Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid, #2)

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Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid #2)

by Seanan McGuire (Goodreads Author)

4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 · rating details · 1,009 ratings · 216 reviews

Cryptid, noun:
1. Any creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven scientifically. Term officially coined by cryptozoologist John E. Wall in 1983.
2. That thing that's getting ready to eat your head.
3. See also: "monster."

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity--and humanity from them. Ent...more

Mass Market Paperback, 328 pages

Published March 5th 2013 by DAW

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May 21, 2013 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of lighter urban fantasy

Shelves: female-lead, urban-fantasy, should-buy

They're after me again. The librarians. I've tried, oh, I've tried, but they are tenacious and pertinacious and indefatigable (sometimes you can appease them with big words). But if I have any hope of maintaining my connection, I had better return Midnight Blue-Light before they cut me off from my supply. I've been hanging on to it for weeks, not knowing exactly where to go with my review.

Midnight stars Verity Price, a younger member of a clan that studies the things that go bump in the night (a...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Maja rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-the-right-choices, alternating-povs, urban-fantasy, reviewed-in-2013

3.5 stars
As hard as I try to keep them completely separate in my head, for reasons I’d rather not explain, Seanan McGuire and Mira Grant are obviously one and the same. Midnight Blue-Light Special, like no other book published under Seanan’s name before it, shows the sharpness and wit I’ve come to associate with the brilliant and irreplaceable Mira Grant. The urban fantasy genre itself may be a bit constricting compared to a post-apocalyptic future one can create from scratch, but Seanan found a...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Mitch rated it 4 of 5 stars

Writing urban fantasy is like trying to reinvent the wheel, as in there's very little new ground to break at this point, but as Seanan McGuire put it in her shoutout to Michelle Sagara West's Silence: "Being a wave isn’t bad; I write urban fantasy, I am basically sponsoring a surfing competition. But there’s something wonderful about diving into a wave and discovering infinitely more." So rather than writing a full length review, I'm just gonna list the top five reasons why Midnight Blue Light S...more Writing urban fantasy is like trying to reinvent the wheel, as in there's very little new ground to break at this point, but as Seanan McGuire put it in her shoutout to Michelle Sagara West's Silence: "Being a wave isn’t bad; I write urban fantasy, I am basically sponsoring a surfing competition. But there’s something wonderful about diving into a wave and discovering infinitely more." So rather than writing a full length review, I'm just gonna list the top five reasons why Midnight Blue Light Special is infinitely more than your average urban fantasy:

1) Verity Price - A smart, funny, sassy heroine is par for the course for an urban fantasy, as in more likely than not these books won't work without one, but that doesn't make Verity any less charming or fun to read about. Whether it's her weird obsession with guns and knives, her oddball relationship with her family of misfits, or her dedication to her cryptozoologist job despite the lack of perks, she does it all in style, in a way that had me with a stupid grin plastered on my face more often than not.

2) Sarah Zellaby - As best friend characters go, Sarah is pretty awesome. The fact she's not human isn't that unusual, but the fact she's an extremely dangerous giant psychic bug who just happens to look human is. That's the kind of creative detail that instantly makes you zone in on the character, add to that her various freeloading escapades (facilitated by her psychic powers), the sci fi references (because she subscribes to a psychic code of conduct), and how she's just there for Verity (psychic support, again) and yeah awesome.

3) The Cryptozoology - Did you know male dragons are large fire-breathing lizards bigger than a bus while females look like hot chicks? Definitions two ("That thing that's getting ready to eat your head") and three ("See also: 'monster.'") are oddly appropriate, but when McGuire's got her creative juices flowing with all sorts of weird facts about the Cryptid community, the results are bizarrely unputdownable.

4) The Aeslin Mice - In other words, look no further than the Aeslin Mice, tiny talking mice with all sorts of weird religious rituals who shout the most inappropriate things at the most inappropriate times (though they're easily bribed with food). I want one. No, I want a whole colony. But I especially like Verity's description of the Chief Priest, yeah, this isn't a serious book, but that line just nailed the theme (apparently there is one, about growing up differently, as a cryptozoologist and all the associated burdens).

5) The Other Cryptids (aka The Supporting Cast) - I like Istas and her oddly violent ways. I like Kitty and how conniving she is. This only makes sense when you realize they're both not human, one's a therianthrope and the other's a bogeyman, that's why they work - they're the kind of characters that make reading about monsters (weirdly) fun.(less)

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Mar 22, 2013 Marcia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: maguire-seanan

No one--absolutely no one--creates better Urban Fantasy worlds than Seanan McGuire. Her Toby Daye series has proven that to me time and time again, and now her Incryptid Series cements it in stone. The first Incryptid Novel, Discount Armageddon, was a fantastic romp in a world filled with some of the best and most original supernatural creatures ever, and came with a troop of Aeslin mice who would have made the book worthwhile all by themselves. I was really looking forward to reading more in th...more

