Verity's family has always had a soft spot for cryptids...creatures who some might label as "monsters;" that is, of course, unless you get to know them personally. She's a professional dancer by day and a cryptozoologist by night, tasked with learning about and ensuring the welfare of cryptids. Enter Dominic DeLuca, an untried Covenant operative, and things start to get complicated. Despite boiling chemistry and a matching affinity for weaponry, Verity and Dominic have reached a possible breaking point, while around them the cryptid denizens of New York City are holding their breath as the unthinkable finally happens. The Covenant of St. George has come to town in force to initiate a purge of all cryptids, regardless of their actual intentions towards humanity. They have come for blood. If they can have Verity's blood as well, they will not hesitate to take it.

Verity's family has a long and bitter history with the Covenant. The Covenant was founded on the fervent belief that all non-human, non-animal creatures were "unnatural" and therefore "evil" that must be destroyed utterly at all costs. Her great-great-grandfather was a part of the Covenant, but his encounters with cryptids led him to question and ultimately break from the Covenant doctrines, taking his wife with him. They, and all of their descendants, were henceforth branded as "traitors" for breaking their oath, despite said descendants never having been directly involved. No one leaves the Covenant...except in a show more coffin.

New York is Verity's city, however, and many of its cryptids are her friends. Protecting them is her job, and a Price never takes a threat lying down. She has trained for this moment her entire life. She has gathered her allies and battened down the hatches. The question is, now that the chips are down, does Dominic follow his oath...or his heart?

"Midnight Blue-Light Special" is the second installment in the InCryptid series. This book was excellent. Seanan McGuire has obvious intelligence and a wonderful sense of humor that shines throughout this novel as well as its predecessor. It has everything you could want in a good escapist read: action, laughs, suspense, and romance. It even comes with a fantastic soundtrack listed in the back. This book is a prime example of Urban Fantasy at its rollicking best. I love the Gothic Lolita waheela who sews extra rows of lace onto her parasols while waiting for "carnage" and the hyperreligious Aeslin mice, for whom the most mundane act is cause for unbridled celebration.

As reflected on the current cover, this second installment of the InCryptid series gives us greater involvement with the character of Sarah, Verity's cousin by adoption who is also a cuckoo, a powerful telepathic cryptid who also happens to be a math geek with a taste for room service. We even get a brief window into her psyche as she takes over the narration for a bit.

I'm a pretty...let's say "discerning"...reader, and I certainly want to give a balanced review of the book. Let's face it, this is not "War and Peace", and thank God for that, because I wasn't really in the mood for "War and Peace" anyways. This novel won't win the Nobel Prize for literature, but that's not the point here. The author's goal in writing this novel was to produce a reasonably intelligent and well thought-out read that was tasteful, funny, and above all, entertaining. The writing is solid; it flowed well and was structurally sound, free of annoying typos and egregious grammatical errors.

McGuire did throw in a couple of "Anita Blake-isms", whether she meant them as such or not: several times over the course of the novel, Verity answers the phone and nods or shakes her head, realizes the person can't see her, then responds accordingly. This became mildly annoying. I get it that Laurell K. Hamilton's many, many tropes are funny to those who know her work, and maybe the many authors who use them are making fun, maybe they are giving a nod to Laurell K., or maybe they were fans and these phrases and literary mannerisms have truly penetrated their psyches. I suppose it depends on the author in question. Regardless of why it was done, it would be more effective if it was used once then left alone. Any more and it weakens the character. Truly though, if this is what I am complaining about, McGuire has done a generally exemplary job. I wish the rest of the genre would rise to her standards.

The pacing of the novel slipped a bit at the end. We had a lot of buildup, even coming over from the previous novel, but the climax came and went and things wrapped up so swiftly that I was a bit thrown off. Yes, the threads get wrapped up, but it happens so fast it might give you a bit of whiplash. I guess that's what happens when you have powerful friends, but it was a bit abrupt and a little too neat. It almost felt like she was writing away and her deadline snuck up on her and she had to wrap it up at the last minute, but who knows.

Regardless, I have to say that this book was a thoroughly enjoyable read. It's cute and funny and clever and has great taste in fashion and music. I would definitely invite it to a party, because even if it wasn't the smartest kid in the room, it would make everyone laugh and tell great stories, and of course it would burn up the dance floor. If you are a fan of Urban Fantasy, this is a definite pick. This series would be a great choice for someone new to the genre looking for a fun read or wanting to get a taste of what all the fuss is about, though it doesn't have a single vampire, pixie, or werewolf in the traditional sense. McGuire has forged a unique path for herself in this series, and she carries it off with aplomb. It is very refreshing to encounter a new twist on the Urban Fantasy themes that works. I can't wait to see what the Price family gets up to in her next InCryptid novel, which is definitely on my must-have list. Hail! show less

Ana is a lisitsa, a skin walker who takes the form of an arctic fox. After a human lover tried to ensnare her by burning her fox skin, she was trapped in her human form for two years while she desperately sought some kind of healing that would allow her to once again resume her true shape. Alone and in torment, she has resorted to stealing the skins of other skin walkers in a desperate bid to escape the imprisonment of human flesh.

Brec, a selkie healer, finds that his skin has been stolen. Grief and rage drive him to seek out the thief in order to reclaim his skin and exact vengeance for his loss. He never counted on losing his heart in the process. He has a choice, to take the revenge he sought and punish Ana for her crimes or to find it within himself to forgive her and help her heal her damaged skin...and her broken heart.

