New Release Review: Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire

Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Book #2 in the InCryptid Novels
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: 5 March 2013
ARC Provided by the Author

Christal’s Review – 5 Skulls – A+

I enjoyed Seanan McGuire’s debut InCryptid novel, Discount Armageddon, but its sequel is even better!  Midnight Blue-Light Special has it all – harrowing adventure, forbidden love, funny quips, believable relationships, and talking mice.  That’s right, talking mice.  Trust me; you’ll love them!

Verity Price is a cryptozoologist, meaning she takes care of the monsters of New York.  She makes sure they don’t endanger innocent humans and helps them to fit into society.  She’s always been caught between two worlds, with her parents wanting her to pursue cryptozoology full-time while she wants to pursue a professional dancing career.  In this book, we see Verity growing more comfortable in her own skin and realizing what exactly makes her happy.  She figures out what her true calling is and decides to go for it completely.  She has to make a lot of hard decisions, but she is a strong girl and she makes it through.  Her narrative voice still had the quick quips and hilarious comments, but we saw a bit of a deeper side to Verity and learned more about her hopes, doubts, and fears.  She has grown into a confident, self-sufficient young woman and I can’t wait to see where she ends up in the future.

The plot of Midnight Blue-Light Special was incredible.  The Covenant is questioning Dominic DeLuca’s handling of the cryptid situation in New York, so they are sending a team of agents (one of which has some interesting connections to Verity) to evaluate whether a purge is necessary.  Dominic is torn by his need to protect Verity and his loyalty to the Covenant who raised him.  He has to decide where he stands on the issue of cryptid rights and he needs to decide soon.  Seanan writes the best characters and I could really feel how tortured Dominic was by this choice.  She kept me guessing until the end with which side he would actually choose.  I like Verity and Dominic together so it was hard to see them driven apart at times, but we did get a few good scenes before the Covenant came to town.  I’m not going to tell which side Dominic eventually chose, but suffice it to say, it was a very touching and emotional moment.

This series is packed with wonderful side characters, but one in particular stole the show – Sarah Zellaby.  Verity’s cousin Sarah is a telepathic cuckoo.  Cuckoos are typically a cryptid species to be feared, or better yet shot on sight, but Sarah proves that they are capable of learning right from wrong.  She faces her fears, both internal and external, and goes above and beyond to help Verity.  We learn so much more about Sarah and how hard she has to struggle everyday with her natural cuckoo instincts.  It was fascinating and I really enjoyed the chapters that were written from her perspective.  Kitty, the manager at Verity’s workplace “Freakshow,” also impressed me in this book.  She took a hole-in-the-wall strip club and turned it into a fabulous burlesque club where humans and cryptids interacted naturally, if unknowingly.  Kitty knew what had to be done when the chips were on the table and she didn’t hesitate in her decisions.  Uncle Mike was an interesting addition to the Price world and I can’t wait to learn even more about them and their extended family.

This book will take you through the entire gamut of emotions.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll worry for the characters safety, and you’ll cheer their triumphs.  As with all Seanan McGuire novels, the writing is top-notch and the world entirely engrossing.  Give yourself some time to savor this novel; once you pick it up, you won’t be able to put it down!

Thank you to Seanan McGuire and DAW for providing an ARC copy of this book.  Check out our interview with Seanan HERE!

Rating: ☠  ☠  ☠  ☠  ☠ 

Series Reading Order:
1. Discount Armageddon
2. Midnight Blue-Light Special