Have you ever wondered what Aliens would have been like if instead of a terraformed planetary colony it was a cruise ship, and instead of xenomorphs it was killer mermaids? If so, check out Into the Drowning Deep.

A group of oceanic scientists are recruited by an entertainment company to take an expedition to the waters over the Mariana Trench in order to investigate a film-making vessel which was lost under mysterious circumstances.

The expedition retrofits a cruise ship with the finest, futuristic tech and they set out… into the drowning deep. See? I said the name…

Author Mira Grant has the enviable ability to break down complicated scientific ideas and technical functions in a way that reminds me of Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park, West World, and several other such technically and scientifically inclined novels.

There are a few ways to do it, but the “newbie in the room” surrogate for the reader is probably the most palatable and frequently used method.

It works especially well in this novel because the ship is populated by experts who hold varied expertise, collaborating and connecting their drastically different fields of study, so it’s not always the same person having things “dumbed down” to them.

Minimally verbose and maximumly informative; no one will be lost by just how scientifically focused this book is.

Speaking of specialized fields, American Sign Language or ASL is not only strongly represented in the novel, but is also pivotal to the plot, which is exactly how representation should be done.

There is also a positive showing for the LGBT+ community, which is at the forefront of one important interpersonal relationship throughout.

The character work is phenomenal and doesn’t have the issue that can sometimes crop up in scenes with more than a couple characters conversing, where their voices get muddled and you end up having to re-read a page. Everyone has their own voices and the scenes flow really nicely, despite how many parties can be involved.

I may just be imaginatively challenged, but it’s fairly rare for books to give me the same spine-chill I get from film and videogames, but Into the Drowning Deep definitely does it, specifically in one incredibly intense sequence near the end.

It's well written and, if you enjoy horror of any medium, I think you’ll enjoy this one.