Review: Waking the Merrow by Heather Rigney

Title: Waking the Merrow

Author: Heather Rigney

In 1772, angry Rhode Island colonists set fire to a British ship, sparking the American Revolution. Taxation without representation was a motivator. So was the vengeful, man-eating mermaid who had it out for the commanding officer.
That was then. This is now.
Mermaids, or merrow, still hunt in Narragansett Bay, but these days they keep a lower profile.
At night, centuries-old Nomia seduces smutty frat boys, lures them into icy waters, and feeds them to her voracious kin. By day, she and her half-breed daughter attempt to blend in at the coastal Village Playground.
But Nomia slips up. She makes a friend. Then she makes that friend disappear, and someone notices.
Thirty-something Evie McFagan just wants to make it through working motherhood. But she’s a blistering stew of issues—snarky alcoholic and a friendless funeral director who just witnessed Nomia dismembering a guy at the nearby yacht club.
When Evie believes a mermaid stole her baby, who will help? The merrow of Ireland? Or maybe anti-hero Evie will surprise everyone, including herself, and summon the strength to save her own family.
Intertwining the stories of two primordial families with the colonial history of Narragansett Bay, Waking the Merrow is a dark historical fantasy

Review
WOW... I mean, seriously WOW. I could not put this book down – even though at times it:

1. scared the living daylights out of me
2. has probably made me even more ocean-phobic (and swimming pool phobic, for that matter) than I already am
3. made me cry
4. made me laugh out loud
5. almost made me wet my pants (through both fear and laughter)

I just loved the fact that the lead character was so flawed - overweight with a bit of a drink problem and speaks the kind of language that makes the air turn blue. But she is just so likeable. In fact, she's just like you and me. An everyday thirty-something woman who just happens to witnesses something so terrifying that it leads her even further down her scary path. There were moments of sheer genius that literally made me spit out my tea / wine (depending on whether I was reading morning or night!) while I choked on my laughter.

I usually try and find something critical to say about the writing or the story itself, but I can honestly say there is not a single negative thing I can offer about Waking the Merrow. It's an absolutely brilliant novel and I can't wait for the next book by this truly amazing author.

Author Bio

Writer, artist, and underwater fire-breather Heather Rigney likes to make stuff. Stuff with words, stuff with paint, stuff that’s pretty, and stuff that’s not. Heather’s stories reflect her dark, gothic childhood spent alone in the woods of northern Rhode Island.
Having discovered the works of both Stephen King and Clive Barker at the age of eleven, she started to wonder if she truly was alone in the woods, or perhaps not. The perhaps was what kept her up at night. Her imagination cranked out stories and dreams that she kept to herself. She was an strange child and didn’t need one more reason for the neighbors to cluck, “That Rigney girl is so odd …” But now that she’s comfortable with her oddness, Heather loves sharing her stories with you, dear reader.
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