GO BUY THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW!!!!!

Ahem.  Allow me to collect myself.

Ok, Seanan McGuire is one of the very few authors that I will go out of my way to buy the first week their books come out.  I can often be heard to lament that she doesn’t constantly have more books coming out all the time, however, that just isn’t possible.  She is just one woman, and does have to sleep occasionally.  And I am not patient enough to wait for a backlog of those books.  So, I pick up the newest one, whether she’s writing under her own name or as Mira Grant, I devour it in 24-48 hours, and then I lament my lack of McGuire-y goodness until the next one comes out.

Discount Armageddon, her latest, is the start of a new series, the InCryptid series of books focusing on the Price-Healy family, who defected from a secret society of monster hunters, when they realized that not all monsters should be exterminated, in fact, some monsters (or Cryptids) are beneficial to the earth’s ecosystems and should be left alone at the very least, if not encouraged.  Verity Price, the heroine, and member of the most recent generation of Price-Healys, is living in New York pursuing a career as a competitive ballroom dancer before she has to fully settle down into the family business of protecting Cryptids from humanity, and vice versa, all while waitressing at a strip club run by a bogeyman.  When Cryptids start disappearing and a member of that secret monster hunting society her family defected from shows up, things get very, very interesting.

There’s lots to love in this book.  Like her October Daye Books, she includes lots of background information on the critters inhabiting her world, without it ever feeling forced.  She includes wit and humor amongst even the darkest scenes.  Her characters are always well-rounded and believable, even the most unbelievable or unreal.  When a character changes their mind, it feels like a natural decision or outgrowth of what’s gone on, not at all out of character or forced.

I picked the book up Friday, finished the book I was already reading Friday night, started Discount Armageddon sometime Saturday afternoon and finished it Sunday night by 5pm.  My single-minded determination to get to the end of books irritates the hell out of the Geek Husband What Rules, and makes me tune out the rest of the world, meaning I totally don’t hear questions aimed in my general direction, the weeping and wailing and gnashing of tiny cat teeth when their food bowl is empty, or the buzzer on the laundry.  And honestly, few authors make that book trance as complete an experience as Ms. McGuire.

If you enjoy Urban Fantasy, pick up Discount Armageddon, and I hope you like it as much as I did… If such a thing is possible.

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