No one--absolutely no one--creates better Urban Fantasy worlds than Seanan McGuire. Her Toby Daye series has proven that to me time and time again, and now her Incryptid Series cements it in stone. The first Incryptid Novel, Discount Armageddon, was a fantastic romp in a world filled with some of the best and most original supernatural creatures ever, and came with a troop of Aeslin mice who would have made the book worthwhile all by themselves. I was really looking forward to reading more in the second book of the series, Midnight Blue-Light Special. It did not disappoint. Gorgons and Waheelas and Cuckoos, Oh, My! Yes, I said Cuckoos, and I'm not talking about birds or clocks. You'll have to take it from me that you haven't read very much, if anything, about some of the things that go bump in the night in these books, many of which just want to live and let live. Mostly. If only the Covenant of St. George would leave them alone, that is. And you've got to love the kick-butt heroine, Verity Price, who really only wants to dance, dance, dance...as a professional ballroom dancer that is. Of course, her dance partner, who is actually a chupacabra, has a hard time tracking her down for various contests, since she also has to hold up the family tradition of cryptozoology, which involves protecting the various creepy, crawly cryptids hiding from humans in plain sight, and not doing us any harm at all.

There is action galore in Midnight Blue-Light Special, rounded out by a very nice romance, and to make things absolutely perfect, there are plenty of scenes featuring those wonderful Aeslin mice, a breed of talking mice who live in a Barbie Dream House in Verity's closet. The mice are wildly religious, inventing feast days and holidays and ceremonies at the drop of a tiny hat, mostly centered around our heroine. They are very fond of bestowing wonderfully inventive titles upon the objects of their adoration, too, referring to Verity's boyfriend as the God of Hard Choices In Dark Places, and her over-nurturing uncle as the High Priest of Godammit Eat Something Already. For my money, you could do much worse than be greeted by Aeslin mice every morning, chanting, "All Hail, the Goddess has arisen!" I want my own. I'm even willing to spring for the Barbie Dream House.

My only disappointment in Midnight Blue-Light Special was in finding out that the next two books in the series will feature Verity's brother, Alex, instead of her and her boyfriend, Dominic. Of course, I don't really know Alex yet. Maybe I'll fall in love with him too. Assuming, of course, that he has his own Aeslin mice in his closet.

I highly recommend this series to any Urban Fantasy fan looking for more than your typical vampires and werewolves. If you like your monsters wildly unusual (Wadjet or Caladrius, anyone?), your plots full of action, and your humor witty and offbeat, the Incryptid novels are for you. And while you are at it, be sure to check out McGuire's Toby Daye novels, as well. I predict you will enjoy both series. I know I do.

Bookin' It (less)

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Mar 06, 2013 Veronica G. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: female-protagonist, other-things-that-go-bump-in-the-ni, urban-fantasy

The second installment in the InCryptid series was another fun read. The pacing felt a little slow in the beginning as the true threat of the Covenant takes some time to be realized and there was a brief change in the first person POV that felt a bit jarring. Fortunately that doesn't last more than a few chapters. But any niggling issues I may have had are all offset by a likeable, kick-ass heroine and an entertaining cast of secondary characters. Ista, the therianthrope, may be a new favorite....more

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Apr 24, 2013 Midnight marked it as to-read

Shelves: adult, archers-and-swords, book-in-a-serie-that-i-haven-t-read, demons-and-angels, fae-and-faries, favorite-authors, gargoyles-and-goblins, urban-fantasy, supernatural-creature-uncommon, vampires, witches-and-wizards, own, own-and-to-read

I am getting this through goodreads first reads
Today is a good day!!!

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Mar 07, 2013 Karissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have read all of Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series (which I adore) and her Newsflesh series written as Mira Grant (which I also loved). This is the second book in the Incryptid series and it was even better than the first! I got a copy of this book to review through Goodreads First Reads program. This was a fun read, that was action packed and very well put together. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Verity is recovering from the deadly snake-cult mystery in the first book when she gets some dreadful...more I have read all of Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series (which I adore) and her Newsflesh series written as Mira Grant (which I also loved). This is the second book in the Incryptid series and it was even better than the first! I got a copy of this book to review through Goodreads First Reads program. This was a fun read, that was action packed and very well put together. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Verity is recovering from the deadly snake-cult mystery in the first book when she gets some dreadful news from Dominic...the Covenant is coming to the city to clear out all of the InCryptids. Now Verity has to find a way to protect both the InCryptids and herself from the Covenant. She also has to figure out if Dominic is with or against her. Part of the story is also told from Sarah’s POV (Sarah is Verity’s cousin who is a cuckoo).

The book is told from both Sarah and Verity's POVs. Cleverly you can tell which chapter is told from which POV by the little pictures up top. Verity's chapters are headed with bloody dance steps, while Sarah's are headed with math equations.

