The InCryptid Series, Part 1
by Seanan McGuire

Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted July 10, 2024
Edits and Addenda on August 5, September 30, October 10, & November 21

Discount Armageddon / Midnight Blue-Light Special / Half-Off Ragnarok / Pocket Apocalypse / Chaos Choreography

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Seanan McGuire's second urban fantasy series, InCrytid, began with Discount Armageddon in 2012. At this time the series totals thirteen books, with another due out next March. The series as a whole has been a Hugo finalist twice, in 2018 and 2020. When I began my reviews of her October Daye books, I compared that series to the Dresden Files and Lost Girl. InCryptid is more like Grimm, only instead of the protagonist being a police detective, Verity Price is a cryptozoologist by trade and family tradition, but she makes her living as a waitress at a strip club. Under the assumed name of Valerie Pryor she competes in ballroom dancing contests, and is a former contestant on the reality TV competition show "Dance or Die." She says dancing is just as good at keeping her in fighting shape as other types of exercise. In addition to being strong and flexible, she is also proficient with many weapons.

I also said October Daye had a bit of Buffy snark, but now the snark is ramped up about ten notches, plus there is more sex, nudity, and profanity. The "uniform" Verity (Very) has to wear at Dave's Fish and Strips is very skimpy, but not as skimpy as Dave would prefer. She continually has to rebuff his requests that she switch from waitress to stripper. Very is human, but almost all the other employee's at the club are cryptids. Dave is a bogeyman, who mostly stays in his office in dark mode. Other waitresses are a dragon princess named Candice, the Lesser Gorgon Carol, and Ista, a Waheela. Ryan, the bouncer, is a Tanuki. All of this is taking place in Manhattan, but most of the Price family live near Portland, Oregon. They are all cryptozoologists, with some of the family being adopted cryptids, and one aunt is a ghost. Going back several generations, the family had once been part of a group of cryptid hunters known as the Covenant of St. George, but splintered off from them when they decided not all cryptids were harmful, in fact some were beneficial to the environment, and no threat to humanity.

The Covenant believes the Healy family, which became the Price family through marriage, had all died out. No, they have just remained under the radar, while at the same time working to expand their cryptid knowledge. There are dangerous cryptids for sure, and that is where their fighting and weapons training is put to good use. Very is in Manhattan because that is the best place to pursue her dancing career, but she also patrols the city to hunt dangerous cryptids and defend the harmless ones. Her waitress job, her dance career, and her cryptozoology endeavors all become more dangerous when cryptids, all young and female, go missing, and a member of the Covenant comes to town. It appears that Dave knew about the disappearances, although he didn't seem to worry until his waitresses were among them. He also knew about Dominic de Luca coming to town, yet didn't warn Very or anyone else. Very's normal patrols are across the city's rooftops, parkour style, rather than the streets and sidewalks. One night she is inadvertently trapped in one of Dominic's snares, but she is able to extract herself, and her confrontations with Dominic begin. He was an only child, and now an orphan, having been raised by other Covenant members, and loyal to their mission. He is of the type to think all cryptids are dangerous and on his kill list, but he eventually learns different through his association with Very. That includes encounters with Very's adopted cousin Sarah, a Johrlac, or in other words, a telepathic cuckoo.

I expected the antagonism between Very and Dominic to last most of the book, especially after he sabotaged her entry in a dance contest, but he gradually comes to see some of the cryptids as harmless, not human of course, but still people, who were as worthy of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as anyone else. In spite of her initial resentment, Very thinks Dominic is hot. And a very good kisser. Even though she frustrated him with her attitude at first, he had to admit he was attracted to her too. That led to the nudity and sex, which surprised Very as much as it turned her on. He was definitely smitten, and he obviously did not take her assertions that it shouldn't happen again to heart. I assume Dominic will recur in other books, but I don't know for sure. I won't tell you about the basic mystery, why cryptids were going missing, or who was responsible. Suffice it to say it concerned a cryptid long thought extinct, but that was obviously incorrect, and although it was sleeping, there were humans and other cryptids who wanted to wake it up.