Jennifer Blackstream's latest Paranormal Romance gives us an interesting immersion into what skinwalker culture might look like. The author has a graduate degree in psychology, and she uses her background in order to place the reader in the minds of what would be a strikingly different culture from our own. Though the book is set in present-day Alaska, none of the main characters are, or ever have been, human, and their values, their culture, their perspectives reflect the very different lives they might live. Though the genre is very popular, in this book Ms. Blackstream has chosen to explore a subset of lore that lies along a lesser used road. She show more weaves in a bit of Celtic mythology with a deft touch in what I found to be some of the highlights of the book.

I found myself not always liking the protagonists as much as I would have hoped, especially in the earlier part of the book. Ana's actions are impulsive and selfish and she takes a very short-term view with regard to decisions. She comes across as being emotionally immature, as does Brec, who vacillates wildly from violent rage to gentlemanly concern for Ana to suspicion to fear and back around. It is an emotional maelstrom. Brec has the makings of a wonderful romantic hero in many ways. However, he is also ninety-two years old; one might hope he might have gained more perspective on things by now. As the story progresses, we see more and more evidence of just how different the lives of these characters are from our own, and thus to project human expectations and human values onto them may not be realistic. It is the author's world, and we must trust her to guide us faithfully through it. As a human myself, however, I had a difficult time accepting the seemingly incongruent emotional development of the protagonists.

I also had a bit of difficulty with the way some of the various plot elements came together; some things seemed a bit forced, particularly in the early parts of the story. For example, the character of Nu, a Pixy, seemed to function as a device to facilitate the progression of certain plot points. We never learned much detail about him in and of himself, and he showed up at times when the story threatened to stall and injected snippets of helpful dialog to get things back on track. I wanted to like him, but I found him not quite credible as a character. At least the author did have the good sense to dress him in fur, since a Pixy would likely have a tough time surviving in Alaska.

Blackstream certainly does take us for a wild ride. We experience the heat of anger, the tension of fear, the anguish of grief, and the hopelessness of depression, but we also experience the thrill of attraction, the heat of desire, the warmth of love, and the light of hope. There may even be a miracle thrown in for good measure. While the characters got off to a rough start, they do learn and grow from their experiences. At the end of the roller coaster, we find forgiveness and a chance for redemption in the ashes of the past. If you are looking for a story that will give you a bit of heat and leave you with a sigh of contentment, this one fits the bill. I will be interested to see how Ms. Blackstream's future works progress. Some of the writing evidenced here flowed well and was very solid and descriptive with good attention to detail. Fans of the Paranormal Romance genre should keep an eye on her. show less

Mona Bright is no stranger to loss. She lost her mother at the tender age of five, and the trauma of that sudden, unexpected loss has come to define her life. Now she has lost her father, coming on the heels of the loss of her career in law enforcement, her husband, and her unborn daughter. When she finds she has inherited her mother's house in the small town of Wink, New Mexico, she sets out to claim what is left of her mother's legacy, to attempt to unearth anything she can find about this woman who is almost a stranger to her in an attempt to fill the gaping void inside. What she finds only raises more questions; questions which her new neighbors would much prefer remained buried, no matter what the cost. In what turns out to be the most critically important investigation she has ever faced, Mona soon learns she still has something left to lose after all- her sanity...and her life.

"...it is possible for something to enter your world that is so vast, so terrible, so foreign, that you cannot coexist with it: you must, in some way or another, vacate the premises, give up your seat. Merely knowing that this thing exists pulls the supports out from everything you know and trust: the established world falls around you like a circus tent whose center pole is cut.
And you must go with it. You must get out. You have to get out."

In American Elsewhere, Robert Jackson Bennet has created a twisty-turny thrill ride of a supernatural novel which blends elements of science fiction, show more mystery, and horror. As in his previous works, this novel reveals the influence of modern horror authors like Stephen King; this particular work is also heavily flavored with echoes of H.P. Lovecraft. Fans of either should enjoy this novel.

Bennett's pacing is outstanding. He demonstrates a strong understanding of how to play to today's short attention span audience, and despite the fact that this novel has 662 pages, it does not feel nearly that long. It is broken into short chapters with rotating points of view, each of which served to escalate the ratcheting tension throughout the book. I did not feel at any point that I was bored or that there was a lull that I would have to get through in order to find out what was going to happen. Bennet keeps you on an edge-of-your-seat knife blade of tension and doesn't let you go until the very end.

It could be said that we don't get to develop as much closeness with Mona, our central protagonist, as we might have. However, I feel that this is at least partially a function of who she is as a character. She has been driven by and defined by a sense of emptiness inside since her mother's death. She goes to great lengths to keep others at a safe distance because she has never resolved the issues brought about by that trauma. She feels hollow inside, as is evidenced in a particularly disturbing dream sequence. It is little wonder she has less to offer us in terms of intimacy than perhaps another protagonist might; after all, she has less to offer to herself. When viewed in this light, I do not feel that Mona's weakness detracts from the experience of the novel in a significant way. Certainly, many of his characters are fascinating and leave you wanting to know more as details about them are gradually revealed throughout the story. Perhaps characterization is an area for Mr. Bennet to explore further in his future works.

Ideas and imagination, on the other hand, are in abundant evidence. Bennet handles the horror with a deft touch, getting under our skin and leaving us profoundly grateful that this is, after all, merely fiction. There are several unexpected twists, some of which may leave you sympathizing with some of the very things which initially horrified you. The atmosphere is painted for us with skillful brush strokes and excellent attention to detail. Bennett's writing is strong and technically proficient, something which is all too rare these days. Despite the fact that the copy I read was an Advanced Reader's Edition, there were only a small handful of errors, which will likely be corrected.

Overall, this book was an absolute delight to read. The story will continue to haunt you even after you have finished the book. I highly recommend it to anyone who isn't afraid of being spooked...it is the perfect book to read under the covers with a flashlight (after you have checked under your bed, of course) and should serve to keep you up well past your bedtime, just like it did me. show less