This was a very well done book. It's full of wonderfully creative characters and is a lot of fun to read. You never know what new type of beastie is going to be around the corner. The plot keeps you guessing, the pace is fast, and the book is action packed.

Verity grow a lot in this book. She is finally learning how to trust her friends and depend on them for some backup in this book. She also begins to come to terms with her life and her...destiny. She starts to have to truly decide what form her life will take; that of a professional ballroom dancer or that of a cryptozoologist.

We get a lot of insight into both Dominic and Sarah’s characters in this book as well. Sarah tells some of the story from her POV and she is a very interesting and complex character with an interesting background. We also learn quite a bit about Domonic’s background as well.

As with the past books there are many quirky characters in here. The mice are here in force and as strangely entertaining as they were in the last book. You never know what strange type of mythological beastie you will run into next. They are all interesting and engaging.

Parts of the book are laugh out loud funny, others are touching. All in all a very entertaining and well balanced book. There is a lot of action. As well as a lot of mystery solving.

Overall I absolutely loved this book. It is a perfect balance of everything that makes urban fantasy wonderful. You have creative characters that are fun and easy to engage with and a complex action-packed plot that is fast-paced plot. This book is intelligently written, super fun to read, and absolutely engrossing. It was so hard to put down. Those who love urban fantasy should definitely pick up this whole series, it’s been wonderful to read so far. I also recommend her October Daye series, which is less action packed but also exceedingly well written.(less)

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Feb 24, 2013 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars

MIDNIGHT BLUE-LIGHT SPECIAL is one of those rare sequels that outshines even its predecessor. Non-stop cryptid comedy as Verity prepares to thwart the Covenant in her own backyard. Dominic and Verity both have some dramatic life choices to make, but those weighty choices pop up organically. Most of the focus is Verity's hilarious inner monologue of cryptid species' idiosyncrasies and family history.

Rather than being the type of series that continually leaves the reader hanging, McGuire is build...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Laurel rated it 5 of 5 stars

I had to think on this review a bit. No, that doesn't mean the book was bad. This isn't like Hollywood when pushing back a release date equates to "the movie sucks". In fact, I loved this book immensely! Verity is my kick ass lady version of Bruce Campbell. He juts out his chin, she cocks her hip. Both are sexy, both are absolutely gifted smart mouths and both are complete and utter delights when fighting the bad guys. Truth be told, I'm not sure how I'll handle the wait for the third in the ser...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Paradoxical rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reading-list, books-otherwise

The last book was fun. This one was more like a flop.

Once in a while, when I'm writing reviews, I basically do a bunch of one-liners that help me remember what I wanted to write about. This one was full of fragments and basically amounted to (loud) grumbling. Because of the capslock I had on, haha.

Examples! Because this actually amused me, go figure.

DRAGONS. JUST. WHY.
WTF POV SWITCHING JUST DIE.
CUCKOOS. WHY SO SPECIAL SARAH.
STILL LIKE A BOX OF BRAN FLAKES, DOMINIC.
WHAT DOES VERITY DO. UM. IDK MA...more The last book was fun. This one was more like a flop.

Once in a while, when I'm writing reviews, I basically do a bunch of one-liners that help me remember what I wanted to write about. This one was full of fragments and basically amounted to (loud) grumbling. Because of the capslock I had on, haha.

Examples! Because this actually amused me, go figure.

DRAGONS. JUST. WHY.
WTF POV SWITCHING JUST DIE.
CUCKOOS. WHY SO SPECIAL SARAH.
STILL LIKE A BOX OF BRAN FLAKES, DOMINIC.
WHAT DOES VERITY DO. UM. IDK MAN.

The last one isn't exactly fair, as Verity does do a few things towards the end, but for the most part I found her rather aimless, for all that there's a crisis looming over everyone's heads. Mostly, I suspect, because she and her cohorts were doing defensive planning, which involved the shuffle of people here and there, and trying to get others to cooperate. Still, the book felt rather messy for me, and as such didn't hold onto my attention as it should have.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The second book of the InCryptid series felt more like a transition book than something solid. What didn't help was the spectacularly random POV switching from Verity to Sarah, as it does for a good chunk of the book. It was whiplash. Here I was trucking through Verity's voice and focus, and I suddenly get slammed into a new character that just started off at a sprint without even a little "hello" to start with.

This is the trouble with writing first person POV. Sometimes you write yourself in a corner, want to show something else, but if the person who's POV your writing in is out of commission--well, what then? The author's answer is to throw in another character and use her as the view point until the first character is able to take up the slack again. It felt clumsy. It was definitely confusing and threw me out of the story.

What I've liked about the first book still holds (mostly) with the second. The various cryptids are interesting (especially those Aeslin mice), but they don't seem as fully fleshed out as they could be. I was unhappy that all of the adult female dragons are uniformly annoying, while the male is placid and, well, pretty good natured. You think that Verity and the dragon's relationship with one another would be slightly better, especially with what happened in the last book, but no. Of course not.