I bought e-books of October Daye (sixteen titles) and InCryptid (ten) through a Humble Bundle promotion last August. I liked the first six of Toby's stories more than I expected, and will continue that series at some point. I don't want to rush to judgment on InCryptid, but I did not like it as much. It is a fun story, light-hearted in spite of some dangerous and tragic incidents, but too soon to tell how I will like the follow-up books. I will read another next month and see how it goes..

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Posted August 5, 2024
I liked the second book more than the first, but I still have a few reservations about certain plot points. Very now occasionally refers to Dominic as her boyfriend, and it does seem he has sided with her and her cryptid friends against the Covenant, but I couldn't help but think that was a bit too quick, too convenient. It had been several generations, at least that the Price family were aware of, since the last defection away from the Covenant. I won't be surprised if that proves too good to be true. Dominic does warn Very that several Covenant members are coming to New York to check up on him, to decide if a cryptid purge is warranted. He also tells her where he will first be meeting them, in order for her to be there to observe from a distance. He later tells her that the woman in the group is Margaret Healy, a distant relative of Very's, who had previously been prevented from coming to America, since it was felt she was too invested in tracking down her family's defectors for revenge, rather than sticking to other assigned tasks.

All of the October Daye books I have read have been in first-person, with Toby telling her story, even though other perspectives would have been helpful at times. Halfway through this book Very's adopted cousin Sarah picks up the narration, when she loses telepathic contact with Very. The first time they encountered Margaret Healy, Sarah was puzzled since she could not sense anything about Margaret, no awareness of her consciousness, as if there was a hole where her thoughts should have been. Sarah wakes with the feeling of a sharp blow to the back of her head, and no awareness of Very. She would normally know approximately where Very was even if miles away, but now nothing. Sarah is sure Very has been abducted, and cloaked the same way Margaret had been. Up to this point, other than a few phone conversations, or Very talking about them, her family have not been a part of the story, neither of her parents, nor her older brother, or younger sister. Just her adopted cousin Sarah, and now another adopted relative, 'Uncle' Mike from Chicago, is sent to help. After Very's disappearance, Sarah, Mike, and several of Very's cryptid co-workers and acquaintances have to work together to find her, as well as figuring out how to combat the Covenant without bringing more of their forces to New York in response.

A few chapters later Very picks up the narration again, when she comes back to consciousness. She is chained in a small enclosure she thinks is inside a shipping container, but not on a ship since she cannot sense any motion. It is inside an abandoned warehouse. She is tortured, holding out for a while, and only giving up her name, but no other information. So far at least. Against all odds, Very is able to overcome one of her captors and get out of the container, hiding before the other two are aware of the situation. After several perilous attempts to get out of the warehouse, Very is captured again, but luckily rescue arrives in time. I won't reveal the aftermath of that, only say it involves Sarah's telepathic abilities. Not reading other minds, but projecting thoughts and (false) memories into other minds. In addition to bruises and contusions, punctures from needles, and various cuts and scrapes from her escape attempt, Very had also been shot once. The next time she wakes she is in a hospital, the same hospital she was in at the first of the book, but then it was trapping a dangerous cryptid. Doctors who normally only worked on cryptids proved capable of healing her from all wounds, much quicker than she would have expected.

Now comes the part where I have to wonder how sincere Dominic is about his defection from the Covenant, as well as worrying about Very being careless. She was in New York to try to advance her dancing career, her parents giving her one year to decide if she wanted to continue to perform, or if she would be returning to the fold to take up cryptozoology full-time. That year is coming to an end, and she had already made up her mind. She would continue to enjoy dancing, but it would no longer be her profession. Her knowledge of cryptids, her alliance with and solidarity with her non-human friends, would be given top priority. She prepares to go home to Oregon, reuniting with her family, and she has invited Dominic to accompany her. If Dominic is a true defector, then no problem. But now that the Covenant knows the Price family still exists, getting information about where they live, and what they have been doing, will be at the top of their task list. Woe be unto Dominic if Very discovers she should not have trusted him. Or is she just stringing him along, waiting for him to incriminate himself?.

