Review: Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant

Mermaids are lovely, aren’t they? I’m thinking the 1989 Walt Disney cartoon or Daryl Hannah in the 1984 comedy ‘Splash’. Well, Mira Grant, the author of staggering number of horror novels, some of which I’ve read and were quite good, has a rather different take. In this entertaining story, mermaids are super-predators with razor sharp teeth, and they hunt in packs. Their prey this time are the people trapped on board a cruise ship sent out into the Pacific Ocean to find evidence of mermaids (as if the video evidence from the previous voyage, which showed mermaids devouring everyone on board weren’t enough). It’s a great idea for a story (possibly even a film), but Grant sorely needs an editor. The book is over-long and repetitive, and with such a large cast, it became quite difficult to remember who was who — for example Holly, Heather and Hallie are sisters (two of whom were deaf, two — or maybe all three — were scientists). All the main characters, or at least the likeable ones, are women. But the mermaids turn out to be … well, I don’t want to give that one away. I can only add that if this ever did become a film, it would probably have the same effect as ‘Jaws’. No one will want to go anywhere near the water ever again.