I've been a bit fond of Sarah, but she's always been this flighty character in my head. Her POV section didn't really change my feelings on her, and I still think it's a strange, strange thing that all cuckoos are sociopathic bastards that should be shot on sight--except for these two cuckoos who are related to Verity, of course. It just seems very convenient.

Don't get me wrong. The book was still fun in parts, but the rest of it just drowned out what I liked. It was a little bit of a struggle to read, especially in the middle of the book, where I kept getting distracted and tired and wanting to put it down. The end did pick up! But it seemed a bit anti-climatic more than anything else, and like a prelude to a huge disaster. 2 stars.(less)

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May 07, 2013 David Monroe rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller, urban-fantasy, urban-paranormal, humor

In Discount Armageddon (Three and a half stars rounded to four), the first book in the InCryptid series, the best of Seanan McGuire's talents are on display -- Great world-building, smart empowered female protagonist written with a witty and engaging voice touched by snark. In the second book, it's some of the worst bits of her talents on display -- Disorganized plot, monotone writing, ad nauseam repetition of jokes and background details, indulgent dialogue and way too much internal monologuing...more In Discount Armageddon (Three and a half stars rounded to four), the first book in the InCryptid series, the best of Seanan McGuire's talents are on display -- Great world-building, smart empowered female protagonist written with a witty and engaging voice touched by snark. In the second book, it's some of the worst bits of her talents on display -- Disorganized plot, monotone writing, ad nauseam repetition of jokes and background details, indulgent dialogue and way too much internal monologuing.

I really enjoy this series. It's a breath of fresh air from her others. Verity Price is not a broken toy. She's bright, happy, mostly well adjusted and comes from a large extended family who give her unconditional love and support. There are also the Aeslin mice, who alone are worth the price of admission. I LOVE those little guys.

I speed read. I learned in the first book to skip the chapter headers. I'm sure others do as well. Suddenly, at about the third quarter mark, for four chapters, the narrative voice switches from Verity to that of her adoptive cuckoo cousin, Sarah. I didn't even notice the switch in "voices" until I read Verity being discussed in the third person! Sarah's voice remained static and sounded identical to Verity. At a moment when most books should be building up the action to its conclusion, those four chapters froze me. They didn't do or mean anything. They even lead to the most annoying bit of hand waving I've ever done with a McGuire/Grant book. Really, "Uncle" Mike the professional cryptozoologist with 20+ years of experience doesn't understand how telepathy works? Really!?

This feels like a placeholder book. A seventh or eighth book in a series, not the second. Nothing really happens. The big bads are talked up quite a bit but they never live up to it. There is a consequence for a secondary character, but apparently not to Verity or anyone else. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but it just isn't what I expect from her books -- especially not from the nearly note perfect first book. That said -- A bad McGuire/Grant book is still better than 90% of the stuff being churned out. ALL HAIL THE AUTHOR WHO VERY RARELY DISAPPOINTS! (less)

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Apr 13, 2013 Burgoo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

In case you haven’t been reading McGuire’s InCryptid series, here’s what you need to know so far: A cryptid is a creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven. This would include mythological stories about dragons and gorgons as well as more modern stories about Bigfoot or chupacabras. The Covenant of St George is an ancient society dedicated to the extermination of all cryptids. A few generations ago the Price family came to America and left the Covenant. The Prices think that huma...more In case you haven’t been reading McGuire’s InCryptid series, here’s what you need to know so far: A cryptid is a creature whose existence has been suggested but not proven. This would include mythological stories about dragons and gorgons as well as more modern stories about Bigfoot or chupacabras. The Covenant of St George is an ancient society dedicated to the extermination of all cryptids. A few generations ago the Price family came to America and left the Covenant. The Prices think that humans and cryptids can live together peacefully. And the Covenant thinks they’re all dead.

Midnight Blue-Light Special focuses on Verity Price, the young Price daughter living in NYC in order to follow her dreams of being a ballroom dancer. She learns that the Covenant is sending a team to New York. Their report could lead to the Covenant exterminating all the cryptids in the city. And things will just get worse if they learn that the Prices are still alive.

On a surface level, the InCryptid series is like most urban fantasy series. There’s a young female protagonist, who is beautiful and a badass. The story is told in first person, with a quippy narrative voice. The heroine has friends and allies who are members of exotic nonhuman species. The reading experience is fairly light and breezy.

That being said, McGuire has a secret weapon that separates the InCryptid books from the plethora of urban fantasies lining the shelves everywhere these days. That weapon is her world building. First, she ignores the popular nonhumans. There are no vampires or werewolves to be found in these books. Instead, Verity Price’s New York is populated with dragons, gorgons, boogeymen, and a wide variety of idiosyncratic species from all over the world. Second, each of these species seems to have their own elaborate social and biological histories, and best yet – we get to see how these histories influence the behaviors of the characters. So members of predatory species act like predators. Those who would be prey act more like creatures who have a history of being hunted. This sort of world building gives an underlying structure to the series, and makes it stronger than some simple sort of wish fulfillment.