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Posted September 30, 2024
Another example of how I try to avoid spoilers; I had expected all of this series to be narrated by Verity "Very" Price, as the first six October Daye books have been by Toby. I don't know how many other times it occurs, but the third InCryptid title is from the perspective of her older brother, Alexander. Very and Dominic are briefly mentioned, and it seems they are still together, with no indication that Dominic's desertion from the Covenant was not sincere. As Very did with her dancing career, using the name Valerie Pryor, Alex presents himself as Alexander Preston. He is working at the Columbus, Ohio zoo, temporary head of the reptile department, while at the same time conducting surveys of local cryptids, along with trying to breed a pair of basilisks in secret. His pair are of a species known to be petrifactors, meaning their venom, maybe even just their stare at humans or other animals produces a petrifying condition, turning the victims to stone. Other cryptid petrifactors include the cockatrice, and various species of Gorgons (Greater, Lesser, or Pliny's Gorgon). One of Very's co-workers at the strip club was a Lesser, and Alex's assistant at the zoo, Deanna, is a Pliny's, so she is initially a suspect when another zoo worker is apparently killed by a petrifactor.

Alex had initially lived by himself in a small, one bedroom apartment, but later moved in with his grandparents. Both of them are adoptive, and both are cryptids. Angela is a Johrlac, but not the biological mother or grandmother of Sarah, who was also adopted. Sarah had aided Very in the first two books, but now is in Columbus, recovering from the trauma of dealing with the Covenant in the second book. She had projected thoughts and images into the minds of several of their agents, which convinced them the Price/Healy family had indeed died out, and that there was no need for a purge of cryptids in Manhattan. Sarah is now in an almost catatonic state. Alex does what he can to help in her recovery, when and however he can outside of his zoo duties and cryptid surveys. And his relationship with Shelby Tanner. She is an Australian transplant, head of the zoo's lion, tiger, and other large cat populations. She also turns out to be an enterprising ally for Alex, when it turns out she is also knowledgeable on the subject of cryptids. That is discovered after she had assumed Alex was under the spell of a Johrlac, known and feared as telepaths. Shelby took it upon herself to rescue him from that fate, which put her at odds (for a time) with Angela. Sarah had recovered enough by that time and intervened in that confrontation, because she liked Shelby. Oh, I almost forgot the grandfather, Martin. He is a Revenant, sort of a Frankenstein's cryptid, constructed from the parts of various other dead people. He is one of the county's coroners, which comes in handy for him if he ever needs spare parts, but he also aids Alex's investigation by supplying him with autopsy reports on his zoo co-worker, and then later victims.

I won't reveal too much more of the plot, but as with most mysteries there are early suspects later dismissed (then re-suspected), red herrings, detours and misdirection from multiple quarters. Several other cryptids are consulted, some of whom trust Alex, some who fear and/or hate all humans. We meet members of Dee's family, as well as a splinter group of Gorgons, most all of whom try to segregate themselves from humans since most male Pliny's would stick out like a sore thumb. A giant sore thumb. Forget the snakes for hair, which can be hidden by hats or wigs, but the males are extremely tall in comparison to the females. While the investigation continues, Alex and Shelby grow closer, but there are times they almost decide their relationship might not work. Shelby already said the sex was great, but she had not intended to stay in the States that long. She misses Australia, and knows she is needed there to protect and/or control its native cryptids, along with others who have emigrated there. It doesn't help that someone is trying to kill either Alex, or her, or both together. Another cryptid figures into capturing the petrifacting perpetrator. Alex has a pet Church Griffin which he named Crow, a cross between a dragon and bird, either owl-like or eagle. Crow's tracking sense finds Shelby after her abduction. Why she was kidnapped instead of being killed is just one more piece of the mystery puzzle. I won't say all is well at the end, since there are numerous possibilities left unresolved, most involving whether or not Alex and Shelby have a future together. Sarah is mostly recovered, but it is too soon to know how she will figure into future adventures, or when she does who she will work with, Alex or Very.

