Here there be monsters

Book Review:  Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant

An excerpt from the 2017 fictional documentary, Modern Ghost Ships:  The Atargatis, introduces this novella.  It states that the Atargatis was found adrift, two hundred miles from its last reported location -- minus its passengers and crew.  None have been found in the two years since the Atargatis was located and the Ghost Ships documentary was made.  What happened?  

After the introduction, the reader is taken back to 2015, to the beginning of the Atargatis expedition.  The cruise ship has been hired to take a crew of scientists and entertainment personnel to the Mariana Trench to search for mermaids.  No one expects to find the mythical creatures, but the "documentary" provides an opportunity to conduct some groundbreaking research on the Imagine Network's dime.  From this point on, we experience the events as they happen, with brief excerpts from the Ghost Ships documentary appearing before chapters.  The transcripts make it all too clear that the horror is coming to all of those aboard the ship.

Loved this book!!!  It's short but compelling.  Mira Grant, aka Seanan McGuire, writes monsters incredibly well (I've also read Feed which makes zombies entirely believable).

Book Review:  Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

It's been seven years since the Atargatis was found adrift, not a single person aboard.  Film footage of an apparent assault on the ship's occupants was leaked but many dismiss it as a hoax.  Marine Biologist Tory Stewart knows that it was not -- her sister was one of those aboard the vessel.  So, when Imagine invites her to participate in a second expedition, she accepts.  She wants to find the creatures responsible for her sister's death.

The Imagine Network also knows that the footage was real -- if possible, they would have kept it from the public, but it was leaked as soon as the Atargatis was found.  Profits are down but the CEO has a plan to turn things around.  The ship he sends on this expedition was designed with the mermaids in mind.  And, he's sending along a couple of big game hunters as an added precaution.

Despite my irritation with some of the characters, I enjoyed this sequel.  As with Rolling in the Deep, the reader knows that the characters are sailing into danger.  We have new characters, making new mistakes -- costly, but mostly believable mistakes.  We again have that slow creep of horror the longer the ship remains in the area of the Mariana Trench.  And we learn more about the mermaids -- their biology, their intelligence, and something of their culture.
 
It seems likely that Grant will continue this as a series.  I hope she does.
 

Weekend getaway to a remote cabin in the woods? Maybe not.

Book Review:  in a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware

Although she once considered Clare her best friend, it's been ten years since Nora has had any contact with her.  So, she's conflicted when she receives an invite to Clare's hen party weekend.  Her curiosity outweighs her misgivings -- she accepts the invite.  And wakes up in the hospital afterwards with little memory of what happened on the last night, a night that left at least one person dead -- a night that made Nora a suspect in a murder investigation.

Ware uses flashbacks to effectively create a compelling mystery with a menacing tone.  Beyond the initial "why was she racing through the woods?", "who died?", and "what happened?", I have to admit, the biggest mystery for me was why anyone chose to remain Clare's friend once she revealed her toxicity.  That said, Nora's not the only one at the party who's seen Clare's dark side and chose to attend anyway.  Clare has the kind of magnetism that draws people in, despite themselves.

I needed the big secret spelled out for me -- the one that caused Nora to suddenly switch schools at age 16 and cut off ties with most of her schoolmates.  Things slow down a bit after that reveal, mainly because the reader now knows who the likely murderer is.  The rest is just details.  There is suspense (and frustration) in wondering if Nora will figure it out before it's too late.

Aside of a couple of questionable scenes (if you're already spooked, and you find the kitchen door open in the middle of the night, wouldn't you check the whole house before going back to bed?), this novel was plotted for maximum impact. Although the characters didn't really grab me, in a dark, dark wood is well-written with a deliciously spooky setting (a glass house, off the beaten track, in the middle of the woods, with no cellphone reception).