That being said, I did have a couple of problems with the book. First, at times McGuire is a bit too prone to infodumps. You get the feeling that she’s created all this cool backstory, and at times just can’t resist telling the reader about it. Now I really appreciate the work and world building involved, but it’s better to let that come out in characterization and action, not in characters directly telling each other these things.

Second, the agents from the Covenant were a bit too inept. After more than a book of building up the Covenant as an incredibly powerful antagonist, these agents really didn’t cause too much of a problem for Verity or the cryptids of New York. If the members of the Covenant had caused a bit more havoc in New York then it would have increased the tension substantially.

Midnight Blue-Light Special is a thoroughly entertaining read. Its detailed world building creates a fantasy world that it rich in depth and detail. The InCryptid series is one of the best in modern urban fantasy.
(less)

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Apr 11, 2013 Owlcat Mountain added it

I don't use star ratings, so please read my review!

(Description nicked from B&N.com.)

“The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity—and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in ea...more I don't use star ratings, so please read my review!

(Description nicked from B&N.com.)

“The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity—and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn't quite work out that way...

But now, with the snake cult that was killing virgins all over Manhattan finally taken care of, Verity is ready to settle down for some serious ballroom dancing—until her on-again, off-again, semi-boyfriend Dominic De Luca, a member of the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George, informs her that the Covenant is on their way to assess the city's readiness for a cryptid purge. With everything and everyone she loves on the line, there's no way Verity can take that lying down.

Alliances will be tested, allies will be questioned, lives will be lost, and the talking mice in Verity's apartment will immortalize everything as holy writ—assuming there's anyone left standing when all is said and done. It's a midnight blue-light special, and the sale of the day is on betrayal, deceit...and carnage.”

One thing you can always count on with Seanan McGuire’s books is that they’ll be tons of fun, and the Incryptid books are the most fun of all. The author excels at finding the humor in a plot and presenting it without letting it become silly or trite. That’s especially important in this book, because while there’s plenty of humor, some events are darker than in the previous book. The Covenant’s aim is to kill all of Manhattan’s cryptids, and of course Verity and her family will be in danger if they’re caught.

One of the neat things about this series is not only how many interesting species the author includes, but how she makes them alien without making them so different that readers can’t relate to them. My favorite of these characters is Ista, a rather bloodthirsty lady who nonetheless shows moments of childlike wonder at things outside her experience. And of course, I can’t neglect to mention the Aislin mice, who will worship anything at the drop of a hat. In this book, they get to be a bit more serious as well, aiding Verity in ways that only they can.

I really like Verity as well. She’s an incredibly strong heroine, and not just physically. She may not feel that she’s the right person to be protecting Manhattan’s cryptids, but she doesn’t shy away from doing what needs to be done. She’s also not shy about accepting or asking for help when she really needs it. She’s one of the most well-rounded characters that I’ve read about.

The next book will leave Verity and move on to her brother Alex. I’m hoping that in addition to a change of location, there will be more about the entire Price family, because there have been some cool hints as to what other members of the family are like. Although there haven’t been many glimpses of them thus far, what has been said has made me very interested to see more.

I recommend this series a lot, because it’s not only fun and light-hearted, but it’s also tightly plotted and full of action that you won’t find anywhere else. Midnight Blue-Light Special is a rollicking addition to what is already one of my favorite series.

This review originally appeared on Owlcat Mountain on April 11, 2013.(less)

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Apr 10, 2013 Kathryn Patterson rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: young adults and people who love urban fantasy.

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, magic

"Midnight Blue-Light Special" dishes out a new helping of Verity Price and the Cryptid society of Manhattan. While I enjoyed the first book in this series, the second book knocked my socks off. Gone are the discussion about weapons and tango; instead Verity tries to save her people in Manhattan (and by "people" I mean the Gingerbread men and dragons, gorgons, and other cryptids) from the evil Covenant of St. George.

Three questions haunt Verity for most of the book:
1. What is her relationship wi...more "Midnight Blue-Light Special" dishes out a new helping of Verity Price and the Cryptid society of Manhattan. While I enjoyed the first book in this series, the second book knocked my socks off. Gone are the discussion about weapons and tango; instead Verity tries to save her people in Manhattan (and by "people" I mean the Gingerbread men and dragons, gorgons, and other cryptids) from the evil Covenant of St. George.

Three questions haunt Verity for most of the book:
1. What is her relationship with Dominic?
2. What will she choose - dancing or protecting cryptids?
3. How will she save the cryptids?

During the majority of the book, Verity waffles over whether or not she can trust Dominic, and what she's going to do with Dominic regardless of his choice. Dominic himself appears sporadically in the story, telling Verity what he can and leaving her clues to things he cannot in good faith outright tell her. I must admit, I found Verity's waffling over Dominic a bit much after about half the book, because Dominic sent what seemed to me to be clear signs of his honesty and trustworthiness. But I also know that emotions make people paranoid, and Verity comes across as someone who is in too deep, emotionally speaking.