As I said after the first six October Daye books, these are not great literature, but they are very entertaining stories. Sometimes that is all I need; an exciting story with interesting characters, ones I can root for, even if they are not perfect people, or perfect cryptids. Even if many of the characters are other than human, it doesn't mean there aren't parellels to how humans treat each other. The Price/Healy family has a long and storied reputation, highly regarded by some, resented by others, both cryptid and Covenant, but their emphasis had mostly been fairness in dealing with all species. One other thing about Shelby; she is a member of Australia's Thirty-Six Society of cryptozoologists, a group previously unknown to Alex, but maybe not to others of his family. His future might involve more research into the family archives, maybe even a trip to Australia. I will try to get to the next book in October, but I will again avoid looking for any information about it. Maybe its narrator will be Antimony, Alex and Very's younger sister. We shall see. Stay tuned..

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Posted October 10, 2024
Pocket Apocalypse is once again narrated by Alexander Price, but I wasn't sure that would be the case during the short prologue. It presented a scenario set seven years prior to the main action. It featured Alex, but was written in third-person. Then it switches to his first-person narration in the chapter that follows. He and Shelby Tanner are still an item. Something he had said in the previous book, in the heat of the moment, comes up again, but I won't say what just yet. Shelby gets word from her family that she is needed back in Australia, and she asks Alex to accompany her. Her invitation comes with a question: "What do you know about werewolves?" He knows more than she expected, mainly that werewolves are not like what most people think of from legend, or from movies and TV. The prologue was about a time Alex confronted a werewolf, which had transformed from an infected horse. Almost any species of mammal could become a werewolf, but not just from a bite from another werewolf. Instead, the condition is caused by the lycanthropy-w virus, which can be transmitted by fluid transfer; blood or saliva. It is similar to rabies, and was originally detected in therianthropes, which to traditional science and medicine are considered psychiatric aberrations.

The cryptozoologist group Shelby's family is a part of, the Thirty-Six Society, hates the Covenant too, yet they don't act that differently. It is possible there are Covenant agents in Australia, but the Thirty-Six Society thinks they have been banished from their shores. They are more about preservation of Australia's native species, including native cryptids, but they do not work with and support many of those cryptids. Instead, their purpose seems to be more about keeping those cryptids in their place, and very seldom, if ever working with them, or asking them for advice. Exactly the opposite of what the Price family had been doing. Shelby's family resented her going to the US, even though her original intent had been to learn about manticores, which had reached Australia by some means a short time before. Now the menace is werewolves, which the Thirty-Six Society is ill prepared to face. Riley Tanner, Shelby's father, is the head of the society. He resents Alex's involvement with his daughter, and is reluctant, nay, belligerant in rejecting any advice Alex tries to share. His main concern is that the Price family might still be a part of the Covenant. However knowledgeable Alex thinks he is about werewolves, some of his notions turn out to be wrong. It had been learned that the virus had an incubation period of 28 days (that sounds familiar) before a victim exhibited symptoms, transforming into a werewolf. Also, not everyone exposed would be affected; the chances were about 1 in 10. Which is a comforting notion, especially when Alex is bitten by a werewolf. The major thing he was wrong about was thinking once a werewolf transformed they lost cognitive ability, not capable of planned thought and action. That alone almost killed him and many others.

This is my favorite book of the series so far, mainly due to Alex and his resolve to do the right thing, and his ability to realize earlier mistakes and make corrections on the fly. Not that there isn't a bit of humor, but it is a very perilous adventure, with dire circumstances occurring right up to the penultimate chapter. Other than Shelby of course, the other Tanners are still wary of Alex. Riley keeps calling him Covenant Boy. Yet they begrudgingly have to accept him, since Shelby might go back to the US and never return if they don't. What Alex had blurted out during a tense moment in the previous book was, "Marry me!" Since Shelby did not respond at that time he thought she might not have heard. She was stunned by it, but also had to think seriously about the prospect. Without giving Alex a heads-up, she tells her parents that he is her fiancé, not just boyfriend. The question now is will they be married in Australia or the US, and where will they live? I made the mistake of reading the first sentence of Seanan's afterword, so I know Alex is not the narrator of the next book. I stopped reading then, so I don't know who will be featured, but I suspect it will be Verity again, since the next book is Chaos Choreography. I'll get to that next month, hopefully. Pocket Apocalypse is a tense roller-coater ride of suspense, danger, and violence, with the ultimate rescue led by an unexpected ally. I'm sure we will see them again if another adventure is set in Australia. We may even get a scene with all the Prices in Australia for a wedding, or to see and hear Shelby's sister Gabby sing "Carmen.".

