Book Review: In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant

Well that was unbelievably disappointing… I can honestly say that I’ve never said that about a Mira Grant before – and only about one Seanan McGuire (Sparrow Hill Road, if you’re curious). This one had such promise – but it never felt like it settled into itself and it rushed its revelations and conclusions in a way that felt wholly unlike Grant’s other works (or McGuire’s, for that matter). But the weirdest thing is how much this one felt like Edgar Cantero’s Meddling Kids – from the teen sleuths grown up to the creepy house to the Dagon/Cthulhu/Lovecraft mythology. I don’t know if that was intentional or just a really bizarre coincidence – and such coincidences DO happen – but it threw me because the Cantero was one of my favorite of his books (and that’s saying something)…

I didn’t like the beginning, or the sections when the house/whatever talked; they didn’t read as smoothly and carefully crafted as her writing usually does, and almost put me off the book altogether. The narrative following Harlowe and her friends was much more true to form, but it snapped into solution-mode very abruptly, even for a novella. Contrast this to Into the Drowning Deep – which is also a novella and almost half the length of Spindrift, yet never felt rushed or short-handed or anything other than spot-on perfect in pacing, detail, and plot explication. Spindrift felt like it got hurried along, as though a deadline had to be met; it left the story feeling oddly unexplained and unfinished, which is a shame, because it was really quite engaging otherwise.

I’d read Mira Grant’s shopping lists, so it wasn’t wasted time – but it was a surprise, and not one of her typical good ones…

My review copy was provided by NetGalley. In the Shadow of Spindrift House releases in the US on June 30, 2019.