The career decision is more of a background question that Verity contemplates during her infrequent down time. Verity loves dancing, and has loved dancing for her entire life. But Verity also feel a responsibility to the cryptids, to her friends and colleagues. I love how the author presents this choice, where Verity will lose something important whatever she chooses.

As for saving the cryptids, I will be silent, because I had no idea how Verity would keep the Covenant from beginning a purge and either destroying all the cryptids in Manhattan or forcing everyone to abandon their homes. I must admit, the answer was not something I expected.

If you enjoyed the first book, I think you will be even more pleased with this sequel. In general, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy.(less)

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Apr 06, 2013 Janet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dark-humor, feel-good-fantasy, urban-fantasy

Seanan McGuire is the antidote for portentious, pretentious urban fantasy. Her InCryptid series is her most lighthearted series, but it's not "lite" with a heart over the "i". Think cute like a baby python, instead of like a baby bunny. I adore the InCryptid mix of absurd humor with shoot-me-now rough circumstances. InCryptid is McGuire's PC term for monster, and her NYC has as wide a variety of InCryptids as it has human immigrants, from dangerous to downright adorable, and often both at the sa...more Seanan McGuire is the antidote for portentious, pretentious urban fantasy. Her InCryptid series is her most lighthearted series, but it's not "lite" with a heart over the "i". Think cute like a baby python, instead of like a baby bunny. I adore the InCryptid mix of absurd humor with shoot-me-now rough circumstances. InCryptid is McGuire's PC term for monster, and her NYC has as wide a variety of InCryptids as it has human immigrants, from dangerous to downright adorable, and often both at the same time. Midnight Blue Light Special throws a crisis at the NYC InCryptid community: a scouting party for a group of cultish monster-hunting crusaders comes to town to see how InCryptid-infested NYC is. And not every InCryptid in New York is easy, or willing, to hide.

The Price family straddles the human and InCryptid worlds, trying to protect each world from the worst predators of the other. In this second installment of the series, Verity Price still struggles with reconciling her dreams of being an independent professional dancer with her family's expectations that she will prioritize the family missions in the InCryptid world first. This novel also shows the perspective of Verity's adopted cousin, Sarah, an InCryptid trying to blend in with humans.

There's a lot of fun monster mash creativity out there in UF, but unfortunately a lot of it is weighted down by teens and/or superheroes taking themselves way too seriously. I love that Verity bounces through her waitress and revue dancer day jobs, rather than being weighted down with woe-is-me. She's torn and frustrated in her relationship but not ponderous or whiny. Her badassery is hard-earned from growing up in her hard-core warrior family, and she maintains her edge by daily free running on city rooftops. She's cute and hardcore,like every UF heroine, but it doesn't come too easily.

Humor's always an individual taste- we all have some kinds of funny that we can laugh at over and over again, and some that bore by the second or third repetition. For me personally, McGuire doesn't get old. I chuckle at every Aeslin mouse "HAIL!" or "CHEESE AND CAKE!" and love how her sense of the absurd punctuates the action. It's really worth timing when you read the InCryptids. Don't read them all in a row - save them for the moments when you're all epic-battled and dystopian drama-ed out, when you can't take any more soulful seriousness in leather, and you just need -as Seanan herself called her series- a book that "kicks you in the head." Recommended for fans of Jim Butcher, Ilona Andrews, Steven Brust, China Miéville and Doctor Who.(less)

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Mar 28, 2013 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the hell out of this book.

That said, it surprised me. It totally wasn't what I was expecting.

I re-read the first one because it had been a while and I read the two back to back. It took me a while to figure out what surprised me about this book and I realized that I'd fallen prey to "Urban Fantasy Set up Syndrome" -- which I just made up, but bear with me.

The first book seemed like a nice set up. You've got tango dancer/monster hunter, conflicted hottie, NYC setting, wacky cucoo sidek...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Tal rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity--and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and when her work with the cryptid community took her to Manhattan, she thought she would finally be free to pursue competition-level dance in earnest. It didn't quite work out that way...

But now, with the snake cult that was killing...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, sf-f-goodies

It's the talking, religious mice,I tell you, that make this book a hit. I just love them to pieces.
And the rest of the characters aren't too shabby either.
Verity's year in Manhattan is coming to a close and she has some major decisions to make. Her dance career is in the tank as she is spending too much time protecting the cryptids that need protecting and killing the ones that don't. Her romance with Dominic is getting serious--but there's that big drawback--he belongs to the Bad Guys (aka the...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Natalie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have to say, I'm still relatively new to urban fantasy. However, as a competitive ballroom dancer who's always been fascinated by fantasy creatures, how could I resist InCryptid??

Midnight Blue-Light Special is the second book in the series, so if you're new to it, go for the first one: Discount Armageddon . You won't be disappointed!