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Posted November 21, 2024
The narration for the fifth InCryptid novel switches back to Verity Price, or in some scenes I guess you could say Valerie Pryor, the name she assumed when she started her dance career. I either made the mistake, or mis-read something in the first book, when I said she was in New York to pursue her dancing career, while at the same time following her family's cryptozoology investigations. Her parents had given her one year to decide what she really wanted to do. Of course, New York is the center of portions of the entertainment business, but I don't think Very had ambitions toward Broadway. Besides, the TV reality dance competition show she had participated in, "Dance or Die," was produced in Los Angeles, or Burbank to be more specific. Very had been a contestant in the show's second season, coming in second. Now she has a chance to go back to the show, since its sixth season will be an All-Star season, reuniting the top four dancers from the previous five seasons. Very had almost made the final decision she would give up dancing, but it is too hard to resist the invitation.

I suppose I was also wrong about Dominic, Very's one-time Covenant rival, then boyfriend, now husband. They had travelled cross country via U-Haul truck, both to see the sights and visit other cryptozoologists, both family and friends. Their eventual destination was her parents' compound somewhere east of Portland, Oregon. Along the way they stopped in Vegas and got married. The ceremony was performed by an Elvis impersonator who also happened to be a cryptid, a chupacabra. Very had not followed Dance or Die that closely since her appearance, and didn't keep in touch with other contestants from her season. Her goal had been to keep a low profile to avoid the Covenant, plus she had failed to get many auditions for other work in New York, where some of the other contestants may have also been trying to find work or other competitions. She knew one of the show's production people was a cryptid, which is one of the reasons she accepted the invitation to return. I won't reveal who or what type of cryptid they were, but it ties back into the first book's plot, which I didn't spoil then either. I think she also knew one of her season's contestants was a cryptid, and then shortly after arriving to rehearse for the show, she learns one of the other season's contestants was as well, another chupacabra. Both of them are therianthropes, shape-shifters who appear human most of the time.

The way the rest of the book plays out it would have been appropriate if they had changed the name of the show to "Dance and Die". As with many other competition shows, each week there are eliminations. It wasn't until the third week Very became aware the two most recently eliminated had been murdered, under conditions that pointed to a ritualistic sacrifice. The reason they found those bodies is one of the cryptid contestants had a keen sense of smell for blood. But when they went back to the basement room the next day the bodies were gone, along with any other evidence they had ever been there, including traces or odor of blood. That leads them to suspect the dancers eliminated in the first two weeks may have suffered the same fate. Dominic had accompanied Very to California, and is staying in a cheap motel near the studios. Another of her relatives is also sent to help out, Alice Enid Healy, Very's paternal grandmother. Even though Alice is 52 years older than Very, when seen side by side most people might mistake them for sisters, or close cousins. That might have to do with Alice's constant inter-dimensional travel in her attempts to find her lost husband, or perhaps Alice knows a bit of magic. It is apparent others know some magic too, or perhaps know how to move between dimensions, since that is the only way Very and Alice can think of for the bodies disappearing. One other disappearance occurs: Alice.

This is an exciting, perilous mystery, with a explosive finale that reminded me of one TV show's season finale, but I won't spoil that either. It does make it clear that no matter how good a cryptozoologist Very is, and that applies to everyone else in her family, none of them are perfect. They may win the day in the end, but it doesn't mean they won't lose people (or cryptids) along the way. It is most difficult when you need to protect cryptid identities, and your own identity, to avoid exposing yourself and them to the Covenant, or to mundane law enforcement. But it appears Verity Price has thrown all caution to the wind, defying all authorities, including the Covenant. The repercussions are bound to make future stories even more dangerous for her and her family. But I think the Price/Healy families are up to the challenge.

This brings Part 1 of my InCryptid reading to a close. I have purchased five other titles, and others might be available from the library. I will get back to this, but I don't know when, and that applies to the October Daye books too. Next month, another book by Seanan, a standalone, not related to any of her other series.

 

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