length novel is on the way! Into the Drowning Deep follows up on the events of Rolling in the Deep, and will be published in November 2017. Can it be November now please? I don’t think I can wait.

_________________________________________

The details:

Title: Rolling in the Deep
Author: Mira Grant
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Publication date: April 6, 2015
Length: 123 pages
Genre: Horror
Source: Purchased

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