Taking place a few months after the end of the last book, Verity and Dominic still have a somewhat... uncertain relationship at the beginning of this one. Compoun...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Emmeri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very light read with some laugh-out-loud moments. This installment in the serious added more depth to all of characters, which made me more invested in the outcome. I really loved getting Sarah's point of view for a few chapters and hopefully more of that will occur in future books.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was the price. This is something the author currently can't control but I want to mention it as it heavily affects my purchases. I don't like paying $4.00 more for an ebook...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Isis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: magical-being, mystery-and-or-fantasy, paranormal-sci-fi-and-or-fantasy

The second of the InCryptid novels, Ms. McGuire has upped the ante and taken a really great world and expanded upon it in entertainingly unexpected ways. The emotional roller coaster that Verity, her friends, and co-workers undergo is as exciting as it is volatile.

Verity's worst fears have come to pass - the Covenant is sending a team to NYC to inspect her boyfriend Dominic's reports/work, and determine how many will be needed to conduct a full-fledged purge.

Once again we are treated to another...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Claire rated it 5 of 5 stars

I didn't think it was possible for me to love this book more than the first one, but it happened. Seanan McGuire is without a doubt one of the most talented authors I've ever read.

The book picks back up not too long after the end of Discount Armageddon. Verity is still working as a cocktail waitress and a dancer, trying to make a living in New York City. Dominic is still in the picture, though revealing too much more than that would spoil things, and this book is good enough that I want everyone...more I didn't think it was possible for me to love this book more than the first one, but it happened. Seanan McGuire is without a doubt one of the most talented authors I've ever read.

The book picks back up not too long after the end of Discount Armageddon. Verity is still working as a cocktail waitress and a dancer, trying to make a living in New York City. Dominic is still in the picture, though revealing too much more than that would spoil things, and this book is good enough that I want everyone to be able to read it on their own.

One of the most interesting features of this book was a brief change of narrator from Verity to her cousin Sarah. Honestly, when it happened I was furious to be yanked out of Verity's highly entertaining POV and thought I'd be scrambling to be back. I wasn't. Sarah's POV is every bit as interesting as Verity's is, and you don't miss a beat in the action. Seeing things from Sarah's POV actually gave me vital information in the story that I would have missed had Seanan stuck with Verity. Plus, I ended up liking Sarah a lot more afterward; she's become one of my favorite characters. It helped that when the high point of tension rolled around, Verity was back in the driver's seat.

Another character that quickly found a place in my heart was Dominic. He was sweet, courageous, and never failed to surprise me. I liked that McGuire resolved the drama with his character earlier than expected- she didn't milk that storyline for romantic tension, mainly because she didn't need to. The book was dynamic and stress-filled enough without adding relationship drama to the mix.

We get to see more of Verity's family members and actually meet some of them. I loved getting more Price/Healy family background. Each person is equally quirky and entertaining.

This book was such a page-turner I found myself practically vibrating with tension from the story. I literally didn't move for over an hour while I finished reading. If you harbored any doubts whatsoever about reading this, banish them! Unless, of course, you actually have work that needs to get done. Trust me, you won't be able to put this book down.(less)

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Mar 08, 2013 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: incryptid

Verity Price must gather her allies to deal with a potential purge of New York City by the Covenant of St. George while dealing with Dominic De Luca, her boyfriend and Covenent agent.

What I Liked:

Verity - A strong, funny, determined heroine.

The rich supporting cast - From Sarah, Dominic, Istas all the way to the Aeslin mice. Every character is unique and each had their own role to play.

The variety of species - The Incryptid series stays away from the usual vampires, werewolves, and fae focusing...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Shiyiya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Firstly I want to say that I absolutely adore the setting of the InCryptid books, and I enjoyed this greatly. I quoted entertaining bits at my brother, and I've convinced him to read them too when he gets the time. They're great. I love the Aeslin mice beyond all reason, Istas is absolutely fantastic, and I loved getting more of Sarah Zellaby. Midnight Blue-Light Special was fun, and tense, and a good follow-up to Discount Armageddon.

That said? I didn't like the romance at all. It wasn't bad, it...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

This is currently my absolute favorite series. I loved the first book in the series, and this one is - if not quite as good - a very strong installment.

McGuire's world-buiding is amazing. I love her sense of humor, and Verity's light-hearted internal monologue is a treat. The suporting characters are also enjoyable. I liked Sarah in the first book. I loved her in this one. There is a brief moment in the middle of the book where we are treated to a first-person narrative inside her head, providin...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Ferdy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: decent-romance, decent-heroine, dark-tortured-broody-hero, dragons, good-friendships, good-world-building, great, likeable-hero, likeable-heroine, likeable-protagonists

Spoilers

It's been a while since I've read an UF series that's entertained me as much as the InCryptid series has. Most of the newer UF books are predictable, unoriginal and cliched — and I find it difficult to distinguish one series from the other.

The Cryptid series isn't perfect but it did manage to tick most of my boxes — the heroine was likeable, the worldbuilding was solid, the side characters were well developed, there was a good amount of humour, the plot was engaging and the romance was...more Spoilers

It's been a while since I've read an UF series that's entertained me as much as the InCryptid series has. Most of the newer UF books are predictable, unoriginal and cliched — and I find it difficult to distinguish one series from the other.

The Cryptid series isn't perfect but it did manage to tick most of my boxes — the heroine was likeable, the worldbuilding was solid, the side characters were well developed, there was a good amount of humour, the plot was engaging and the romance was rather lovely.

The heroine, Verity, looks after the cryptid population in New York… from talking mice to spoilt dragon princesses to crazy cuckoos, Verity's there to protect them and also hunt them should they become dangerous. I liked that all the different supernatural creatures weren't the typical vampires, fairies and werewolves — it was refreshing reading about the various weird and wonderful paranormal monsters.

Verity takes her duties to take care for the Cryptids very seriously, she's always putting them before her own dreams. I felt a little sorry for her because the reason she went to New York in the first place was to become a professional ballroom dancer, but because of all her Cryptid duties she's not been able to find the time to compete and train professionally. She doesn't moan about it though, she knows what's more important and she gets on with things.
I wouldn't have minded if Verity had been annoyed with her situation — after all she never chose to look after the Cryptids, her parents pushed her into it. At one point I was hoping that Verity would follow her dancing dreams and abandon the Cryptids - I changed my mind though when Verity realised that she actually wanted to help the Cryptids more than anything else.

Anyway, Verity has to protect the Cryptids from the bad guys (the Covenant) who have come to New York to investigate Dominic (a fellow Covenant member and Verity's love interest) and purge New York of the Cryptid population. I was expecting things to be a little more fast paced and action packed when the Covenant showed up but it kind of dragged and was a bit repetitive with Verity running around warning her friends. I wanted their to be a bit more action in the middle with the Covenant and the Cryptids/Verity.

Verity and Dominic were rather sweet. I did like the little bit of uncertainty in regard to Dominic's loyalty. It was mostly obvious who he would choose but there was a time or two where he came across as suspicious.

I loved all the side characters — the Aeslin mice, Istas, Ryan, and Sarah. I really want to know about Sarah and Artie - I'm hoping they get their own book at some point.

It was also great reading about all the relationships Verity had with other females — she was close to Sarah, Istas, her grandmother and her boss. It made the book that much more better — it shouldn't have made that much of an impact on me but since most heroines these days are surrounding by males, it was quite lovely seeing Verity interacting and getting along with the side female characters.

I'm disappointed that Verity won't be narrating future books, and instead the focus will be on Verity's brother, Alex. I'm sure the books will still be good but I don't want to lose Verity's POV - it's so hard to find a heroine that doesn't constantly annoy me. Oh well, I'll still be reading Alex's books. And since I like this series so much I might give McGuire's other series a go.
(less)

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Mar 10, 2013 Lissibith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, female-friendships, novel, paranormal, romance

Excellent! A lot of action, continuing along in the world of these great characters, with higher stakes and an even faster pace than the first book.

(view spoiler)...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Alice Liu rated it 5 of 5 stars

What I love about this book is how Seanan McGuire is able to portray the cryptid population as being true to their own nature (which often involves carnage) and also being able to display real humanity. That is more than can be said for many of the humans who hide behind rules and conditioned upbringing as excuses to behave like monsters. Verity makes tough personal choices in this book. She applies the mental/physical training of her dance background to her Covenant fighting arsenal. Coupled wi...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Jesslyn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: auto-buy-series, auto-buy-author, 2013-kindle-reads, audio-kindlebook-companion, cat-series-not-a-cliffhanger, cat-series-ongoing

All I can say is Wow. We really have to clone Seanan McGuire--I need more books.

This was so good that I want to start the series again--but there are only two. Guess I'll go re-read the just as good October Daye series.

Sigh. Why do I finish these good ones so fast, but am draaaaaging thru the morass of teenaged angst in the starting to get yucky Beautiful Creatures series? I need some old-fashioned, high-magic fantasy to take me away...

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Apr 13, 2013 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

I continue to be impressed by Seanan McGuire's ability to churn out enjoyable, clever speculative fiction at a breakneck pace. Midnight Blue-Light Special (a word salad title if I ever heard one!) is the second in the InCryptid series, the first of which was only released last year, and in the intervening period the author also published two other novels from two whole different series.

What that means is that her books are typically formulaic, although not at all unpleasantly so. I think the pop...more

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About Seanan McGuire

Hi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.

Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and...more

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“Blood is thicker than water, but family isn’t just about blood. Family is about faith, and loyalty, and who you love. If you don’t have those things, I don’t care what the blood says. You’re not family.” — 10 people liked it

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Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid #2)

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